Last week the International Fund to Amplify Agro-Ecological Solutions, an initiative of the New Venture Fund, made a two-year, $200,000 grant to Groundswell International to work with partners in Burkina Faso, northern Ghana, and Mali to strengthen and amplify existing farmer and women-led initiatives and organizations in order to spread agro-ecological farming systems, reinforce movements for food sovereignty, and advocate for supportive policies.
This program brings together partners with long track records and complementary skills in strengthening farmers’ organizations, promoting agro-ecology, generating documentation for spread of effective practices, policy analysis and advocacy. The project partnership includes: The Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First, The Centre for Learning on Sustainable Agriculture (ILEIA), Association Nourrir Sans Détruire (ANSD) in Burkina Faso, Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) in Ghana, and Sahel Eco in Mali.
Our three main objectives are to:
- Improve and scale out farmer-led agro-ecological initiatives to improve soil fertility, production and address climate change in selected regions of Burkina Faso, northern Ghana, and Mali.
- Strengthen the engagement of small-scale farmer and women’s membership organizations (including the “We are the Solution” campaign) in advocacy platforms, in order to change local and national policies and programs to be supportive of agroecology.
- Document, systematize and disseminate lessons learned on spreading and scaling agroecological approaches.
The IFAAES-supported program will amplify ANSD’s, CIKOD’s, and Sahel Eco’s efforts to strengthen farmers’ and women’s organizations in their countries, while also providing a framework for exchange and learning on effective scaling strategies across countries. Groundswell, Food First, and ILEIA will provide strategic support for program development, documentation, policy analysis and scaling.
This is a very exciting opportunity for Groundswell and our partners, and we urge you to follow the implementation of this work in the months and years ahead.