Knowledge Sharing Event on “Agro biodiversity, Cultures and Local Development”. Completion Workshop, 18-19 May 2011. Promoted by ACRA and Oxfam Italia, funded by IFAD and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo Album and Useful Links

1. KNOWLEDGE SHARING EVENT ON “AGROBIODIVERSITY, CULTURES AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT” Completion Workshop 18-19 May 2011 Promoted by ACRA and Oxfam Italia funded by IFAD and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Through the grants “Addressing marginalization of poor farmers and migrants from Morocco, Senegal &Ecuador through market linkages and promotion of diversity” (R1000/UCODEP) & “Leveraging the intangible patrimony content of agriculture for improving livelihoods of small farmers and migrants” (IT 311/ACRA)

3. The journey starts in the University “La Sapienza,” at the IstitutoConfucio. ViaggiSolidali is giving us a briefing regarding the Migrant Tours initiatives. Migrant Tours are led by Migrant Guides, who are foreign citizens that are trained to provide tours in districts that host large migrant communities, to discover the wealth, in terms of agro-biodiversity and culture, brought by these communities. In Turin, where the initiative was first piloted, the Migrant Guides led more than 800 people – including 80 journalists – in the area of PortaPalazzo. The tour was especially appreciated in schools. The model is being replicated in Bologna, Florence, Milan and Rome.

4. The Migrant Tour is like travelling around the world – but without having to leave your own city. In Rome, the Migrant Guides are lucky, as the past experience has helped ViaggiSolidali, the tour operator coordinating this activity, refine the model better, including the “Migrant Guide Toolkit.” We were told that at the beginning, the guides were lugging 2 big bags full of suspicious looking spices, fruits, etc throughout their tours! The load was significantly alleviated, as is being explained by ViaggiSolidali.

5. Our Egyptian Migrant Guide is explaining how this experience is enriching for him – not only in terms of valuing his own culture more, but also for learning about the other cultures around piazza Vittorio. The lady with the mike is a journalist – this activity received significant coverage thanks to its innovative spin on appreciating migrant communities and their cultures.

6. Migrant Guides receive a very thorough training – they are NOT conventional tourist guides, so their role is not really to describe the monuments and the archaeological sites in the area, but rather illustrate the cultural wealth that migrant communities bring. This makes the migrant tour fascinating for local people from all backgrounds, and not only for tourists. Our Migrant Guides are still undertaking the training, so in fact we were their guinea pigs!

7. We were indeed fascinated by the Migrant Guides and their stories. They talked to us about their own culture, as well as the various other cultures that can be encountered in the district, and how these various cultures all interact with each other and the local communities. It was a beautiful message of peace, to learn of so many different people, with different beliefs, diets, religions, languages – all living in harmony, reinventing Piazza Vittorio every day. The Piazza Vittorio orchestra epitomises this reality very well.

8. We are in a Chinese herb shop with our Chinese Migrant Guide, who provided us with some basic information the Chinese philosophy of health and traditional Chinese medicine, including herbs, acupuncture, and so on.

9. Our Migrant Guide is showing us a place reserved for praying, for the Muslim communities who pray 5 times a day. He provided us with some basic information on Islam. This Muslim center is very close to a Catholic church and the two realities are a positive example of harmony and tolerance

10. Our Senegalese Migrant Guide is showing us the various products sold in a Senegalese shop, explaining to us when and how these products are used – we were of course all very tempted to buy the various cloths, musical instruments etc…

11. Before we enter into the busy covered market, for which Piazza Vittorio is famous and that includes much of the cultural diversity and agro-biodiversity promoted by the programme, our Ukrainian Migrant Guide is explaining the various fruits and vegetables we will find, that are not typical in Rome.

12. Our Chinese Migrant Guide is also explaining how we should eat/prepare these neglected and underutilised species (NUS). In fact, an important finding of the programme is that a major impediment to promoting and consuming NUS is the lack of knowledge on how these should be prepared/consumed.

13. Here is a group picture of our Migrant Guides! We were all impressed – this was their first time as Migrant Guides, as they are still in training and this tour was part of their training module. Those of us with children were hoping they would come to our children’s schools, so they were enticing ViaggiSolidali to adapt the product to smaller children etc. Our guides were from Egypt, Ukraine, China, Senegal and Kenya. They really did a wonderful job!

14. DAY 2 19th of April 2011 Stocktaking and way forward: Which innovative approaches were developed? What were the results obtained? What were the impacts? How will we capitalize on these results and scale up? “Agro biodiversity” Market fair: Neglected and Underutilised Species (NUS) products from Ecuador, Morocco and Senegal and publications and dissemination material were showcased. Venue: IFAD, Qatar Information Centre

15. Day 2 was opened with some welcoming remarks by ShantanuMathur, Head of the Management and Support Unit of the Policy and Technical Advisory Division in IFAD. He commended Oxfam and partners for the innovative work and reminded us that the United Nations General Assembly at its 65th session declared the period 2011-2020 to be “the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity”, with a view to contributing to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity for the period 2011-2020.

16. We had a very interesting chat show, with some exceptional panellists. After a brief presentation on the results achieved, and a short video on the activities undertaken, for each country, we had the opportunity to ask our panellists their views and suggestions. In fact, each panellist came with a very rich and diverse background, from various organizations involved in different stages and at different levels of the programme’s implementation/management – from IFAD HQs, ACRA, OXFAM, local implementing partners , International Treaty on PGRFA, etc – we even had the honour of having the Mayor of Cotacachias panellist!

17. Of course, the market fair was an amazing attraction. This is the section dedicated to Morocco, where the project focused on strengthening the production, processing and marketing of the following NUS: fennel, honey and almonds. A booklet on local NUS was also produced, to help local communities appreciate the value and use of their medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs).

18. This section of the market fair is showcasing the work done in Senegal, by ACRA, the Italian NGO who is a partner of Oxfam Italia in this programme and implements the activities in Senegal, as well as the IT 311 grant. The NUS products strengthened in Senegal are: moringa, baobab and fonio. Thanks to this project, baobab flour can now be bought in Rome, through the fair trade circuit (CTM Altromercato).

19. A small group picture with our friends and colleagues from Senegal – Mr Danfakha from ENDA Graf Sahel and Mr Gueye from ACRA Senegal.

20. This section of the Market Fair is on Ecuador, with the Mayor of Cotacachi and Ms Lascano (Association Mama Murucuna) from Ecuador, and M. Ait Idirfrom Morocco (AssociationAgbalou). In Ecuador, the focus hasbeen on the following NUS: amaranth, quinoa and chocho (Andeanlupin). Andeangrains are alsofindingtheir way on ourfairtradeshopshere in Rome, through the programme’s partnership with CTM Altromercato , that is developing a range of products with quinoa and amaranth.

21. We were honoured to have Gelsomina Vigliotti, Head Country Management Officer in the Resource Mobilization and Partnership Office (IFAD) with us. In the morning session, she also gave opening remarks, welcoming participants to the workshop, where she highlighted the innovative nature of the activities financed under IT 311, targeting the migrant communities in Europe.

22. One of the most touching and gratifying moments of the workshop was when the Mayor of Cotacachi presented to IFAD a plaque, in appreciation of the work done together in Ecuador. We were of course honoured to receive the plaque and conveyed our extreme appreciation to the Mayor for his kind gesture.

25. Rima Alcadi (IFAD) : r.alcadi@ifad.org