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| | Call for African Contributions to the Sustainability and Organic Best Practice Consultation | | | At the Organic World Congress in 2011, the IFOAM General Assembly mandated IFOAM, through 'Motion 57' (sustainability motion), to create an action network to re-position organic practices as the mainstream approach for sustainability in agriculture worldwide, and to provide guidance on how to improve its practices.
Following a year of intensive visioning, discussion, and internal drafting, IFOAM and its partners in the Sustainable Organic Agriculture Action Network (SOAAN) have released last January the first draft of a Best Practice Reference for Agriculture and Its Value Chains for public comment.
This of course has implications for Africa. We therefore encourage all African organic, agro-ecological and other interested stakeholders to participate in the Sustainability and Organic Best Practice Consultation.
For IFOAM African members, in particular, this is a huge opportunity to let your position be known on how to include African circumstances in the document. For example, if you see language in the draft that may not accomplish the objective to accommodate the situation in Africa, then please participate in the process and submit your feedback to change language.
“It is important for us to participate in the process in order to make our African voices heard and to make an active contribution towards the development of sustainable, organic agriculture in Africa”, says Manjo Smith, an organic farmer from Namibia and IFOAM World Board Member.
You don’t have to be from a big organization to participate in the consultation. All individuals coming from IFOAM member organizations as well as other interested like-minded organizations can submit feedback.
James Benjamin Cole, an organic farmer from Ghana and IFOAM World Board member, notes: “This is our time. This is our chance to make meaningful contributions towards a sustainable world order.”
The consultation document is available at:
http://ifoam.org/public/Sustainability_Consultation.pdf. It provides you with an overview of the information you need and links you to the online e-questionnaire.
But before answering this questionnaire, please kindly download and read the documents which are at the core of this consultation:
The 'Best Practice Reference' document:
http://www.ifoam.org/public/Best_Practice_Reference_Public_Consultation.docx
and
The 'IFOAM World Board's Statement on the Role of Organic Agriculture in the Transition to a Sustainable World':
http://www.ifoam.org/public/World_Board_Statement_Consultation.docx
Please note that in addition to the e-questionnaire, you are also welcome to submit your feedback in track changes in the original documents.
The consultation period runs until March 31, 2013.
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Email: h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org
Head Office Contact Information
Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5
53113 Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49-228-92650-10
Fax: +49-228-92650-99
Email: headoffice@ifoam.org
http://www.ifoam.org
© 2013 IFOAM - All rights reserved. International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) e.V.
Trial Court Bonn, Association Register no. 8726
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