In this section you will find detailed information on the various on-going mechanisms to follow up ICARRD at national level.

One concrete action that has come out of the working group FAO-IPC-IFAD on the ICARRD follow-up is the preparation of a proposal for a Special Initiative on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (SPI-ARRD).

This Special initiative was first mentioned at the 29 FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Venezuela, between 24-28 April 2006.

The final report of the regional conference recommends that "FAO, through its relevant units, prepare a proposal for a Special Programme for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development aimed at granting the support needed for the implementation of the ICARRD follow up activities" (see paragraph n.55).

The next meeting of the working group, scheduled by early September 2006, will discuss a preliminary draft of the SPI-ARRD.

Photo: Ubirajara Machado

The SPI-ARRD is conceived as a mechanism to support national dialogue between interested stakeholders on the issues emerging from ICARRD Conference. Since this is a proposal coming both from Member Governments and Civil Society Organizations, SPI-ARRD is to be considered as a tripartite engagement FAO - Governments - Civil society.

Competition over natural resources is increasing throughout the world, whilst the capacity of State institutions to respond to these pressures is not adequate. Same can be said for market forces which are not always the best mechanism to address these issues. For these reasons FAO promotes a negotiated and participatory approach, complemented by appropriate technical assistance to support the elaboration, negotiation and implementation of initiatives, projects, program aimed at resolving some of the bottlenecks related to the access to natural resources. In the same spirit, the SPI –ARRD will promote the enhancement of weaker actors’ capacity, for them to be in a better position to participate to the negotiations.

SPI-ARRD will be based on the following principles:

• Principle of voluntary participation / self promotion: SPI-ARRD is conceived around the willingness by interested stakeholders to promote a negotiated and participatory approach to deal with issues related with NR and RD, therefore the participation is open to all concerned parties.

• Principle of bottom-up and inclusiveness: The livelihood assets of rural communities and territories, if fully recognized and adequately managed and supported, can contribute significantly to reduce poverty and hunger. Human capacities, institutions and networks, and financial, physical and natural assets which are already present in rural communities and territories constitute an important, under-utilized potential that are important for livelihoods improvements of rural communities, as well as for achieving socio-political stability, ecological sustainability, protection of agricultural heritage, and prosperity in urban and rural areas throughout the world.

• Principle of decentralization and dialogue with social movements: The increasing number of democratic governments in developing countries -in particular in the Central and Eastern Europe region- combined with decentralized governance in all regions, are enabling the emergence of a stronger civil society that is better prepared to partner with the state and private sector.

• Principle of supporting capacity building: The SPI-ARRD will promote sustainable natural resources management and rural development with a strong emphasis on capacity building at different levels.

Initiatives to promote dialogue on agrarian reform and rural development are already taking place in some countries.  In Honduras, a "Foro Nacional por la Reforma Agraria y el Desarrollo Rural para el combate a la pobreza" was held last 17 and 18 August 2006, organized by La Vía Campesina Internacional and supported by FAO-Honduras, government institutions, international cooperation agencies and social movements.

In Guatemala, a "Conferencia Internacional sobre Reforma Agraria Integral" was held last 10- 11 de octubre 2006 supported by FAO-Guatemala, government institutions, international cooperation agencies and social movements. Read the detailed programme and the final declaration.

In this section, you will find projects, programmes and partnership initiatives, at country level, aimed to implement the recommendations made at the ICARRD Conference in Porto Alegre.