The host association
Paysans Artisans

Citizens around the world resist to the expansion of a globalized agriculture, lead by the industry, the international trade. Local solutions are invented to support small farmers land access in order to produce biological products and to maintain a diversity of knowledge and products, to create alternative systems of commercialisation, to gather little farmers forces as well as producteurs and consumers.

Created in 2013, in Floreffe, in the region of Namur, Belgium, the Paysans-Artisans cooperative works within this dynamic. It gathers around fifty local producers (farmers, market gardener, cheese maker, converter,…) and more than 250 consumers. Each week, it sells on its website several hundreds of food products. With a very profesional organisation, around one hundred volunteers take part in its organisation.

The activity of Paysans-Artisans is not only about commercialisation. It also encourages cooperation between producers. Thus, it aroused the creation of an employer group of a dozen of producers that will hire agricultural workers together. They will share their shift between several producers. It works on the development of a market gardening farming planning software adapted to the very diversified situations of little farmers.

Paysans-Artisans also created an association organised according several work groups that try out new ways of consumption, to enhance thought around agriculture and food stakes. It creates happily local solidarities.

Our circuit of “Alternatives Paysannes” offers you to be immersed in this citizen and associative turmoil. Travelers will be hosted by members of the cooperative. They will visit farms and workshop, meet the actors of the movement and take part in several activities of the cooperative.

This stays is for producers and commited citizens that take part in alternative experiences in their region as well as for open minded citizen that are interested in this questions.