Harnessing diversity for agricultural resilience

Food systems transformation must be sustainable and inclusive, so nobody is left behind. With the right support, every farmer can rise above challenges and drive development, while empowering others to do the same.

From Malawi to Brazil, hear from farmers with disabilities who are rewriting the agricultural narrative. We also explore the importance of racial equity and food sovereignty in global food systems. Finally, we conclude our series on gender-based violence with Alina Luana de Oliveira from La Via Campesina, who discusses efforts to combat this chronic social problem in rural Brazil.

This is Farms. Food. Future – a podcast that's good for you, good for the planet and good for farmers. Brought to you by the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

For more information:

https://www.ifad.org/en/web/latest/-/podcast-episode-61

• La Via Campesina - La Via Campesina, founded in 1993, is an international movement bringing together millions of peasants, landless workers, indigenous people, pastoralists, fishers, migrant farmworkers, small and medium-size farmers, rural women, and peasant youth from around the world. Built on a solid sense of unity and solidarity, it defends peasant agriculture for food sovereignty.
• Light for the World International: Disability & Development NGO - With your support, we contribute to improving health systems, enabling education for all, and amplifying the voices of people with disabilities in the workplace and beyond. In short: we break down unjust barriers to unlock the potential in all of us!
• SPARK - The SPARK program uses a systemic action learning approach to impact the lives of at least 7,000 persons with disabilities in Burkina Faso, India, Mozambique, and Malawi. This approach will enable them to become fully engaged in the economic activities of selected agricultural and pastoral value chains.
• SOUL FIRE FARM – Ending racism and injustice in the food system - Soul Fire Farm is an Afro-Indigenous centered community farm committed to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system. We raise and distribute life-giving food as a means to end food apartheid. With deep reverence for the land and wisdom of our ancestors, we work to reclaim our collective right to belong to the earth and to have agency in the food system.
• Crisis Response Initiative - IFAD’s mission is to create inclusive and sustainable rural economies, where people live free from poverty and hunger. While we are focused on long-term development, we also need to mitigate shocks that arise in this era of converging crises—from COVID-19, to climate change, to the war in Ukraine.