Every four years in Rome, the global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum sees millions of small-scale producers represented on the world stage as farmers’ organizations gather at IFAD’s headquarters. The Forum allows farmers to have their say on IFAD’s operations, strengthen collaboration and discuss policy.
At the eighth global meeting, we asked four farmers’ organization leaders from around the world about current challenges, new developments and their hopes for the future.
“Farmers’ organizations are service providers, not just recipients.” – Maria Elena Rebagay, Asian Farmers’ Association, Philippines
This is my third Farmers’ Forum and I’m happy to see progress made on issues raised in the past. In the Asia-Pacific region, we are proving that farmers’ organization are effective service providers, not just recipients.
Young people have a lot of potential to improve productivity and sales with digital technology. But our biggest concern is attracting them to agriculture because they lack the resources to do so, including access to capital and natural resources.
Farmers are also greatly affected by climate challenges. But we are not just victims – we are also the first people to respond. We need to work together with IFAD so that we can provide services to our members and build more climate-resilient food systems. This must include expanding access to climate finance. Continue reading
This article is originally published by IFAD.
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