Author: Brimoresa Dhoro

From April 21 to 27, RIAM took part in the 17th edition of the International Agricultural Show in Meknes (SIAM), one of the largest agricultural events in the region. On April 23, RIAM contributed to the conference “Practicing Sustainable Solutions to Conserve Agricultural Soil and Water,” organized by the European Union delegation.

During the session, RIAM presented its activities within the NATAE project, focusing on sustainable agricultural practices. The conference aimed to:

• Raise awareness and share knowledge on effective water and soil management
• Highlight innovative and integrated approaches, particularly agroecology as solutions to current environmental challenges
• Identify actionable strategies to strengthen the resilience of Morocco’s agricultural sector

RIAM shared insights into its training programs, cross-visits, and its ongoing work on Participatory Guarantee Systems (SPG) in agroecology, showcasing its contribution to a more sustainable and resilient agriculture in Morocco.

The ENAM team recently welcomed two master’s students from Wageningen University as part of the NATAE project. One of the students, Luigi Lugaresi, worked on the technical aspects and experimentation of associating fenugreek, an aromatic and medicinal plant, with olive trees in Skoura. The other student, Fay De Beer, focused on studying and conducting surveys with male and female farmers, both within and outside of cooperatives in the Skoura Living Lab. For her work, she needed to organize a focus group with the women of the Safirat Al Aachab cooperative, so Safa Aatig who is part of the ENAM team organized this session and participated as an animator, facilitator, and translator during the focus group. The aim was to gather insights from the women about their vision for the future development of the cooperative and the techniques they believe are necessary to make this vision a reality.

From January 25th to 28th, 20 farmers, researchers, and development actors from Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, France, and the Netherlands met in Tunisia for the first cross-visit organized as part of the NATAE project. The participants included laboratory representatives from Laghouat, Tizi Ouzou and Setif (Algeria), and Boulmane (Morocco), as well as researchers from WUR and IAMM.

With the support of INAT (National Agronomic Institute in Tunisia), participants were able to travel to the governorate of Siliana, El Krib delegation, in the north-west of the country, to meet stakeholders involved in the agroecological transition of their territory and discuss with them three major issues in this cereal-producing area: (i) soil fertility, (ii) integration of legumes into cereal systems, (iii) access to information and agricultural extension.

The program included farm visits, a tour of the INGC (National Institute of Field Crops) experimentation station, and restitution workshops. These days were rich in experience and knowledge sharing and highlighted relevant agroecological practices to improve food security and sovereignty in North African countries in the context of climate change.

• (i) Discussions on soil fertility highlighted a real awareness on the part of all stakeholders on the importance of soils for crop yields and system sustainability and, therefore, on the need to preserve them from degradation and erosion. To achieve this, the Siliana – El Krib living laboratory has implemented several practices, such as no-till sowing in combination with crop rotation.
• (ii) The issue of integrating legumes into cereal systems has enabled farmers from neighbouring countries to discover fodder associations and their benefits at different levels (yield, price, nutritional value, etc.). Legume/cereal rotation has also been recognized for its ability to improve soil fertility and crop yields while reducing the need for nitrogen fertilizers.
• (iii) Agricultural extension was recognized by all as one of the main conditions for disseminating agroecological practices and encouraging their adoption by farmers. Agricultural extension can be based on various methods, such as the creation of pilot farms (like living laboratories) or peer-to-peer information sharing, as with the “Farmer Leaders” program developed by INGC over the past 5 years.

This visit was the first of the 4 cross-visits scheduled for 2025, which aim to encourage exchanges between living laboratories and replication laboratories set up in the project’s intervention countries so that farmers, researchers and development actors can draw inspiration from the agroecological actions and practices developed there, and share their own experience. These visits are also an opportunity to create new synergies between stakeholders involved in the agroecological transition in North Africa. The next step in Algeria from February 20^th to 23^rd is to meet the actors of the Laghouat living laboratory, located in an oasis farming system.

The National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia (INAT) invites agronomy, rural economics, and sociology students to a hands-on field school in Kebili, Tunisia, as part of the NATAE project. Open to final-year engineering and Master’s students from NATAE member countries, this is a unique opportunity to engage with agroecology and industry experts. (https://www.iamm.ciheam.org/fr/project/natae/).

Objectives of the field school

Supervised by INAT researchers, NATAE partners, and local socio-economic actors, this field school aims to conduct a territorial diagnosis of the Kebili oases. Participants will analyze local agricultural, economic, and social dynamics, focusing on sustainable development and agroecological transition.

Through surveys, stakeholder exchanges, and spatial analysis, students will gain hands-on field experience, contribute to understanding oasis ecosystems, and propose action plans for a successful agroecological transition.

The Living Lab of El Krib in the Siliana district, Tunisia, marked the start of the 2024-25 cropping season with a Field Kick-Off Day on October 24, 2024 under the NATAE project. Supported by the CGIAR Research Initiative on Agroecology and hosted by ICARDA in collaboration with INGC, INAT, and local stakeholders, the event brought together 54 participants, including farmers, researchers, extension agents, and NGOs with a remarkable 50% female participation.

The initiative aligns with NATAE’s broader goals to scale up agroecological practices across North Africa through its seven Living Labs located in five countries (Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia), addressing multi-aspect challenges at the economic, environmental, social, and policy levels. A key objective of this event was gathering farmers’ feedback on the co-designed agroecological practices that were identified at the El Krib Living Lab site, and therefore to help further refine these practices and guide the Living Lab’s research roadmap in the following phases of the project.

The four agroecological practices were co-designed under the NATAE project mainly in response to the challenges faced in the El Krib Living Lab such as poor soils, irregular rainfall, and soil erosion, given the semi-arid climate, and the vulnerability of the local agricultural system which revolves around cereal-livestock farming.

1. No-tillage + Crop Rotation (Cereals/Legumes)
2. Intercropping (Forage Mixtures) + Livestock Integration
3. Forage Mixtures + Livestock + Reduced Chemical Inputs
4. No-Tillage + Crop Rotation + Livestock

The Field Kick-Off Day was an interactive experience, emphasizing co-creation and knowledge exchange between the different attendees. Farmers engaged in discussions, provided feedback on proposed practices, and witnessed a rainfall simulation showcasing the benefits of no-till farming for water retention and soil conservation.

Read more about it: Unleashing Agroecology in Tunisia: Highlights from NATAE’s Inspiring Field Kick-Off Day