he book at hand can be seen as a practical depiction of the farmer-first paradigm, with each of its narratives demonstrating one or
more of the paradigm’s aspects. The writers of this book are individuals who have worked, over the past five years, as part of the agricultural service companies implementing the project, “Cooperation in
Urmia Lake restoration through the participation of local communities
in the establishment of sustainable agriculture and preservation of
biodiversity”. They have repeatedly and systematically been trained
on how to adopt participatory approaches in their work with farming
communities. The true value of this book could be that whatever we
read about and discuss in meetings and workshops are portrayed
in practice. Hence, there is hope that the narratives of this book can
provide a platform for connecting and comparing local experiences
to global developments.