The morning kicked off with a number of presentations from Latin America. Each person presented the main problems and solutions of their work. The similarity of these problems and solutions between the experiences was striking, not only within Latin America but throughout all the experiences of Growing Diversity. The enormous wealth of diversity in the Americas was borne out in the varieties on show, accumulated over the ages by farmers. Click here for the latin american case studies .
See also: Casa das Variedades Crioulas (79kb, portugese).
Santiago / Peru
Ezequiel / Bolivia
Paola / Brasil
Toninho / Brasil
In the afternoon, speakers and discussion turned their attention to the “local control of the management of biodiversity”. Several speakers, from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Brazil and Nicaragua, spoke on how it was possible for local people to control their biodiversity. Palash Baral, from UBINIG in Bangladesh, explained how over 105,000 farming households now practice biodiversity farming; this means that farmers do not use any pesticides or fertilisers, nor do they use any hybrids or high yielding varieties.
This was followed by a discussion including subjects such as how to find and involve farmer organisations and the roles / importance of NGOs, civil society and globalisation.
Growing Diversity
