Integration of migrants in Baixo Alentejo in debate at Ovibeja this year

The integration of migrants in Baixo Alentejo is one of the topics being debated at the 40th edition of the Ovibeja agricultural fair, which takes place between April 30th and May 5th, in Beja, it was announced today.

In a statement, ACOS – Associação de Agricultores do Sul, promoter of the event, revealed today that, despite agricultural associations being the central theme of this edition, throughout the six days of the fair there is ‘space’ to discuss various issues.

“Integration of migrants in Baixo Alentejo: what is the path?” is the name of the conference, promoted by ACOS, which will take place at 2:30 pm on May 3rd, in the Auditorium of the Technological Base Incubation Center of NERBE/AEBAL – Associação Empresarial do Baixo Alentejo e Litoral.

This is a “very relevant topic today” and will benefit from sharing knowledge with this year’s guest region of Ovibeja, the municipality of Fundão (Castelo Branco).

According to ACOS, in addition to other guests, the colloquium will feature interventions by Filipa Batista, representative of the Fundão Migration Center, or Vasco Malta, head of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Portugal.

Agricultural associations, the central theme of the edition that marks 40 years of the agricultural event and which “is at the genesis of Ovibeja”, will be addressed in several conferences, said the organization.

One of them, precisely entitled “Agricultural Associativism”, will take place at 11:00 on May 2nd, in the ACOS auditorium, with the former Minister of Agriculture and sociologist Luís Capoulas Santos providing the initial framework on the topic.

The colloquium, under the responsibility of ACOS, will also feature the participation of the presidents of the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP) and the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA), Álvaro Mendonça e Moura and Joaquim Lopes, respectively.

The president of the National Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives and Agricultural Credit of Portugal (CONFAGRI), Idalino Leão, the general director of the Association of Young Farmers of Portugal, Firmino Cordeiro, and the president of the Spanish sheep cooperative OVIPOR, Agustín González, are other participants already confirmed, ACOS revealed today.

The future of viticulture, the preservation of native breeds, professional education, agroecology and natural-based solutions or competitiveness in agriculture are other topics that will ‘be on the table’ for reflection, in sessions promoted by entities participating in the event.

According to the organization, Ovibeja, like every year, will include “exhibitors from the north to the south of Portugal” and also from Spain, this year bringing together a livestock exhibition with around 400 animals.

Exhibition and sale of agri-food products, handicrafts, agricultural machinery and equipment, institutional stands, concerts, horse and dog events, livestock competitions, restaurant area, food and drink kiosks and street food spaces, entertainment Street events or demonstrations of new technologies applied to agriculture are other aspects of the event, which, as usual, promises to bring together “all of the Alentejo in this world”.