Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Entwicklung und Humanitäre Hilfe
Workshop (EN)
10 October 2023 | 13:30 – 16:30 | Wilhelminenstraße 91/IIf, 1160 Wien (Office of Dreikönigsaktion)
As part of the SDG Dialogue Forum, we have invited Dr. Million Belay, General Coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) and member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES Food) to Vienna.
In this workshop, Million Belay will delve into AFSA’s vision for the necessary transformation of food systems, highlighting the significance of agroecology and peasant rights. We will discuss promising strategies and insights and explore the roles that development cooperation agencies and partner organisations both the Global North and South should take in fostering these transformations.
We will start with a 40 minutes input by Million Belay and will have time for your questions afterwards. In order to structure the discussion according to your interests, please send us your questions via the registration form.
Please register by September 25th.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact katharina.eggenweber@globaleverantwortung.at or isabelle.schuetzenberger@dka.at.
The speech addresses the query, „What are the primary goals of an agricultural system in Africa?“ and discusses the two opposing paradigms for supplying Africa with its desired food: Green Revolution and Agroecology. The political-economic perspective is then used to examine the green revolution and demonstrate why its goals are an extension of Africa’s colonial and extractive food production system. It will propose agroecology as an alternative and demonstrate its importance with examples. The speech presents successful examples and research findings that underscore the positive impacts of agroecology on food security, biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, and rural livelihoods in diverse African contexts. It will conclude with what the AFSA is doing to promote a better African food system.
Million Belay a member of the IPES-Food panel, an expert and advocate for forestry conservation, indigenous livelihoods and food and seed sovereignty, and a co-founder and coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), a network of networks that advocates for seed and food sovereignty, as well as promoting agroecology and supporting the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples to their land. Million is also a founder of MELCA – Ethiopia – created as an indigenous NGO working on agroecology, intergenerational learning, conservation of forests and improving the livelihood of local communities and indigenous peoples. He also played a significant part in the establishment and activities of the Africa Biodiversity Network (ABN).
In addition to these topics, he is interested in knowledge dialogues and the use of participatory mapping for social learning, identity building and mobilization of memory. Million is working to integrate resilience thinking into national, regional and global policies. This includes exploring resilience assessment methodologies that help communities in their adaptive strategies to social and ecological change. He won the National Green Hero Award for both Ethiopia and Addis Ababa, the capital city, in 2008. He was also a nominee to the International Forest Hero Award in 2011. He has a PhD in Education, an MSc. in Tourism and Conservation, and a BSc. in Biology.
Invitation
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