One and a half billion people live in fragile, conflict-affected areas. As food and nutrition insecurity become increasingly concentrated in such areas, Kauswagan is a unique example that shows how is possible to solve an on-going conflict by tackling underlying socioeconomic and political issues. The decades-long war between the forces of the government and groups like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) left a huge part of Mindanao in poverty.

Other municipalities and regions in the Philippines are now very interested in Kauswagan’s approach and they visit the municipality to study how it managed to break the links between food insecurity and conflict and build a resilient economy, based on agroecological practices and organic farming.

The From Arms to Farms programme received a number of awards, including an international recognition in 2016, when it won the first edition of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Peace Prize. On that occasion, regional authorities from Guatemala, Colombia and Brazil all expressed interest in replicating Kauswagan’s experience.

Over the last decade, the development of Organic Action Plans (OAPs) has gained momentum as a mechanism for achieving a more integrated approach to organic policy-making at the European level. However, the effectiveness and continuity of OAPs can vary significantly from country to country. Denmark is a leading example and a source of inspiration worldwide, both in the scope and innovative approach of its organic policy. Beyond its holistic set of measures, a highly transferable aspect is definitely also the intensive policy development process that especially saw the involvement of all stakeholders, including NGOs. Denmark is exemplary by strengthening the principles of organic farming and further incorporating them into everyday farming practices.

When starting these policies, mainstreaming of organic and agroecological farming in the whole state was seen as a strategy to preserve the ecosystem of the state and the health of its citizens. The government was (and still is) convinced that this decision would deliver huge socioeconomic benefits, would help young people stay on the land, and would attract local and foreign sustainable tourism, while opening opportunities to reach premium organic markets.

Political commitment to support organic farming in Sikkim began in 2003.  That year, the Chief Minister of Sikkim, H.E. Pawan Chamling, announced his vision for Sikkim to be India’s first organic state. In a historic declaration to the State Assembly in 2003, H.E. Chamling announced “a long awaited policy initiative of declaring Sikkim as a fully Organic State”. The 2003 declaration was accompanied by the creation of an action plan containing a variety of policy measures, including a gradual phase-out of synthetic inputs and the support for the production and use of organic fertilizers and organic seeds, coupled with capacity building for extension officers, farmers and young people.

The community of Ndiob consists of 18 villages that were formed into 5 village groups of a certain area, which focused on one of the five collectively defined themes. The Agriculture Development Programme includes hence five themes:

1. Agriculture, including infrastructure and agricultural equipment, seeds stocks, intensification and diversification of agroecology;
2. Livestock breeding and farming, including cattle breeding, poultry food production for livestock;
3. Soil fertility, including anti-erosion measures; desalination, composting;
4. Management of natural resources, including improving the state of the valley and ponds, restoration of soil coverage, strengthening of local governance;
5. Food security, including construction of processing and storage facilities for agricultural produce, improving nutrition projects, local bank for savings and micro-credits to support local agriculture, livestock and poultry breeding as well as the use of the ponds.

Responsible for the policies are the Mayor and Municipal Council of Ndiob, with input from the local communities. The policies are implemented through the municipality, with support of strategic partners such as ENDA PRONAT, and in cooperation with the Collective of Friends and Partners of the Community of Ndiob (CAPCOMMUN).

To implement its vision, the Ndiob Municipal Council has set itself a certain number of objectives both in terms of self-sufficiency in certified seed and production for sale of cereals and peanuts seeds which are the main cash crop of the municipality. Ndiob’s minimum goal is to produce the village’s annual consumption of 3,650 tonnes of millet and to plant peanuts on 2,500 ha to be sold as certified seeds on markets and thereby create cash revenues. It selected 84 seed breeders, each one planting one hectare for breeding stock. Each of these producers has received from Ndiob municipality and from CAPCOMMUN partners seeds and reinforcements in technical capacities.

Ndiob is the first municipality that launched the territorial approach to rural development in Senegal. In June 2014, a new municipal council had been installed, which formally defined and adopted its vision “to make Ndiob a green municipality, resilient through a process of economic and social development and welfare, inclusive and respectful for human rights, in particular towards vulnerable communities.” This orientation had been already defined by the municipal members during the election campaign and had then been also endorsed by the Green Party of Senegal.

To implement its vision, the municipality – led by a very engaged Mayor – was supported by the NGO ENDA PRONAT that is promoting agroecology in West Africa. ENDA PRONAT conducted a participatory analysis of community needs involving more than 1,000 local people and actors (50 percent were women). It carried out an evaluation of production systems and developed an Agricultural Development Programme, which was understood and accepted by the local community.

Adopted first by the City of Los Angeles in 2012, the Good Food Purchasing Program ® creates a transparent supply chain and helps institutions to measure and then make shifts in their food purchases.

Its objectives are:

• To harness the purchasing power of major institutions to encourage greater production of sustainably produced food, healthy eating, respect for workers’ rights, humane treatment of animals and support for the local small business economy.
• To shift as many dollars as possible towards Good Food in order to achieve an economy of scale.

TEEBAgriFood’s Evaluation Framework answers the question: What should we evaluate about food systems? And TEEBAgriFood’s methodologies answer the question: How should we do these evaluations? TEEBAgriFood illustrates five families of applications to compare: (a) different policy scenarios; (b) different farming typologies; (c) different food and beverage products; (d) different diets/ food plates; and (e) adjusted versus conventional national or sectoral accounts.

TEEBAgriFood is a systems approach for bringing together the various disciplines and perspectives related to agriculture and food, a framework for evaluation that supports the comprehensive, universal and inclusive assessment of eco-agri-food systems, a set of methodologies and tools for the measurement of positive and negative externalities, and a theory of change to help integrate TEEBAgriFood into the wide landscape of platforms and initiatives, like the SDGs, that are tackling these complex issues. It therefore plays a crucial role in the transformation of food and agriculture systems.

Through the biofairs and other activities, AGRUPAR promotes healthy diets and sustainability. The Programme created 17 bio-fairs where 105 types of food are offered. Through these, 25% of the produce is commercialized, for about USD 350,000 per year.