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Local Governance for pro-poor Smallholder Development in the Amazon
University of Freiburg

The strategic partnership between the Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg (ALU-FR), the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the Amazon Initiative Consortium (IA) and the Humboldt University Berlin (HUB) together with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)  seeks to combine scientific findings from recent research about the role of smallholders for sustainable development in the Amazon with IFAD’s mission for rural poverty reduction. The Amazon is home to many forest-dependent poor groups such as indigenous people and small settlers. It encompasses the greatest primary rainforest area increasingly being contested by interests of external actors. Current institutional frameworks and development pattern tend to lead to human harm and further environmental destruction. Even policy initiatives that are geared towards sustainable development tend to replace locally adapted livelihood strategies with capital-intensive and often ecologically poorly adapted technologies not compatible with local realities. The results of four years of in-depth research in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru demonstrated that in order to maintain the cultural and environmental diversity of the region, it is essential to systematically value the capacities and perspectives of smallholders as a starting point for development.This implies a drastic shift of current governance structures and development paradigms. Instead of continuing to adapt the poor forest dependent households to the requirements of the market oriented development approaches, conditions should be better balanced to the requirements of smallholder production systems including agriculture and forestry. This includes awarding local governance schemes and securing their existence against outside influence. Against this background, this side event is intended to be a mutual learning and knowledge sharing exercise which will be an eye-opener and – as such – an important contribution to a congress that strives for an exchange between science and practice.

 

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