- After two years of process, on March 28, the Shrine of San Miguel de Aralar held the constituent assembly of the association of agroecological baserritarras of the Mountain of Navarra. The newborn group is called Habelarte and the baserritarras of ten municipalities have been called to participate in it: Leitza, Areso, Goizueta, Arano, Lekunberri, Larraun, Araraid-Betelu, Basaburua, Imotz and Atezkoa. Its objective is to respond jointly and in a network to the day-to-day problems of the primary sector and small baserritars, placing their actions on the path of food sovereignty and sustainability.
The initiative emerged three years ago from the baserritarras of Leitza and Areso, but they found it better to bring together the producers of a wider region of the territory. “Although the initial idea was to do something at the level of Leitza and Areso, it was decided to extend the initiative to the whole area, among other things because there was a need to start organizing the baserritarras that are or want to be in that model throughout the area,” the press release states. It has been the baserritars themselves who have been involved in the process of creating the partnership, but they have also received the support and assistance of the rural development association Garalur de Cederna.
The extensive region of Mendialdea is plural in terms of orography and the production model prevailing in each location. Amaiur Unzueta, a nutrition technician and dynamization of Cederna, explained that the management of inequalities and the search for common points has required his work and his time: “First we made the dissemination sessions of the draft written by the baserritarras of Leitza and Areso and the collection of contributions from the baserritarras of the other municipalities, and then we continued with the plenums of the region.” Despite the differences and difficulties, in the end they have managed to reach a consensus on the basis, objectives and philosophy of the partnership.
Working collective solutions
“The work of these two years has served us to realize that the needs are equal for all, even though the local reality is different,” the press release states. They have created Habelarte to respond collectively to these needs and have thus defined the main objective of the group: “To promote sustainable agriculture, promoting practices based on the extensive model and agroecology and understood as a transformative process. With this model we aim to achieve not only the economic profitability of our farms, but also the social and ecological balance.”
The new partnership was born with the aim of influencing production, the process of transformation, marketing, promotion and relations with consumers and administration, and creating a brand based on their criteria. For the time being, the baserritars are working on the partnership; to this end, they have created a letter of commitment to ensure that those who join the group join the grassroots.