WINSTON CARROO

Executive Director, Agricultural Missions, Inc.

It is that time of year for submitting program reports for 2010 and for filing applications for support for the next year. These reports and applications, along with the necessary budgets and financial reports, have taken a significant amount of time during the month.  In addition, the following travel and related program activities were completed:

Attendance at the 4^th Quadrennial Conference of International Rural Churches Association (IRCA), held in Altenkirchen, Westerwald, Germany, September 19-26.

The IRCA is worldwide community of rural church and denominational leaders who are concerned with the challenges faced by rural churches around the globe. The U.S. based Rural Church Network, with which AMI is associated, is affiliated with the IRCA and that was the channel through which I was invited to attend as a keynote speaker. The theme of the conference was “Hunger—the Global Challenge” and was attended by some 50 delegates from Australia, New Zealand, Malawi, United States, Germany, India, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Great Britain, Switzerland, Canada and South Korea.

The Report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) was the main reference for the conference, with perspectives given from different regions and countries. The IAASTD is a four-year, multi stakeholder process involving over 400 scientists and other interested parties, aimed at discerning the best way forward in achieving a just and sustainable food system on a global scale. This process was conducted under the auspices of the United Nations, but was also supported by the World Bank and several other organizations and governments. The conclusions of the report were highly critical of the industrial food system in creating the conditions for hunger and injustice, particularly in rural areas and in developing nations. The report clearly states that “the practices of the past 25 years cannot be the practices of the next 25 years” if a just and sustainable food system is to be created or achieved. “Business as usual must end” is the major theme of the report.

I was asked to make a presentation on the “Politics Facing the IAASTD Report” from the North American perspective. The theme of my presentation was that the conclusions of the report are in direct opposition to the promoters of “BIG AG” and their political allies and thus the report faces major opposition from the food and biotechnology industries - with deep pockets and considerable influence. The text of my presentation can be viewed at http://www.agriculturalmissions.org/IRCN-Presentation.pdf  

The text of the resolution passed at the meeting is also available at this website.

IAASTD-Ag-Assessment  

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THE WEST AFRICA INITIATIVE (WAI)

The WAI is a continuing effort to develop and implement a community-centered model of development in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The program, now in its third year, was initially supported by three agencies of the Presbyterian Church USA, now also has the support of the United Methodist Committee on Relief and the United Church of Christ. AMI, in partnership with the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone and community-based organizations in Liberia, is responsible for the design and implementation of the program

I visited Liberia in October to assess the progress of the six community groups and six community-based facilitators, with respect to specific criteria that was established at the beginning of the year. Overall, there is success in terms of the increase in group membership, area under cultivation and increase in food production for local consumption and sale. However, there are significant concerns regarding the groups’ abilities to function effectively as decision-making units regarding the management of the project. Development of groups is essential to the long-term sustainability of the program at the community level and there are current efforts to achieve a functional level within the groups.

The groups in Sierra Leone are functional well with respect to decision-making and management of the program in the local communities. The September 30 interim report of the WAI in both Liberia and Sierra Leone is also available on our website.■    

 http://www.agriculturalmissions.org/WAI-P2-REPORT-Sept-30-2010.pdf 

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