Creation of a land bank to guarantee a basic resource for agriculture
- The Lurbizi project was created in Oiartzun to boost agriculture and take steps towards food sovereignty, towards 2016. “A group of citizens had been reflecting for some time on the poor situation of agriculture and the primary sector in the people,” said Ibon Mitxelena Fernandez, councillor for social economy and the sovereignty of the city council. The citizens went to the City Hall in search of support, with the intention of starting a job and the City Hall joined to their reflection. “Oiartzun had a custom, a history and a lot of people who lived in the farmhouse, although there were very few productions. It was seen that in the last 70 years there has been a great loss,” he said.
The City Hall also launched the Oiartzun Burujab project, with the aim of influencing five areas, including food sovereignty. “For the people to become more self-sufficient, we need land, we need farmers, and those farmers need resources,” said the councilor. In this sense, one of the first works launched by the City Hall is the obtaining of land to cultivate: “In the vicinity of the Oiartzun River there was a farmhouse with quite a few lands. In exchange for a very small rental, the city council managed these lands,” the councilor explained.
A competition was convened to later present the cultivation projects of these lands, and the local cooperative Elika and the Arraztalo association obtained one hectare. Elika produces vegetables in the ecological model and sells them in the people themselves; Arraztalo also works in horticulture, but it is also a social integration project in which members with psychic disabilities work.
Producer support resources
The City Council also grants annual grants for investments in agricultural projects under the Lurbizi project. “This year 31 productions have been presented for the call,” explains Mitxelena. For agricultural activity, in addition to land, the availability of other resources is essential for production. For the time being, the councillor welcomes the achievement of decent working conditions in the projects put in place.
During these years the City Hall has set up the Food Bureau of Oiartzun to work with the municipal agents. “There are the City Hall, the rural development association Behemendi, the farmers and farmers of the municipality, the processors, the baserritarras association and the cooperative Labore Oarso,” he says. Looking to the future, more agricultural projects are needed to increase supply, and this will be one of the challenges they face. “With the start-up of Lurbizi we didn’t know what the way was going to be, and well, the Elika cooperative has been created, which consumes a lot of people native vegetables, Arraztalo is also there, there are about ten people working on it, Labore has about 500 Oiartzun members, they are working with local products in the children’s school…, little by little, and we may want to finish more slowly than what’s
