G.Lo.B – Governance Local para a Biodiversidade

The project, financed by DEVCO through their “Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development” – Restricted Call for Proposal 2011 for Local Authorities program will analyze the actions undertaken and the current situation regarding safekeeping of agricultural biodiversity and the appreciation of local and traditional products in three territories: the Bahia Province of Brazil, the Namibe Province of Angola, and the Maputo Province of Mozambique. The first aspect of the project will take place through the training of economic and social services personnel and through the activation of pilot projects aimed at demonstrating the economic sustainability of small scale local vegetable productions and the raising of high-quality, native animal breeds, while showing their positive impact on the economic, social, and environmental realities on the ground.

The project’s second action, with the participation of local Authorities and in many cases by actively keeping in line with interventions that are already in place or at least already planned, is to put in place a network of local consultation areas so as to define the politics and interventions that will help the local communities, with the aim of raising appreciation for high-quality local products and promoting the local consumption of the same.

The end goal of the project is, through the interventions outlined here above, to contribute to the creation of efficient political actions with an eye to sustainable development of the protection of typical, local products.

Results: At the end of the project we expect the following results:

• acquired understanding of the principle best-practices on agricultural biodiversity;
• acquired capacity to analyze the contexts under examination, in order to define the managerial politics on agricultural biodiversity topics;
• improved capacity in the formulation and management of the politics and programs for the safeguarding and greater appreciation of biodiversity in the areas concerned;
• improved capacity to actively involve the economic and social services personnel in the identification and realization of politics and programs aimed at the sustainable development of the territory in question;
• improved intervention strategies aimed at increasing appreciation and safeguarding of local products;
• improved knowledge of the native varieties, species, and ecotypes;
• promotion of a systematic approach to the themes of sustainable development by promotion the activation of local development intervention based on the appreciation of agricultural biodiversity of the territory in question;
• engagement of local stakeholders;
• improved technical capacity and understanding on the part of the local stakeholders of the territory’s products and their potential;
• improved product quality;
• more efficiency in production, distribution, and promotion of the products;
• improved organization of the local producers;
• inproved quality of life in the rural communities and a reduction of their economic and social vulnerability;
• increased sensibility on the importance of eating locally on the part of the consumers, local authorities, heads of schools, and educational centers;
• improved interaction between government personnel and economic/social services personnel as per a systematic approach to the themes of safeguarding the agricultural biodiversity and sustainable development;
• improved and measurable efficiency in the interventions that take place within the territories as these are the fruit of joint planning following the activation of the laboratories.

Target: The direct targets of the project are, at the institutional level, officials and leaders of the partner Local Authorities, representatives and managers of the Organizations and Research Institutions for Agricultural and Livestock Development. The direct targets of the project are, within economic and social services personnel, the managers of agricultural and livestock development associations and coops, as well as local small-scale producers.

Website: Under construction

Project Closed/Ongoing: The project is closed

Partners: Veneto Region (Leader), Venice Foundation, COSPE, SUAF – Bahia State (Brazile), Maputo Province (Mozambique), Namibe Province (Angola).