“Scaling up co-developed experimentations and Solutions for sustainability”.
on Monday, 17th of March (10 am-3 pm) at UNIL, Geopolis, Room 2238 Geopolis
Two SOR4D projects ENGAGE4Sundarbans and the SCALAGROteam members will join for a workshop to reflect on the scalability of experimental collective and agroecological farming.
The workshop has fostered an exchange between researchers and practitioners from India, Bangladesh, and Switzerland who work with local communities on the co-development of sustainable solutions to enhance social resilience.
It has aimed to reflect on the possibilities and limits of scaling up our SOR4D projects, taking into account the social, political, and economic contexts and constraints encountered in our living labs located in India, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, and Bolivia.
10h-11h: ENGAGE 4 Resilience in the Sundarbans
We have discussed, in particular, our conceptual framework of social resilience, our methods, and the solutions we put in place to support rural communities in our two coastal study areas of the Sundarbans, India and Bangladesh. Project: ENGAGE4Sundarbans
In coastal Bangladesh, Agriculture is disrupted by salinity intrusion, tidal surges, poor soil health, water unavailability, cyclones and other climate change-induced disasters. Fragmented land, poor infrastructure, inefficient irrigation and policy failure further hinder agriculture. In Sundarbans areas where subsistence farming is still the main source of livelihood for millions of people, reduced agriculture and loss in production pushes people further to the poverty line, and subsequently to migrate.
Collaborating with ULAB, the SAJIDA Foundation is currently researching the efficacy and effectiveness of introducing climate-resilient integrated farming in Assasuni Upazila with the agenda of empowering communities with sustainable livelihoods. The team has developed a prototype design to initiate and provide technical support to community-based integrated farming by targeting several selected households in the union.
By consulting local communities and through planned and systematic activities such as procurement and distribution of fish fingerlings, feed, fertilizers and seeds, rainwater harvesting and storage provisions through the (re)excavation of private and cooperative ponds, the experimentation is co-designed with rudimentary rounds of pilot testing.
Through this method, farmers use stored rainwater to irrigate dry season crops (known as rabi crops in the local dialect, such as boro rice variety, other commercial crops, etc.). The ULAB-SAJIDA collaboration is anchored to systematically train and support villagers in the use of good quality salt-tolerant seed varieties involving government officials from the departments of fisheries and agriculture to revive traditional community knowledge and adaptive practices. The multiple benefits offered by integrated farming through coproduced knowledge and actions include the reduction of salinity of the topsoil, making it more durable to the unpredictable and repeated shocks of climate change in the region.
Our team has presented 2 papers at the Agroecology Science Days hosted by the University of Lausanne.
WORKSHOP 4: NOURISHING THE AGRO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION BY EXPLORING LOCAL DYNAMICS AND NON-TECHNICAL SKILLS
Beyond preconceived positionalities in transdisciplinary research: ‘Inhabitant interviewers’ incubating agroecological transitions in the Indian Sundarbans Delta presented by EmilieCremin, UNIL, Abstract
See the presentation:
WORKSHOP 5: FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS FOR AN INCLUSIVE AGRO-ECOLOGY – THE RIGHT TO FOOD, SOCIAL SECURITY FOR FOOD, ACCESS TO LAND
Governance of land under Shrimp farming in the coastal area of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) delta, presented by Emilie Cremin Abstract
The conference provides a platform for discussion and exchange around concrete examples of systems supported by the principles of agroecology, on both a small and large scale. It brings together the scientific community, local stakeholders, farmers, consumers, development agents, as well as decision-makers in governance bodies and international experts.
