The Biodiversity and Sustainable Agrosilvopastoralist Livestock Landscapes (BioPaSOS) project brought together diverse local actors in working tables in Chiapas, Mexico, to further develop the climate-smart livestock concept.

On November 27, a group of local actors came to the Autonomous University of Chiapas (UNACH) campus in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico. Convened by the BioPaSOS project, they met to construct and develop the climate-smart livestock concept, and thus define the actions to be implemented in Chiapas, one of the three territories where the BioPaSOS project is carried out.

Working table participants working together on the climate-smart livestock concept

 

 

 

We want to build the concept among local actors in a participative way, that is, from the perspective of a producer, businessman, technician, researcher and politician; we want to obtain a different version that serves as the guide for our future work in Chiapas

-Alejandra Martínez, researcher for the BioPaSOS project.

 

According to José Antonio Jiménez, the local coordinator of the BioPaSOS project in Chiapas, among those participating in the workshop were producers, academics, researchers, representatives of non-governmental organizations and federal government institutions, and officials from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), an implementation partner of BioPaSOS.

A practical methodology based on specific objectives was used to help construct the concept, which allowed everyone to participate in the discussion and analysis of the topic. In addition, exercises from the Farmer Field School methodology were also adopted and applied.

“The benefit of this methodology is that through it, participants feel part of the products or results produced, which BioPaSOS, together with them, will seek to implement,” said Raimunda Santana, the facilitator of the activity.

During the meeting, participants discussed a common vision for climate-smart livestock in Chiapas state, and identified the short-, medium- and long-term opportunities for developing climate-smart livestock in Chiapas.

By the end of the meeting, a first approach to the concept of climate-smart livestock was achieved. It will be shared in a document so that the general population and interested institutions can learn about and contribute to conversations around climate-smart livestock.

 

The BioPaSOS project is financed through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) of Germany.

This article belongs to the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE). Its content is the sole responsibility of the author.