Nearly a hundred representatives from different regional branches of the network participated in the meeting, held in Colonia department, Uruguay. Other official agencies from Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil, such as the Movement of Small Scale Farmers of the south of Brazil, participated in the meeting.

Some of the objectives of the meeting were the need to strengthen the Agroecology network, which was founded 7 years ago in Uruguay, and to debate about public policies on agroecology, from its promotion to its commercialization.

The Meeting considered a proposal made by the Ministry on this subject, Olascuaga told Real World Radio. The minister said that since 2005 the state has recovered control over agriculture and economic public policies.

“A family farmer cannot be treated in the same way as a national or transnational corporation who have great access to capital and resources. The mission of the Department of Rural Development is to set forth and implement policies to promote family farming”, he said.

“We are here today because we believe that agroecology as a technical and scientific discipline and the Network of Agroecology as a group of organizations of producers and consumers that have adhered to this principle can make an important contribution so that the rest of the family production will incorporate a more sustainable way of production and so that that sustainability is ecologic and social”, said Olascuaga.

The plenary meeting analyzed and accepted the proposal submitted by Olascuaga on behalf of the Ministry and they decided to create a follow-up commission to assess its outcomes and implementation.

Photo: Radio Mundo Real