- Since its creation approximately a decade ago, EHKOlektiboa, in favor of agroecology, has organised meetings every year to bring together all the members of the association and make decisions on the projects they have in place. Last year they were surprised by the confinement and were unable to meet, but this year they managed to overcome the obstacles and carry out the XIV Peace Meeting. Instead of meeting at one point, as on previous occasions, the meetings have taken place in five farms in different countries: Etxano, Azpeitia, Itsaso, Aibar and Ezpeleta.
“This year we are working hard to obtain an identification related to agroecology and at the meetings we have been shaping it,” said Aintzira Oñederra, a member of the EHKO motor group. The Participatory Guarantee System (BSP) is the identification tool chosen by the association to differentiate itself from bio-industry, and work is now under way on the creation of this system. In short, it is a question of going beyond the current official ecological labels and of agreeing an identifier that takes into account other criteria related to agroecology: in addition to organic production, they attach importance to having a close and human home and to participation in the social and transformative economy, for example.
The collaboration and participation of members are the tools of the EHKOlektiboa to create the identifier. “We propose a popular alternative of controls and certifications, an exchange network based on collaboration and participation. We are the ones who propose the criteria for moving towards agroecology,” they say in the presentation video. The main objective of this year’s meetings was to deepen the definition of the identifier: “We often find it an abstract concept of agroecology, so a good definition of our values and criteria will allow us to differentiate and explain clearly what we do in our farms,” said Oñederra.
Here's the video they've made about the Participatory Guarantee System:
Baserritarras and consumers united
EHKOlektiboa brings together farmers and farmers throughout the Basque Country who work in different areas of the primary sector, but also citizens and consumers. “We believe that the approach of agroecology needs to be worked on throughout the food system, and we are making a special effort to attract people also from consumption,” said the member of the motor group. Producers and citizens have also participated in the meetings this year, and the organisers have been satisfied with the response they have received.
The members of the group will continue in the autumn the path taken in the April meetings, in which they consider it to be a job that needs to be done with patience and with small but safe steps. “We define agroecology in three areas: farm management, naturalness and the social sphere. It does not refer to a specific situation, but to a path. We will get the ID, but we still have other duties along the way,” the colleague has rounded up.