CoAct Database

Agroecology Fund

In India, the state of Andhra Pradesh is investing $200 million to convert its farmers to the agroecological practice known as zero budget natural farming, which uses from-the-farm nutrients to grow crops without using costly chemical fertilizers or pesticides, which can push farmers into debt. More than 100,000 farmers there are already using this method, and an estimated 500,000 farmers in 3,000 villages will have moved to this method by the end of 2019. In Africa, the African Centre for Biodiversity, a research and advocacy organization, urges the Tanzanian government to phase out subsidies for chemical fertilizers and speed a transition to agroecology through support to locally manufactured inputs. In the Americas, the Agroecology Collective in Ecuador strengthens municipal farmers’ markets sourcing from local agroecological producers to achieve a national goal of food sovereignty. The new Mexican president is makng agroecological principles a guiding force behind Mexican agriculture. Within the FAO, there is growing support for agroecology, as evident by recent symposia and intergovernmental support for the Scaling Up Agroecology Initiative