Global Manifesto on Forgotten Foods was developed through a series of consultations in 2021, this Collective Action on Forgotten Food aims to highlight both the initiatives of research institutions, and development agencies and the ingenuity of farmers and their capacity to innovate based on everyday experimentation. In Asia-Pacific, small-scale and custodian farmers managed to continuously cultivate and use NUS/FF for various reasons.
Dr. Rida Shibli, the Executive Secretary of AARINENA participated in the regional framework (Asia-Pacific Manifesto on Forgotten Food), Sharing of Initiative from the Pacific. He shared the existing programs/ initiatives and recommendations to promote NUS/FF and foster participatory research with farmers and communities. This also facilitated the discussion of possible areas for collaboration globally.
Objectives:
The Stakeholders’ Convening Workshop enabled a diverse set of actors’ participants from farmers’ organizations, agricultural research and extension institutions, government agencies, development agencies and NGOs to initiate partnerships and develop further the project proposal on forgotten foods (to be implemented in the 4 districts). It has been an avenue to:
• Build a common understanding of the Collective Action on Forgotten Food Framework (Global, Regional, and National).
• Foster collaboration and partnership between farmers’ organizations, agricultural research institutions, NGOs, and other value chain actors by initiating the formation of a platform/network, considering existing platforms such as the National Committees of Family Farming (NCFFs) and Farmers’ Forum.
• Jointly fine-tune and finalize the draft project proposal that will lead to the full program design to be implemented in India; and
• Create synergy with similar programs (such as the Nature positive solutions).
The activity aimed to produce the following
- i) the Second version of the project proposal – the full program design and
- ii) Initial Agreements regarding the informal national platform on forgotten foods possibly linked to the NCFFs, which will be the mechanism for coordination, planning, exchanges, capacity development, and incubation of ideas. The agreement will include roles, responsibilities, and coordination mechanisms.