Political influence issues
Cooperation for obtaining mutual benefits
The organizations must not only defend their own interests, but they also need to learn to speak the “urban language” and demonstrate to other urban stakeholders that they can help to meet some of their needs, by offering, for example, recreational activities for city residents, educational opportunities for schools or environmental organizations or health care services to a variety of institutions. The organizations need to establish strategic alliances with these and other urban actors, providing services and winning support, political weight and negotiating capacity, in order to defend themselves collectively and carry out promotional activities.
Using diverse and complementary strategies for exercising political influence
Relevant public policies for organizations of urban farmers are those which guarantee their rights to use land for their purposes and which facilitate their production, processing and commercialisation activities. The organizations need for local and/or national governments to put into place policy instruments that support urban agriculture, for example, subsidies for organic farming and gardening, support for recycling organic wastes for urban agriculture, and guarantees for the existence and maintenance of green spaces in urban areas, among other elements.
In order for the organizations to successfully influence public policy and practice, it is important for the organizations to apply a variety of complementary lobbying strategies: providing information (through regular written correspondence, visits or conferences, press releases), peaceful demonstrations, directly participating and/or mobilizing others to participate in local policy discussions linked to strategic land use planning, contributing to the creation of new laws or ordinances and pushing for budgetary allocations for urban agriculture-related activities. In order to effectively implement these strategies, the organizations must have an understanding of the local political context in which they are operating, develop negotiation skills and have the support of influential partners.
Education and training as strategies for political influence
Empowerming the agricultural producers to effectively influence public policy and practice at various levels (local, provincial, national) should be accomplished by providing knowledge about the existing legal and regulatory frameworks, as well as developing their capacity for lobbying, negotiation and the formulation of public policies.
|
