Farmer Research Network (FRN) Launched by Aliados with McKnight Foundation
As part of Aliados’ 3-year research project funded by the McKnight Foundation, we launched a rural Farmer Research Network (FRN) with participants from five campesino and indigenous communities in the Andes highlands. The FRN incorporates a growing understanding that rural research needs to emphasize ecological, health, social, and economic goals and the needs and priorities of smallholder farmers.
The Aliados FRN brings together farmer groups producing goldenberry, Andean grains, and honey, research institutions, and other relevant stakeholders in a co-created process of sharing and building knowledge. The communities participating in this FRN include Ruta Escondida, Santa Rosa de Cusubamba, Cumbas, AZAMA, and Guachinguero. The research in this FRN is designed to be locally relevant and inclusive and is based on a set of principles and sub-principles to uphold this vision for farmer research networks (see more on the principles here)
Our goal at Aliados is to enable curious farmers with the tools and knowledge to find agroecological solutions that contribute to meeting local aspirations. We have been very fortunate to count on the support and experience of Stas4D founder and CEO Carlos Barahona, and Israel Navarette of the CIP, in designing and setting up the FRN.
Farmer experimental plot
As part of Aliados’ 3-year research project funded by the McKnight Foundation, we launched a rural Farmer Research Network (FRN) with participants from five campesino and indigenous communities in the Andes highlands. The FRN incorporates a growing understanding that rural research needs to emphasize ecological, health, social, and economic goals and the needs and priorities of smallholder farmers.
Farmer Research Network participants
The Aliados FRN brings together farmer groups producing goldenberry, Andean grains, and honey, research institutions, and other relevant stakeholders in a co-created process of sharing and building knowledge. The communities participating in this FRN include Ruta Escondida, Santa Rosa de Cusubamba, Cumbas, AZAMA, and Guachinguero. The research in this FRN is designed to be locally relevant and inclusive and is based on a set of principles and sub-principles to uphold this vision for farmer research networks (see more on the principles here)
Our goal at Aliados is to enable curious farmers with the tools and knowledge to find agroecological solutions that contribute to meeting local aspirations. We have been very fortunate to count on the support and experience of Stas4D founder and CEO Carlos Barahona, and Israel Navarette of the CIP, in designing and setting up the FRN.
The program will continue for the next 3-years. We genuinely look forward to seeing farmers' questions and the results they discover as they apply scientific inquiry guided by the Aliados team.
Launch of the farmer research network in Guayabamba, November 14, 2022