Agroecology and nutrition

Laos launched its National Nutrition Plan for populations living in isolated mountainous areas where undernutrition still persists.

It is a complex task that requires action on multiple levels and long-term interventions for effective and sustainable results. Agrisud in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) engages in an innovative and dynamic project by means of an integrated approach that links agriculture with nutrition.

Project ENUFF (Enhancing Nutrition for Upland Farming Families) is implemented in 40 mountainous villages. The agricultural aspect of the project has been taken over by Agrisud. Its goal is to improve agricultural techniques thanks to agroecology, to diversify crops and establish marketing sectors. Access to healthy and adequate food is one of the main factors that improve nutrition in Laos.

Agrisud has a constant focus on boosting the action capacities of NGOs, organizations, professional groups, and also those of its own projects’ teams. Transfers of skills are made via « learning cycles ».

Promoting agroecological practices

Based on the “Agroecology in Practice” guide (Agrisud, 2010), this course helps participants learn these practices. 
It is based on transferring methods and tools to:

• Understand agroecology and its economic, social and environmental dimensions;
• Understand the sustainable management of a farming system;
• Analyze the context of operation and identify the appropriate 
agroecological practices;
• Be able to spread these practices.

The FORAE II project is part of the AGRITER multi-country program. It supports 30 villages of the District of Viengkham: 20 target villages of FORAE I - including 6 model villages and 10 new villages.

The project's objectives :

General objective: Strengthen the economic and social dynamics carried by the actors of the territories to promote sustainable family farming.

Specific objectives :

Strengthen regional players and create the conditions for sustainable development.
Support the agroecological transition of family farming and the structuring of value chains.
Carry out environmental education actions for the sustainable preservation of the territory.

Learn more about the AGRITER program.

Nakai-Nam Theun is the second largest protected area in Laos for its biological and cultural diversity. The ethnic groups who live there depend largely on the natural resources there for their daily subsistence.

A study was carried out to assess, among other things, the impact of development and conservation actions implemented for more than 10 years by the National Park Management Office. Agrisud participated in the development, implementation and writing of this study, in collaboration with the Livelihood team of the Wildlife Conservation Association and the teams of decentralized offices in the Districts of Nakai, Gnommalath and Khamkert, in the Province of Khammouane .

Funded by the World Bank, it is part of the sub-project "Capacity building of the National Park Management Office to effectively manage the watershed of the protected area". This study made it possible to carry out an agrarian diagnosis, to inventory the natural resources used by the villagers, as well as to identify the shortcomings of past actions and current needs in order to implement priority actions to improve the standard of living. about 7,500 people living in and around the Nakai-Nam Theun protected area.

In Laos, solid waste management is a growing problem in both urban and rural areas. Solid waste is increasingly made up of plastic and especially thermoplastics (polyethylene bags, bottles, etc.), mainly from the food industry, and purchased by households in small village grocery stores that only offer products in small containers.

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While the government and development partners are paying more and more attention to improving waste management in urban and peri-urban areas, rural areas are being neglected because they are considered less waste-producing. However, the proliferation of plastics also affects rural communities in terms of health and pollution of natural resources, as they do not have any management and recycling infrastructure.

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In many villages, people dump their garbage in rivers or ravines polluting and contaminating water resources. Others burn them near fireplaces without protecting themselves from the toxic fumes they give off. The soils near the villages are strewn with plastic waste which will take more than 400 years to decompose, leaving a thorny problem to be solved for future generations.

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Viengkham District: an experimental laboratory

As part of the "ANAMAY Initiative" project, the entire village population of 11 target villages in the Viengkham District (Province of Luang Prabang), that is to say 970 households (5,761 people, including 2,884 women) will be directly concerned by actions aimed at reducing the production of plastic waste, through the realization of awareness sessions in villages and schools, the establishment of a supply network for products sold in bulk and in recyclable containers, as well as the implementation of garbage management plans with village development committees as part of their local development plans.

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Around 1,700 students from 16 schools (11 primary schools and 6 colleges) will also be affected thanks to an adaptation of the program for young people and school micro-projects to be set up for better waste management in their schools and villages.

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Expected results :

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• Result 1: An awareness and information program adapted to communities
• Result 2: An awareness and action program adapted to the school public is built and implemented with teachers and the district education office
• Result 3: The conditions are met for the establishment of a bulk product sales network in the target villages
• Result 4: Each target village implements its sanitation plan for better management of household waste by the communities
• Result 5: The feedback from experiences in the Viengkham District and on the projects of other partners are capitalized and available to all
• Result 6: The Initiative is promoted and implemented on a larger scale by all the partners concerned

The Itasy Region, close to Antananarivo, has a great farming potential but the production is still limited and threatened by the farmers’ low technical and management skills and also by a natural fragile environment.

Thanks to the project, 2000 farmers are receiving technical and economical reinforcement in order to professionalize their activities in production, management and marketing.

If small family farms adopt agroecology it could be a real solution to lower the agricultural carbon footprint. However, the workings of the agricultural systems are complex and there is a lack of reference when considering specific emission standards in Madagascar, therefore, it is difficult to measure specifically environmental advantages.

The project’s goal is to set up a method to evaluate the farms’ carbon footprint. It will identify the emission standards specific to the Region’s agricultural system.

The farming areas of the Itasy Region are located in the Central Highlands, near Antananarivo, the Capital city. They are significantly deteriorated: erosions are frequent and forests are disappearing.

The Region’s farmers’ production systems are declining; therefore the project’s aim is to follow their evolution so they can be sustainable and last in time. It should also estimate the impact of implemented agroecological and forestry practices on climate change.

Agrisud has a constant focus on boosting the action capacities of NGOs, organizations, professional groups, and also those of its own projects’ teams. Transfers of skills are made via « learning cycles ».

Promoting agroecological practices

Based on the “Agroecology in Practice” guide (Agrisud, 2010), this course helps participants learn these practices. 
It is based on transferring methods and tools to:

• Understand agroecology and its economic, social and environmental dimensions;
• Understand the sustainable management of a farming system;
• Analyze the context of operation and identify the appropriate 
agroecological practices;
• Be able to spread these practices.

De nombreuses organisations locales contribuent au développement Agricole à Madagascar. Elles se caractérisent par une grande hétérogénéité en termes d’échelles d’intervention, de cibles, de secteurs d’activité, et de professionnalisme.

Le projet propose une démarche de renforcement individualisé de 60 organisations (ONG, coopératives, Associations de producteurs), afin qu’elles disposent à la fois de bases de gouvernances solides, de méthodes et techniques d’intervention pertinents, et d’une reconnaissance de leurs capacités d’intervention.