Rebecca Laughton

Landworkers' Alliance (LWA), the union of agroecological farmers, growers and forestry workers is celebrating its tenth anniversary. With its roots in the global peasant's organisation, La Via Campesina, and the food sovereignty movement, it has answered a need in the UK for a political organisation to represent people working on the land in a sustainable way. This talk will outline the origins of the LWA and Food Sovereignty movement, before describing how farmer-led research and the Agroecological Research Collaboration have emerged to meet the need for farmers to take a more active role in setting research agendas. Landworkers’ are natural researchers, exercising their curiosity and observational skills to find practical solutions to pressing problems, and yet are often viewed as passive research subjects. Harnessing their capacity and insights, by inviting them to contribute their ideas, funding equipment and time and respecting their agency would result in more impactful research programmes and better policy-making.