A capacity building training was organized under the program of “Addressing causes for poverty and ensuring food security for farming communities” implemented by Sustainable Agriculture Unit, Caritas Sri Lanka-SEDEC, in order to address one of the key objectives- ‘Communities are mobilized and the civil society organizations are agents of change’.
The main focus of this training was to enhance the capacities of staff of Food Security program and Lead farmers represented from Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Colombo, Chilaw, Ratnapura and Badulla Dioceses. The workshop was conducted as a two day residential program, facilitated by Diocesan Director & FS team of Caritas Kandy- SETIK and Caritas Sri Lanka –SEDEC National Food Security staff on 02nd -03rd of February 2021. Social Activist Mr. Chinthaka Rajapaksha, Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) was invited to conduct the program to provide guidance and inspiration to participants.
The training sessions were conducted in a participatory manner, which included the group discussions, presentations and role-plays to provide opportunities for cross learning and mutual exchange of knowledge and experiences among the participants. The content of the training included;
- Advocacy Campaigning and it’s characteristics,
- Advocacy Cycle
- Initial Steps in Advocacy Campaign Planning
- Formulating the Advocacy Action Plan and Implementing Actions
- Introduction to lobbying
The community representatives, who participated in this event, were encouraged to lead advocacy and lobbying for ‘Rights Based perspectives’. Moving into the practical session of the program, participants were teamed up under the topic of “chemical free crop cultivation” demonstrating;
- Position papers
- Posters Campaigning
- Organizing rallies with relevant placards.
The presentations were based on campaigning methods taking into the consideration the knowledge from the training, while fulfilling the objectives of training. The participants were coached on planning a logical and orderly process to attain clear objectives, which can be achieved with relevant program participants of Food Security program.
