Twenty participants from nine countries in northern Africa and the Middle East and a support team of experts from four other countries are gathered in Agadir since February 25th, for taking a Learning Route in Morocco on Producers’ Organisations.
The 13 nationalities form the ingredients for a multicultural experience of learning and a recipe for participatory knowledge building and exchange. The Learning Route is a concept developed by the Latin American organisation Procasur (www.procasur.org) (another international condiment for the learning experience!). The idea is that local actors (finishing touch by the chef cook) with certain good practices share their experiences with the participants of the route, whom at their turn formulate innovation plans to implement in their home situations, based on this learning. ILEIA travels with them and documents the experiences of participants and local actors.
The Learning Route is more than the usual study tour, for the participants have to be more committed, as well as their organisations, who accept the implementation of the innovation plans. But local actors also have more responsibilities: they become the teachers and trainers of the participants during the route. It means that their knowledge is acknowledged, often for the first time. Imagine the impact of this validation!
The Learning Route in Morocco will focus on Producers’ Organisations, to understand the good experiences in this country with cooperatives at local level and their umbrella associations at higher levels. The first organisation that will share its experiences is ANCA (www.anca.ma), the
national association of women cooperatives for the production of argan oil, a Moroccan specialty.
The second is COPAG (www.copag.ma), a cooperative representing almost 13,000 cattle producers and owning a big company manufacturing fruit and dairy products. The third is the sheep and goat organisation ANOC (www.anoc.ma), working in close cooperation with the state for the genetic improvement of small ruminants.
Follow us in the coming days and hear more about the learning in this route!
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