Group on CSOs/NGOs, Regional workshop on RLSAI - Vientiane

1. 16 Nov 2017, Regional workshop on RLSAI - Vientiane
Group on CSOs/NGOs
This group had diversity of opinions and stances rather than consensus.
- Key messages
o Economic land concessions for large scale agriculture is often
unsustainable and has more negative outcomes for all parties
involved, they seem to make sense only in a minority of cases.
o More inclusive sustainable and broader alternatives for investment
should be invested in.
o Balance of power across platforms is often not considered, within
communities and regarding gender relations
o Should be taking a more systems approach particularly when looking
at supply and demand at one level and landscapes and ecosystems at
another level.
o Greater focus on smallholder agriculture, government needs to take a
key role in supporting smallholders
o Sharing and learning platforms are critical in the learning process
- Priorities and Issues for future opportunities
o Capacity building for stakeholders at all levels
o How to better communicate with investors (different languages)
o How to meet agribusiness needs and community needs
o More discussion on relevant international laws and how they apply to
domestic laws in the context of smallholder famers, economic land
concessions, trade agreements, etc.
o Role of finance institutions, e.g. access to credit for smallholder
farmers, and role of international financial institutions play in how how
development is approached
o Link between land use and governance
o Level of commitment between stakeholders
- Areas for future attention
o Discussion about loss of land
▪ 1+4, 2+3 models turning into 0+5 where communities lose out
is a danger
o More discussion on interagency cooperation needs (government)
o Creating legitimized platforms for smallholders in particular
- Topics for exchange in phase 2
o Conflict resolution and mediation alternatives
o Plasma model in Indonesia
o Exchanges on positive examples of community – investor
o Transboundary landscape approaches, e.g. co-management learning
network
o Community forestry as agri-business, e.g. China community forestry
models
o Positive examples of seed reserve policy – seed sovereignty, not
“seed banks”.
o See positive examples of how smallholder systems look and how they
are perceived by communities themselves.