PELUM Uganda is organising a 2-day National Agroecology Actors Symposium (NAAS 1) as the first of its kind in the country. The event, which will be held from 30th to 31st May at Silver springs Hotel in Bugolobi, Kampala will bring together various stakeholders ranging from farmers, private sector, research and academia, government institutions, non-government organisations, international organisations, media and the general public. The event aims at facilitating collective learning (experience sharing), marketing, and dialogue on agroecology towards a process for development of a robust and inclusive national strategy/ roadmap for scaling up of Agroecology in Uganda. The event will also lead to formulation of a National Agroecology Actors platform to facilitate knowledge sharing, networking and joint action.

The event is in the spirit of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) led Initiative of Scaling up Agroecology that was launched during the 2nd International Agroecology Symposiumheld in April 2018 at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. The event will also be a build up to the EasternAfrica Conference on Agroecology and ecological organic tradeorganised by Bio vision Africa Trust and IFOAM in Nairobi, Kenya from 25th to 27th June 2019.

The Symposium will tackle different thematic areas likesecuring resource rights for smallholder farmers, harnessing agroecology research and knowledge to inform, policy and practice, developing responsive agroecological markets and sustainable consumption, favourable financing mechanisms for scaling up Agroecology, streamlining agroecology and climate resilience in public and private extension systems and responsive policy frameworks for scaling up of Agroecology. The NAAS will include several activities prior, during and after the symposiums.

The overall objective of the NAAS 1 is to facilitate multistakeholder platform for further understanding of agroecology, dialogue on pertinent national context specific agroecological issues and initiate a process for development of an inclusive strategy for scaling up of agroecology in Uganda.

The NAAS will be attended by a wide range of stakeholders that will include; Civil Society organisations, Private Sector, Academia, Research institutions, International agroecology experts, representatives from PELUM Association Country Chapters and other partners, Development partners, media, members of parliament, ministries, agencies and Departments and farmers.