The following are examples of people working in the field towards making a difference in moving from policy to practice.

Interview with Miguel Angel Nuñez, Barinas and Caracas Venezuela Farmers are Demanding Agroecology: Making Democracy Participative by Nic Paget-Clarke

Interview with Ela Bhatt, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) founder and first general-secretary A good combination of struggle and constructive work / Create, as a strategy, alternative economic organizations Ahmedebad, Gujarat, India by Nick Paget-Clarke

Interview with Richard Haigh, Manager of the Integrated Technology Department of the Valley Trust Sustainable development - Participatory development KwaZulu Natal, South Africa by Nic Paget-Clarke

Interview with Eve Crowley, Task Manager for Chapter 14 of Agenda 21 and Facilitator of the SARD Initiative. Respecting the Autonomy and Decisions of the Poor: the SARD Initiative by Nic Paget-Clarke

Interview with Jeanette Gurung

Side Event on Civil Society and SARD during COAG 2005

Following the plenary discussion on SARD at COAG 19, a side event on SARD and Civil Society took place on 14th April. It was co-organized by the Rural Institutions and Participation Service (SDAR) and the Resources and Strategic Partnerships Unit (TCDS), sponsored by the SARD Initiative and the FAO Livelihood Support Programme and funded by the Governments of Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and FAO’s Rural Institutions and Participation Service (SDAR). It focused on i) local successes fostering sustainable livelihoods, sustainable intensification of rural production systems and integrated natural resources management as a means to SARD and ii) the need for mobilizing the capacity of different stakeholders to scale up successful practices in order to influence policy changes that can rapidly reduce poverty and hunger while protecting the environment. Four prominent civil society and government panelists took part and offered diverse but complementary views on sustainable agriculture and rural development. They underscored the importance of civil society, governmental and inter-governmental collaborative efforts for the implementation of SARD and promoted people-centered approaches to scale up local level successes and contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The moderator was Peter Kenmore, Coordinator Global Integrated Pest Management Facility, FAO. The event was organized as a debate with many interventions from the audience.