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First workshop in Chania for the Koiliaris pilot

25-26 October 2022

The first LENSES participatory activities for the Koiliaris pilot took place on the 25th of October in Chania. Two focus groups were organized in Vatolakos, with the Avocado Farmers’ Association and in Stylos with local avocado farmers. The meeting was organized by TUC with the participation of IRSA.

The focus groups were organized based on a semi-structured interview, to discuss two main issues: 1) the effectiveness of the current irrigation practices, in the context of water resources availability over the area; 2) the potential strategies to overcome existing barriers to innovation in irrigation practices, including knowledge sharing actions and technical options.

The participants also contributed to build a vision for the Koiliaris valley and Koiliaris river, with the aim to guarantee agricultural development, environmental protection and the well-being of the citizens. In this direction, the most critical issues for the area were discussed, including the high level of land fragmentation and limited number of full-time farmers, as well as the low prices in the agricultural products which has cascading impacts on agricultural profitability.

Central to the vision for the area is the need for an increased cooperation between the farmers in order to reach economies of scale and achieve sustainable agricultural development.

The activities in the Koiliaris pilot were completed on the 26th of October with a technical meeting at TUC, focused on the review, analysis and validation of the Causal Loop Diagram created by IRSA, which will be used in future participatory activities in the area.