Inside IFAD’s 2012 Governing Council: ‘Feeding the world, protecting the planet’

A small army of social reporters covered IFAD’s 2012 Governing Council of UN member states last week, attracting unprecedented online attention to the meeting at the agency’s Rome headquarters. This robust virtual presence supplemented regular media coverage of the high-profile gathering, which featured heads of state and other top officials and policy makers, as well as one of the world’s leading philanthropists.

The GC convenes annually to guide IFAD’s strategic investments in smallholder agricultural development and poverty reduction. Its theme this year – ‘Feeding the world, protecting the planet’ – emphasized the need to make rural livelihoods more viable and environmentally sustainable in an era of population growth and climate change.

Concurrent with the GC this year, IFAD’s biennial Farmers’ Forum also filled the agency’s conference rooms and corridors with representatives of small-scale producers’ organizations around the globe.

Throughout the meetings, the social reporters blogged, tweeted, and posted photos and videos on IFAD’s various social media platforms. In total, the GC and Farmers’ Forum produced some 5,900 tweets (under the hashtags #ifadgc and #fafo12), which appeared in Twitter feeds with millions of followers worldwide. The main speakers and panels, plus many side events, were also webcast live.

To review all of the GC and Farmers’ Forum posts, check the ‘blog archive’ links in the lower right column of this web page. Links to a small sampling of individual blog posts follow.

IFAD President looks ahead.  In the run-up to the GC, the President of IFAD, Kanayo F. Nwanze, shared his high expectations for the 2012 meeting in a brief video interview.

‘Youth in Agriculture.’ At a Farmers’ Forum pre-meeting held on 18 February, about 30 delegates from rural youth organizations developed action plans to help make agriculture a viable option for young entrepreneurs in developing nations.

‘The future is in our hands.’ The Farmers’ Forum kicked off on 20 February with a grassroots focus on the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and fishers around the world.

Smallholders and Rio+20. On the second day of the Farmers’ Forum, a working group on the upcoming Rio+20 conference reflected smallholders’ perspectives on climate change and agriculture, and their determination to be heard by world leaders.

Governing Council opens. As the GC began on 22 February, there was a palpable sense of anticipation about the presence of two heads of state, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who delivered keynote speeches that day.

Meeting women farm leaders. After the opening speeches at the GC reaffirmed the central role of women and youth in smallholder agriculture, a Farmers’ Forum side event on women’s leadership got down to the nitty-gritty of development work and gender equality.

‘What will Rio herald for agriculture?’ At this compelling GC centre-stage event, Dr. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, CEO of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network, called for decision makers to put farmers first and allow them to produce food sustainably.

The role of remittances. The immense development potential of rural investments by communities in the diaspora catalysed an animated discussion at this GC side event, organized by IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances.

Gates at centre stage. On day two of the GC, following a keynote address by Italian Minister for International Cooperation Andrea Riccardi, philanthropist Bill Gates offered his views on a different future for smallholder agriculture. Another take on the Gates event is here , and a blog post about the expanding partnership between IFAD and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is here.

By the time the GC and Farmers’ Forum wrapped up, participants had been informed, inspired and challenged by these discussions and many more. And IFAD, through its social reporting network, had captured that excitement and shared it with interested and influential people worldwide.

Creating a “new rural reality” for young entrepreneurs to succeed

By Monica Romano

The young women and men who gathered at IFAD on Saturday for the Youth Session not only have clear ideas, but do not seem discouraged by the challenges and constraints they are fully aware of and that have even been already experiencing themselves. Coming as representatives and leaders of farmer organizations or invited as participants in IFAD-supported programmes, they showed enthusiasm and commitment to making FAFO somewhat different, maybe more special, compared to the past. Simply by having their voice being heard for the first time in such an important dialogue and partnership platform. Perhaps also knowing that the youth do not have that many opportunities to speak with the world of the adults, present their views and proposals, and even make recommendations, especially in the international arena and in front of policy makers. What impressed me although it did not come as a surprise was the strong awareness and sense of responsibility the young participants demonstrated in all their interventions and contributions, in several ways. Sometimes, I perceived they were feeling to be like “elected”, in the positive sense. I mean, they understood that they were representing the youth community as a whole, and therefore that they had to take advantage of this unique opportunity, avoiding to make mistakes and making sure they did not miss anything they would regret afterwards…

While putting on the table a number of challenges the rural youth face – limited decision-making, experiences and leadership skills, self-confidence but also trust from the older generations; and also those that may be common to their parents, such as limited access to land, credit, training and market – the young participants were also proud of highlighting their many, specific strengths: creativity, flexibility and energy, just to mention a few. One of the biggest challenges they debated upon was the lack of interest on the part of young generations in engaging in agriculture: “there is no pride in being farmers” - stated someone – and “one may even not be able to find a wife if he is a farmer”, echoed another participant. It was made clear that there is need to raise the profile of agriculture, starting early on, from the school. This may be challenging, if we consider that young generations have been seeing their parents struggling in agriculture. Therefore, in order for channelling the message of farming and farmers as good, young people also need to see business opportunities in agriculture, need to become entrepreneurs engaging in a “profession”. This was the world used by the IFAD President, who joint the unusual gathering to listen to the youth’s recommendations.

This final stage of the day was really when the youth proved once again to understand what they want and wish for as well as their ability to articulate their demands not without coming up with concrete proposals. It was unanimously recognized the need for FOs to become ‘youth-sensitive’, not only in terms of representation but also in effective decision-making of young members. Young people also called for youth-focused agricultural development projects and programmes and for participating in project design, implementation, and M&E. In this regard, IFAD-supported projects should systematically include rural young women and men as a target group, with specific support being provided and monitored. Young farmers also expressed the need to enhance their skills and showed they are aware of alternative approaches to the conventional “in-door/face-to-face training”: liaising with students in agricultural institutions or getting exposed to on-the-job experience by working with a successful farmer entrepreneur. Being trained and guided was felt as key also in addressing the issue of young people’s limited access to credit, which should be combined with advice for the business activity to be feasible and sustainable. While recognizing the deep value of indigenous and traditional knowledge, young people indicated that they aim at transforming agriculture through innovation: using media and ICTs and exploring for new opportunities (such as niche markets and agro-turism). All this and much more were the young women and men discussing and recommending to IFAD, farmers’ organizations and their Governments – to create a new rural reality in which to grow as successful entrepreneurs.

#FAFO12 – Strengthening Farmer Organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa in a systematic and sustainably way can make the difference

Farmer organizations (FOs) in Africa play a key role to promote new opportunities to maximize their gains in lucrative agricultural value chains. However, these prospects depend on their ability to identify emerging opportunities and to meet the greater competitive requirements.

Mr Namanga Ngongi, President of AGRA, has let the discussion on how to develop opportunities to work with and to strengthen Farmers’ Organisations in order to provide farmers with better access to production inputs and better opportunities to sell their produce. The representatives of regional networks of farmers organisations, Mr Fadel Ndiame (FOSCA), Mr I. Sunga (SACAU), and Mr John Mutunga (KENFAP Kenya) have presented their strategies to support these organisations.

The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) works to achieve a food secure and prosperous Africa through the promotion of rapid, sustainable agricultural growth based on smallholder farmers. AGRA aims to ensure that smallholders have what they need to succeed: good seeds and healthy soils; access to markets, information, innovative financing, storage and transport; and policies that provide them with comprehensive support.

The Farmer Organization Support Centre in Africa (FOSCA), recently established by Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Rockefeller Foundation, seeks to develop the managerial, organizational and technical capacity of FOs by linking them with service providers that focus on demand-driven and income-enhancing services.

The Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) strategic pillars are advocacy on regional, continental and global matters impacting agriculture, capacity strengthening of farmers’ organisations, and provision of agriculture-related information to members and stakeholders. A systematic and structured approach to work with partners such as Governments as well as the private sector helps farmers to optimize their production capital and marketing and can substantially improve their incomes. Access to market information is essential.

The Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers (KENFAP) is the umbrella farmers’ federation representing interests of 1.8 million farm families and the legitimate farmers’ voice in Kenya. In partnership with AGRA, the federation provides business development training as well as data on yields of crops over years in a number of regions in order to help farmers to choose the right value chains to improve their income.

AGRA is also linking up to other regional networks of farmers’ organisation such as ROPPA and PROPAC. International partners such as WFP can provide skills and knowledge on logistics to bring the farmers’ produce to lucrative markets. The WFP Purchase the Progress (P4P) initiative, for example, buys stable food from also from developing countries. In 2010, WFP bought US$1.25 billion worth of food – more than 80 percent of this in developing countries.

Farmers are private sector players and able to increase their profit through services provided by FO. These services must be provided in a strategic and systematic way to ensure stability for the members as well as good quality of outputs and an increased bargaining power on markets for the members.

World Agriculture Watch: Coming Soon FAFO12

by Jeffrey A Brez

This afternoon, after IFAD's Governing Council ended, the Farmers' Forum took advantage of the fact that so many stakeholders were still in town to have a final round of thematic events. I attended a session hosted by the FAO and CIRAD on a proposal for a World Agriculture Watch (WAW background in English French Spanish). The concept is founded on the notion that while we do have a lot of agricultural information and data available, there are important gaps in quality, quantity, availability and analysis. Particularly, we are lacking a tool with which to track and analyze trends in transformations and impacts in agricultural and farming systems that affect the world's 500 million smallholder farms. The discussion focussed on how to ensure that farmers' organizations can contribute to and benefit from the WAW. Here are the three presentations made, and below them a few thoughts on the discussion that followed.

Alessandra da Costa Lunas of COPROFAM presented thechallenges family and indigenous producers are facing in Latin America.

Apresentação observatorio mundial de agricultura

View more presentations from IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Alexander Muller, Assistant Director-General Natural Resources at FAO presented the rationale for a World Agriculture Watch.

Ifadp farmers forumam

View more presentations from IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Patrick Caron, General Director at CIRAD, looked at some of the mechanics of assessing structural changes and impacts in agricultural and farming systems in an integrated way.

Presentation caron v8

View more presentations from IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Esther Penunia (Philippines) of the Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development set the tone by saying that while there is potential in WAW, it must include bottom up information and data that is already being generated by farmers' organizations to be a WOW! Ousseni Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso) of ROPPA urged that existing regional initiatives such as Agrimet not be duplicated, but complemented. Carlos Sere, IFAD's Chief Development Strategist advised that any new data system set up be sustainable, use an open data model approach that allows inputs from and useability for a variety of stakeholders, know its own boundaries (what questions it can and cannot answer), and have a reliable system to guarantee data quality.

Progress achieved and future goals for IFAD-FO partnerships at national and regional levels: East and Southern Africa

This was a parallel regional working group session, that took place on Monday, 20 February 2012.
IFAD is currently providing financing to 19 countries in East and Southern Africa (ESA), for a total of USD 1.12 billion. Most of this funding is provided to sovereign governments, to implement investments in the rural sector which will benefit small holder farmers, fishers, herders and rural folk engaged in off-farm employment. As highlighted by Geoffrey Livingston, Regional Economist at IFAD, if these investments are to be effective, the participation of farmers, fishers and herders, directly and through their respective organizations is essential. Although these partnerships are growing stronger, Geoffrey highlights that there is still enormous space for improvement.
What are these FOs/RFOs and what are they doing?
Experience was shared by Stephen Muchiri , CEO of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF – see http://eaffu.org ). EAFF is a sub-Regional Farmer that strives to promote the interests of farmers within the region on various issues, including markets, productivity, capacity building and regional integration. Membership is voluntary and is currently approximately 20 million farmers. EAFF has a wide range of partnerships, including research organizations, NGOs, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), other RFOs, etc. Stephen highlighted the important policy role played by EAFF – both at the regional and at the national levels. This has included budget tracking, developing positions on controversial issues such as GMOs and land-grabbing, drafting policies.
CAPAD, as we are told by Annick Sezibera, is a confederation of 26 130 households cultivating crops (such as coffee, tea, cotton, oil palm) in Burundi. CAPAD offers its members services related to technical assistance; improving access to inputs and finance; support the post-harvesting; and dialogue with policy makers. The IFAD - CAPAD partnership began in 2009, through the IFAD/EC co-funded SFOAP "Programme To Support Farmers' Organizations in Africa." Thanks to this programme, the capacities of grassroots members were strengthened, particularly with regard to governance and financial management, and this has helped improve visibility, legitimacy and strengthen partnerships with other FOs.
With regard to the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU – see http://www.sacau.org ), its vision is promoting a vibrant, prosperous and sustainable farming sector that ensures food security and contributes to economic growth in Southern Africa. In terms of core membership, it has 16 general interest FOs in 12 countries. It focuses on policy advocacy regional, global and continental matters; strengthening of capacity of farmers’ organisations; provision of agriculture-related information to members and stakeholders; and 3 cross-cutting areas, namely gender, HIV/AIDS and the environment.
How has IFAD been working with the FOs? And what are the areas for improvement?
It emerged that Regional Farmers’ Organizations (RFOs) are playing an increasingly more important role in the development of country-based IFAD strategies. RFOs are participating in project design processes, supervision, and monitoring and evaluation. In certain instances, RFOs are implementers and service providers for IFAD-funded projects.
Claus Reiner, IFAD CPM for Rwanda, highlighted that the support that IFAD can provide is important to ensure that the FO is taken seriously in the role that the members want to play, and making it responsive to their needs.
How do we expand and systematize some of these best practices within the division? What new practices/rules of engagement should we consider? Some suggestion were brought to the table yesterday (but of course the beauty of blogging is that this conversation can go on…. ):
• Clear guidelines for engagement with FOs, identifying suitable ways to work directly with the FOs.
• IFAD could promote a platform for engagement.
• IFAD could help to capitalise on good practices developed in the various countries –e.g., promoting South-South cooperation and KM.
• IFAD should consider lengthening the project duration of grants (required to put together the required infrastructure)
ESA is a big region. 20 million farmers may sound like a lot, but they make up for only 10% of all farmers. So these RFOs are really still quite weak in terms of representation. Greater involvement of RFOs in IFAD-funded investments are real win-win-win situations. It can result in better targeting, and more relevant programmes. This greatly benefits the host country government, IFAD and, of course rural people.
As Périn Saint Ange, ESA Division Director, concluded, FOs need to be practical and on the ground, otherwise the good intentions will not materialize. Currently, FOs do not have much time – they need to have projects with longer durations. They do not have enough funding. We would also want more and better coordination. From the demand side – we understand that what IFAD is doing is good, but we need to do more. This is indeed good news, as we plan on doing more. It is fundamental for FOs to remember that IFAD is owned by government. We can help provide a better platform for engagement, and most of the work needs to be done by the FOs, with the governments.

#fafo12: On day two, Farmers’ Forum delegates get down to business

The sun came out in Rome this morning – after yesterday’s heavy rains – on day two of the global Farmers’ Forum at IFAD headquarters. The meetings started on the early side, at 8:30 a.m., but as forum participants set to work, at least their shoes were dry.

If the opening day of the Farmers’ Forum was all about the big picture, today was about getting down to business. The agenda featured a series of discussions and reports by nine working groups composed of delegates from dozens of smallholder farmers’ and fishers’ networks, as well as IFAD staff.

Actually, the forum had two full sets of working groups. Five regional groups focused on operational partnerships between IFAD and organizations of small-scale producers in different parts of the world. Another four thematic groups drilled down on critical issues, including sustainable agriculture and fisheries, the viability of producers’ organizations, and the role of smallholders in the upcoming Rio+20 climate conference.

Both sets of working groups reported their findings and recommendations at the day’s two plenary sessions. By the time the sun set, the results had been synthesized into a draft outcome document for submission to the annual meeting of IFAD’s Governing Council. The GC, which convenes tomorrow, brings together representatives of the UN member states that fund IFAD. It will meet in a large tent that workers have erected in the IFAD parking lot, and many of the Farmers’ Forum delegates will stay on as observers.

Smallholders in the spotlight
Today, however, farmers and fishers themselves were at centre stage. At one of the plenaries, Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee member Alessandra Da Costa Lunes highlighted their urgent need for more equitable development policies. She was talking about Latin America and the Caribbean, but her comments resonated far beyond that region.

Family farmers on the whole have not benefited sufficiently from broader economic growth, said Da Costa. In fact, they often suffer as a result of policies that degrade natural resources in the name of promoting industry and agribusiness.

Despite the tremendous social capital of rural populations, she added, “economic development at all costs” is taking a heavy human and environmental toll.

For a relative newcomer – I’ve been on staff at IFAD for less than two months – such observations provide a fresh perspective on agriculture, poverty and the environment. From this literally ground-level point of view, you quickly realize that 500 million smallholder farmers already produce 80 per cent of the food consumed in the developing world. It’s plain to see that they must play a central role in ensuring food security for a growing global population as the human race adapts to climate change.

Strengthening producers’ organizations
The importance of smallholder producers’ organizations is the main point emphasized in the Farmers’ Forum draft recommendations to the GC. Most of the recommendations involve strengthening grassroots farmers’ and fishers’ ability to influence policies that directly affect rural lives and livelihoods.

Among other points, the draft urges IFAD to:

• Build the capacities of small-scale producers’ networks
• Involve these networks in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of country programmes and projects
• Advocate for programmes to train rural young people in sustainable agricultural technologies
• Work with governments to adopt and implement FAO’s recently issued voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of land tenure and fisheries
• Support the participation of smallholders’ organizations in Rio+20.

The Farmers’ Forum draft statement to the GC also endorses enhanced government investments in sustainable smallholder agriculture – with a special focus on access to land, credit and markets for poor rural women and young people. It calls, as well, for more youth representation in future meetings of the forum.

“All of these issues are legit,” said IFAD’s Associate Vice President for Programmes, Kevin Cleaver, speaking at one of today’s plenaries. “IFAD is committed to pushing this agenda.”

Agriculture: Can we make it more sustainable…and create a sea of change amongst farmers?

by Willem Bettink

This morning I joined a thematic session of the Farmers' Forum at IFAD. It discussed the merits of sustainable agriculture and looked for practises that can/should be scaled- up. Farmer organizations have no problem in embracing sustainable agriculture, but as one participant said "for a farmer to take- up/follow these practices, what matters are the benefits –an increase in income.  They are far less convinced to do so if they benefit climate change."

Segments of the discussion focussed on good practices that promote sharing of know how and transfer of practices and technologies. Many examples were given of peer-to-peer mechanism such as farmer field schools; all agree that this is the way to go. A farmer-to farmer approach implemented successfully by WFO in Zambia is now being spread to other African countries. Notwithstanding these good approaches it id felt that much more can and needs be done: IFAD should increase its support for capacity building of technicians and famers through its investment programmes in the countries where it operates.

From training and technology the discussion moved on to look into the benefits of organic agriculture. Examples were shared by IFOAM about the impact organic agriculture can have on productivity – up to 100% improvement in yields by integrating sustainable practices into their farming. Can we scale these practices up and spread them across countries?

Farmer organizations expressed the need to be more involved early on in consultation processes between IFAD and governments. With all the good practices that are available there is often not a good enabling policy framework that promotes and incentivises sustainable agriculture amongst small farmers.
I came away of this session with a mixed feeling; there are sustainable agricultural practices that have proven to work and benefit famer s; we do not hear (know…) of success of transformational levels in agriculture in any particular country. Thus “What is it that we are not doing right to achieve more strategic and sea changing results?”….hopefully the panels over the coming days can help me out ….

Future for Smallholders at Rio+20? #FAFO12

This morning I attended (and tweeted from @jeffbrez) the Farmers’ Forum thematic working group on “Engaging Rio + 20.” The room was packed and the tension in the room I felt was equal parts optimism and frustration.

Frustration came from some who felt that the Rio+20 zero draft outcome document does not put a square focus on smallholders (see Food Security section paras 64-66). Some felt uncomfortable with the ramifications of a “green economy” focus that could turn ecosystem services and biodiversity into economic “goods” to be traded and speculated upon in open markets. There was frustration from some representatives about government focus on investment in urban infrastructure, despite the fact that a majority of people live in rural areas. Lack of reliable land tenure and insecure access to natural resources were mentioned as persisting obstacles to smallholder, family farming and indigenous peoples’ wellbeing.

On the positive side, the farmers’ organizations in the room felt that if they are strategic and coherent in their approach, that Rio+20 could be an opportunity to make progress on these frustrating points. The associations generally expressed appreciation for the Rome-based Agencies joint submission to the zero draft document, as well as to the Farmer’s Major Group submission. There was optimism that if consensus can be reached on how to engage in the process and exactly what the outcome objective should be, important progress for the rural poor was not out of reach.

One key hurdle to overcome will be connecting farmers organizations worldwide to enable their collective voice to be heard leading up to and at Rio+20. The associations may request IFAD to support their efforts to organize and navigate the dizzying mix of events and procedures. If they do I look forward to being a part of our partnership.

#fafo12 – Asia and Pacific regional working group: “When you have common objectives, you can shake hands”

 It was great to be in the room yesterday afternoon, when representatives of farmers’ organizations from Asia and the Pacific held their regional working group session with IFAD colleagues as part of the fourth global Farmers’ Forum.
During the three-hour session, participants had the opportunity to:

•   Assess results of the Mid-Term Cooperation Programme (MTCP) with the farmers’ organizations – also known as FOs – in the region
•  Talk about IFAD-FO partnerships at the national and regional levels
• Exchange views on how to strengthen IFAD-FO partnerships  
• Put on the table the challenges of the past biennium (2010 -2011)
• Pave the way for the coming years

The results of the first phase of the MTCP were very encouraging. "Consultation with FOs in the design of new IFAD projects, and in the formulation of new Country Strategic Opportunities Programmes, is now the norm!”, said Sana F K Jatta, IFAD Task Manager for the Farmers’ Forum process in the Asia Pacific Division.

Maybe that’s because IFAD and FOs have a common objective, which is poverty reduction. As Nguyen Manh Hung, Director of International Cooperation in the Viet Nam Farmers’ Union,  said: “When you have common objectives, you can shake hands.”

However, FO representatives from other Asian countries did not all report the same success that Viet Nam and Nepal experienced. For example, Herminia de Jesus Pinto, from East Timor, said that FOs in Pacific countries were not involved in the MTCP; Herman Kumara Wijethunge from World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP) advocated for the involvement of fisherfolk in programme planning; and representatives from India stressed that more Indian FOs should be part of the MTCP. It was a very open and lively discussion.

My take? Much was achieved during the first biennium of the MTCP, but more needs to be done in the coming years in terms of knowledge sharing, involvement of FOs in IFAD country programmes, and strengthening of national and regional FO networks. But to strengthen FOs’ role, these organizations have to be more proactive in areas where there are IFAD projects.

FOs should also work a bit more on gender balance. In the room where the regional working group met, there were  30 people, including myself. Only 10 were women!

Interested in knowing more? Follow the fourth global Farmers’ Forum meeting  bit.ly/ArtmQW #fafo12 #ifadgc to learn about future goals.

FAFO12 – Farmers’ Organisations are the backbone for a more efficient and productive agriculture in Western and Central Africa

Representatives from networks of farmers’ organisations (ROPPA, PROPAC) have pointed out the need for a systematic approach to ensure better capacity building particularly in terms of technical assistance, strengthening of young farmers, and better communication among farmers’ organisations during the Parallel regional working group sessions for the Western and Central Africa region.

Interesting presentations from Guinea and the Central African Republic have shown that IFAD involves farmers’ organisations in their country strategic opportunities programmes (COSOP), programme design, implementation and evaluation as part of the country programme management teams. However, improvements are still necessary particularly with regard to the monitoring and evaluation of programme interventions, communication among farmers’ organisation and project management across the countries as well as technical assistance.

It has been emphasised during the discussion that farmers’ organisation need to be involved in the determination of agricultural policies at local, national and regional level.

Regional cooperation remains a challenge and requires improvement. A better coordination and structuring of farmers’ organisations is needed to increase the efficiency and better opportunities of smallholder farmers across countries and regions.

Farmers’ Forum opens: “The future is in our hands”

The fourth global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum kicked off today at IFAD headquarters in Rome with a grassroots focus on the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and fishers around the world. The two-day event is part of a continuing dialogue between rural producers’ organizations, IFAD and governments.

About 95 delegates from farmers’ and fishers’ networks, and an equal number of observers, are attending the Farmers’ Forum. Many have travelled thousands of miles to participate.

As a new member of IFAD’s staff, I’m experiencing the forum for the first time. Still, having previously spent more than a decade working with UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, I felt right at home at a Farmers’ Forum pre-meeting held here on Saturday. At that all-day special session, about 30 delegates from rural youth organizations put their heads together to develop an action plan on making agriculture a viable option for young people in developing nations.

It was a promising and forward-looking prelude to the rest of the forum, which is about making rural livelihoods generally more viable and environmentally sustainable – and reducing poverty in the bargain.

A matter of survival
Speakers at this morning’s packed opening session came from diverse backgrounds and regions. Yet their over-arching message to the leaders of governments and multilateral agencies was singular. To feed a growing global population while simultaneously adapting to climate change, they said, you have to consider – and act upon – the perspectives of small-scale food producers.

“It’s not a battle for fishers alone. It’s not just a battle for farmers,” said Ujjaini Halim of the World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fishworkers. Instead, the task at hand is a matter of basic survival, she said, adding: “The future is in our hands.”

Halim is one of the members of the Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee, all of whom represent networks of small producers. In their statements, many of the committee members credited IFAD with advancing the idea that smallholder farmers are central to food security and poverty reduction. Several noted, however, that the devil is in the details of translating that idea into concrete policies and programmes.

The road ahead
Djibo Bagna of the West African producers’ network ROPPA listed a series of specific policy questions that must be answered as a prerequisite for rural transformation. For example, how will smallholders gain access to credit and markets? And how can we empower rural women and youth, and build the capacities of producers’ organizations?

“The road ahead is still very long,” said Bagna.

Other speakers asserted that small-scale producers should be more directly involved in the design and implementation of rural development plans at all levels. For instance, the UN Year of Family Farming – scheduled for 2014 – will be meaningful only if it involves smallholders in policy advocacy, said Estrella Penunia Banzuela of the Asian Farmers’ Association.

In addition, Steering Committee members urged IFAD and its partners to support pro-smallholder policy initiatives. For his part, Herman Kumara Wijethunge, of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples, called for concerted action on FAO’s recently drafted Voluntary Guidelines on Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries.

Learning and collaboration
IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze also spoke at the opening session of the Farmers’ Forum, offering his own take on key issues of sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship.

President Nwanze had visited the youth session on Saturday, where I saw him in a public setting for the first time. I was struck by his warm connection with the participants. He referred to that session today, reaffirming his commitment to “strengthening IFAD’s support of young women and men so that they can choose and build their futures in rural areas.”

Citing the droughts in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, and other recent weather shocks, President Nwanze added that “farmers are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather and shifts in climate patterns.” In the run-up to the Rio+20 climate conference in June, he said, IFAD and its grassroots partners – including young people – “must strengthen our collaborations.”

Speaking of collaboration, President Nwanze explained that 90 per cent of IFAD’s projects have benefitted from the input of producers’ organizations since the last meeting of the Farmers’ Forum two years ago. “But we are well aware that there is still more to do in terms of inclusiveness and consistency in these partnerships,” he said.

The Farmers’ Forum is nothing if not inclusive. It seems an ideal opportunity to strengthen partnerships. For me, it’s also a unique chance to learn about the hands-on issues that make up IFAD’s everyday operations. I look forward to learning more.