Vision and Mission
Farming families and rural communities have a crucial role to play in the future development of human and environmental systems. Farming is, and will remain, the way of life for more people on the planet than any other livelihood, and farmers will continue to be responsible for the management of a greater part of the planet than any other group of people.
The Field Alliance believes that each woman, man and child has the right to knowledge, has the responsibility to decide, and should have the freedom to act in ways which ensure the health and sustainability of human and environmental systems. Further, each woman, man, and child has the inherent ability to undertake these tasks, and that the role of governments, corporations and international organisations is to support the efforts of individuals and local communities. Finally, we believe that efforts to promote healthy and sustainable systems should be informed by a combination of ethical, spiritual, scientific and aesthetic values.
Approaches and Strategies
The Field Alliance will build on the approaches and strategies that have been proven successful over the last decade in the context of regional IPM activities. Thus Field Alliance will provide an alternative to the agricultural and rural development strategies of the last 50 years, some of which had little sustainable impact or even had a damaging effect on rural society and agro-ecosystems. Approaches that the Field Alliance will embrace include:
- Policies that promote rural livelihoods while protecting farmer and consumer interests over those of corporations.
- Inclusive agricultural programs that ensure real participation for all, including the poor, women and disadvantaged groups.
- Education and health activities that are connected to and consistent with the local social and environmental situation and that treat people as the subject of development rather than as objects.
- Agricultural research and learning for farmers that respects and builds upon farmer experience and knowledge by including farmers as active partners in the development of new approaches.
- Farming technologies that ensure the long-term integrity and diversity of the natural resource base and do not require high levels of external inputs particularly toxic chemicals.
Structure and Activities
The Field Alliance supports and builds upon activities similar to those that were supported by the Regional IPM program. Those activities include: the development and application of farmer educational approaches such as the Farmers Field School, community planning, farmer action research, participatory pesticide surveillance studies, local and international advocacy, farmer based information and evaluation systems, and environmental education in rural schools.
Relationships developed over twenty years will be continued and expanded, including those with:
- National and Local Government agencies in South and South-East Asia;
- Community groups and farmer associations;
- Field-based NGOs such as CARE, CIDSE, NPA, and World Education;
- Donors such as AusAID, NORAD, DANIDA, Netherlands, USAID and DIFID;
- Advocacy and media groups such as PAN, Consumer International, and the Television Trust for the Environment.
The Field Alliance consists of a Regional Group, National Partners, and Collaborating Organisations.
The National Partners are either new NGOs established to play a role similar to The Field Alliance at a country level or existing national NGOs that share the vision of the Field Alliance and have previously implemented IPM training programmes (see the Partners> page for more information). National partners will manage activities in cooperation with a wide range of collaborating organisations, such as community groups, farmers associations, NGOs, local and national government.
The Regional Group provides support to National Partners, and to collaborating organisations in countries where a National Partner does not exist. This support include training services, technical backstopping, information-sharing, advocacy and resource mobilization. The Regional Group will also manage funds for larger projects that involve activities in more than one country. Regional staff are located with National Partners, thus enhancing the relevance and reducing the costs of the Regional Group.