Seminar on Landscapes in a Carbon Focused World 26 October 2012
SIANI, Focali & Naturskyddsföreningen organized a one-day seminar in Gothenburg.
Summary: As Brazil has been wrestling with the need to reconcile economic development with poverty reduction strategies and environmental conservation, AgroForesty Systems (AFS) have emerged as a promising alternative to industrial farming systems aimed at producing commodities. AFS have been championed by environmental groups, NGO networks and organizations representing family farmers due to their high potential for increasing food security and generating income, while also providing key environmental services. These groups contend that AFS can reduce the vulnerability of family farmers to external factors such as market forces, shifting government policies and the effects of climate change. While the Brazilian government has drafted a series of policies directly and indirectly promoting the development of AFS, farmers still face significant barriers to implementing and maintaining these systems over time. The objective of this presentation is to examine these drivers and barriers so as to provide policy inputs by drawing out lessons learned from different experiences of AFS as well as from Conservation Projects implemented in Brazil.
André Gonçalves is an agronomist with a PhD in Natural Resources from Cornell University, USA; he is a professor of agroecology at Instituto Federal Catarinense; technical coordinator of a local NGO called Centro Ecológico; and he has more than 20 years of practical experience working directly with organic smallholders in Southern Brazil. Recently, he has leading some studies related with agroforestry systems and promotion of environmental services.