The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islandsthrough the Canarian Institute of Agrarian Research (ICIA), presented this Friday, December 16, 2022 in Cross port the project to create a network of agroecological farms in the Canary Islands which, called Fincas Faro, serve as a reference for the rest in this type of production. The meeting, held in the visitor center of the La Orotava Acclimatization Garden (JAO), known as the Botanical Garden of Puerto de la Cruz, was attended by representatives of the first ten farms to launch this initiative, whose objective is to double the number of participants during the first year.
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islands, Alice Vanoostendeattended the meeting and stressed that the Lighthouse Farms They will be of great benefit “not only to consumers, but also to the environment, as agroecological farming also contributes greatly to protecting natural resources and biodiversity.”
The project starts with Ecolen (The Palm); aguadara (The iron); Ecovent (La Gomera); Alborinco (Gran Canaria); Asomasamen and Biomilt (Fuerteventura); the SAT ElJable (Lanzarote), and Atelsam, the La Jara Ecological Farm and the Tacoronte Ecological Association (Tenerife). Farms and groups that are already part of a forum that, in Vanoostende’s opinion, “will contribute to promoting the growth of this network to make it a benchmark for production for the entire Archipelago, serving as a beacon and guide for other nearby farms.”
example and reference
The Regional Councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Alicia Vanoostende, presents an initiative that aims to promote agroecology in the Canary Islands with the support of farmers and ranchers who have been maintaining this activity for years and will serve as an example and reference in different areas for the growth of agroecology. sustainable exploitation of field resources on the islands.
The scientific director of the ICIA, Maria Jaizme-Vega, stressed that this project «was born from the need to establish a network with those farmers who have agroecology as a way of life, not just as a production system. Given the characteristics of our islands and of agroecology itself, experiences cannot normally be extrapolated from one place to another . That is why we turn to experts who have managed to maintain a farm or workplace by their own means to produce Meat, eggs, cereal, vegetables… in different environments and islands. Experiences that we want to take advantage of to create a stronger fabric, share experiences and offer advice.”
The project is born with ten farms located on seven islands, a figure that is expected to double in one year
“Each of these farms is committed to later becoming beacons, which give light and guide, in this case other farmers in their immediate surroundings,” he pointed out. Jaizme Vega. In his opinion, “the future will be agroecological or there will be no future.”
The ICIA, an autonomous body attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Canarian Government, leads this development and innovation project that aims to “combine ancestral and scientific knowledge with new technologies for the promotion and dissemination of agroecology”. This initiative began in October 2022 and works to achieve a double objective: “Respond to consumer expectations of a high-quality product, while providing greater protection for the environment, helping to mitigate climate change.”
In yesterday’s act intervened Maria Jaizme-Vega and Eduardo Rodriguez, as managers of the implementation of this project. Both detailed all the training that the project contemplates, in line with the important informative and dissemination work to improve skills around this activity, make agroecology visible, sensitize and bring agroecology closer to the largest possible part of the farms on the islands. Subsequently, the ten farms that have already joined the network of agroecological farms of Canary Islandswith the intervention of the farmers who are in charge of these initiatives.
The day continued with a round table in which each of the participants had the opportunity to explain the main problems that affect them and how to deal with them, through the possible networks established between each of the projects. The closing was dedicated to the presentation of the new website of the project.
