Youth and Agroecology
Short Film Competition

In the Youth and Acroecology Short Film Competition, the Luang Prabang Film Festival, in partnership with ALiSEA, encouraged filmmakers to explore the power young people have to promote sustainability.

With a fast-growing population, increased pressure on natural resources, and climate change impacts becoming more present everyday, the Mekong Region is at a crossroads regarding its agriculture development, calling for an important shift towards an agroecological transition.

Agroecology is a promising movement to inspire young farmers and reverse urban migration. It seeks to:

• produce diversified and high-quality food
• reproduce—or even improve—the ecosystem’s fertility
• limit the use of non-renewable resources
• avoid contaminating the environment and people
• contribute to the fight against global warming

Across the Mekong Region, thousands of innovative farmers have already engaged themselves in an agroecological transition, moving away from conventional and chemical based farming practices. They are developing new and improved practices, building upon both traditional empirical knowledge and scientific research for a better understanding and use of ecological processes operating in farming systems.

The Agroecology Learning Alliance in South East Asia (ALiSEA), coordinated by GRET  (www.gret.org) with the financial support of the French Agency for Development (AFD), is an innovative regional platform that networks all initiatives promoting agroecology nationally and regionally in order to form a strong coalition of stakeholders at different levels—from farmer organizations, to national and regional research centers, to the private sector. This coalition aims to fuel public policy creation and advocates the wider dissemination of successful alternative agricultural practices amongst stakeholders.