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Bringing Expertise Together

Our Volunteer Cooperation Program

The volunteer cooperation program of UPA Développement international (UPA DI), Réseau Agro-Innov (Agro-Innov Network), facilitated the completion of 93 missions over the past year. Volunteers provided significant support in areas such as soil health, green energy, climate change adaptation, animal health, accounting, geomatics, nutrition, governance, teacher training , communications, and youth inclusion. These missions include:

  • 74 North-South missions
  • 13 South-North missions
  • 6 South-South missions

Profile: Lise Anctil and Nil Voyer

Lise Anctil and Nil Voyer are no strangers to community engagement. This couple, formerly owners of a dairy farm in Bas-Saint-Laurent, has been involved in international cooperation for many years. Following their honeymoon, which involved a two-year cooperation experience in Peru, they completed numerous missions together and separately in several countries, specializing in management, accounting, and dairy production.

They also accompanied delegations of farmers from the Global South on three occasions during visits to Quebec, in addition to being involved with the local management union of their dairy cooperative. For them, international encounters and exchanges bring deep meaning to their work. Lise is particularly proud of the many training sessions provided to women farmers and has witnessed the impact of training and professionalization across generations in family farming.

Now retired, their involvement in international projects has become less frequent, but their commitment remains unwavering!

Réseau Agro-Innov (Agro-Innov Network) Highlights

The year 2023-2024 was a busy one for UPA Développement international’s (UPA DI) volunteer cooperation program, Réseau Agro-Innov. A total of 93 missions, supporting 35 partner organizations were completed in 10 countries across West Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Here are the highlights from this past year:

  • New partners joined Réseau Agro-Innov. In Indonesia, the KOKAMA cassava-processing women’s cooperative welcomed its first volunteer for an eight-month period. In Guinea, several volunteers supported the National Confederation of Farmers’ Organizations of Guinea (CNOP-G) and its partners in areas such as traceability, market access, and commercialization.
  • Volunteers from Réseau Agro-Innov contributed to the development of several new projects and initiatives, including a school canteen in Senegal, climate advisory clubs for the Femmes Hwé-Nou (Hwé-Nou Women) project in Benin, and the launch of the Femmes Pro-Forêts (Pro-Forests Women) project in Guinea.
  • Réseau Agro-Innov’s thematic funds, dedicated to women’s entrepreneurship and actions for the environment and climate change adaptation, supported four new projects in Bolivia, Haiti, Peru, and Senegal.

The initiatives of Réseau Agro-Innov are made possible through financial support from Global Affairs Canada.

Viens marcher ma terre (Come Walk my Land) 2023

In November 2023, UPA Développement international (UPA DI) hosted a delegation of 13 farmers from Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Tunisia in Quebec to participate in the Viens marcher ma terre program.

All participants were part of the Famille Agricole inTERREnationale (International Agricultural Family) initiative. The delegates took part in a series of meetings, workshops, and training sessions focused on family farming and climate change adaptation.

They also had the opportunity to spend a week with farming families from the UPA Federation in Estrie, to learn about Agriclimat : des fermes adaptées pour le futur, to visit the Institut de technologie agroalimentaire du Québec, Nutri-Œuf (farmer owned), and learn more about collective marketing at Place des producteurs in Montreal.

Femmes Pro-Forêts (Pro-Forests Women)

The Femmes Pro-Forêts project, a climate change adaptation initiative in the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea, has completed its first year. This phase focused on launching activities and strengthening collaborative ties with Canadian and West African organizations. These connections are designed to create synergy, fostering the adoption of sustainable solutions tailored to the Guinean context.

The project is led by a partnership between UPA Développement international (UPA DI) and the Chaire de recherche du Canada en économie écologique (Canada Research Chair in Ecological Economics) at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, combining expertise in environment, international development, and family farming.

Habitat and WASCAL also contribute scientific expertise through their knowledge in biodiversity, climate change, and geomatics, facilitating the adoption of relevant and innovative nature-based solutions. The involvement of Equitas – International Centre for Human Rights Education strengthens the inclusive governance approach by integrating feminist climate justice, environmental rights, and advocacy activities.

Partnerships with local farmers' federations reinforce the project’s regional foundation, while the institutional alliance with the ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement durable (Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development) and the Office guinéen des parcs nationaux et réserves de faunes (Guinean Office of National Parks and Wildlife Reserves) ensures that the actions of Femmes Pro-Forêts align with the country’s ministerial and state strategic priorities.

Finally, the project aligns with other regional initiatives, such as the projet de Gestion intégrée des ressources naturelles dans le paysage du Bafing-Falémé (Integrated Natural Resource Management Project in the Bafing-Falémé Landscape) of the UNDP and the Moyen Bafing Offset Project of GAC-CBG, to ensure quality services, coherence, and the sustainability of actions undertaken.

With such a gathering of expertise, it is clear that Femmes Pro-Forêts is a large-scale project that will yield exciting results!

Femmes Pro-Forêts is made possible through financial support from the Government of Canada, provided via Global Affairs Canada.

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Gender Equality
Martin Caron
A Word from the President

A famous journalist and writer once said, "To engage is first to attempt to speak to others." And I can attest to that! In the early 1980s, a colleague invited me to a meeting of the group The Future Professionals of Agriculture. It was at that moment that I truly understood how my situation, in many ways, was similar others.

This openness toward others continued over time. I realized, through each of my engagements, that advocating for change and improvement first requires talking about it. This is how we can identify what unites people, their shared challenges, and the potential solutions.

The 100th anniversary of the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA) in 2024 is an opportunity to celebrate this great sense of community. The 30th anniversary of UPA International Development (UPA DI) in 2023 was equally significant. In both cases, the gathering of individuals driven by an unwavering desire for openness and change has led to great achievements, in Quebec and around the world.

This commitment is invaluable, not only for Quebec's agricultural sector but for every community directly or indirectly impacted by the expertise, willpower, and know-how of our organization. It is with great pride that I have taken on the presidency this year, and I invite you to read and enjoy this year’s report.

Hugo Beauregard-Langelier
A Word from the Secretary-General

Whether we live on sand clay, or snow, there are individuals who make the decision to act in solidarity. This commitment is what has driven UPA International Development (UPA DI) from its creation in 1993 to the present day. Initiated by farmers cultivating the lands of Quebec and later enriched by their sisters and brothers in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia, the dedication of these individuals to international solidarity and family farming has enabled UPA DI to grow. Although UPA DI's past is filled with success stories, the future global context in which we will operate suggests many challenges.

If agriculture has been the foundation of our civilizations, its current trajectory is concerning. Until 2019, living standards, health, and education worldwide showed steady growth. But starting in 2020, these indicators began to decline for the first time in nearly 30 years. It is difficult to judge history as it happens, , but the multiplication of global crises, the rise of inequalities, the erosion of civil liberties, and the expansion of artificial intelligence are all signs of significant upheavals ahead.

Despite this global uncertainty, , the engagement of those who grow our food and seek to live with dignity is essential.  Family-owned businesses remain the dominant model, contributing both to the vitality of rural areas and the food supply of cities. Whether in Europe, Africa, Asia, or Quebec, agricultural families around the world have demonstrated their ability to mobilize and commit to more sustainable food systems. It is within this commitment that UPA DI finds its purpose.

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