Climate change has significant and far-reaching impacts on agriculture. Addressing these impacts requires adaptation strategies such as developing drought-tolerant crops, improving water management practices, adopting precision agriculture techniques, promoting sustainable land management practices, and implementing climate-resilient farming systems.

Farmers worldwide are making remarkable efforts and developing innovative solutions to confront the challenges posed by climate change in agriculture. While climate change is significantly impacting their livelihood, farmers are not merely victims, but rather, they are solution providers.

To recognize and celebrate the efforts of farmers, farmers’ organizations, and agricultural cooperatives that are making significant contributions to mitigating climate change and promoting sustainable agriculture practices, we are launching a video contest entitled “Advancing Climate Resiliency through Farmers’ Organizations and Cooperatives.” This contest will showcase farmers’ resiliency and ingenuity as we highlight their innovative solutions, strategies, and success stories in their fight against climate change.

With this initiative, we seek to inspire and empower other farmers to adopt climate-smart practices and raise awareness among policymakers, researchers, and the general public about the farmers’ actions toward climate resiliency and sustainable agricultural practices to address the global climate crisis. By showing farmers as solution providers, we also aim to gain better access to climate financing.

This activity is organized by the consortium Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC) through the APFP-FO4A and ARISE programs (funded by the IFAD and EU) and with the support of the German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV), the AgriCord through (FO4A), the Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network (PIFON) through the Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus (PIRAS) Facility (funded by the IFAD and Australian government).

Objectives:

• Raise awareness: Increase public understanding of the impact of climate change on agriculture, the urgent need for innovative solutions, and the crucial role of agriculture in mitigating climate change
• Inspire action: Showcase farmers’ resilience and innovative strategies and climate-smart agricultural practices that can be adopted, replicated, and scaled up to combat climate change
• Amplify voices: Provide a platform for farmers, farmers’ organizations, and cooperatives to share their experiences, knowledge, and success stories.
• Promote collaboration: Highlight the importance of partnerships between farmers, FOs, cooperatives, researchers, NGOs, and policymakers to foster sustainable agriculture.
• Call for Climate Financing. Mobilize climate financing to combat the impacts of climate change on agriculture.

Eligibility/Who Can Join

This contest is open to all farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples, forest users, herders, pastoralists, etc., of all ages and gender that are a member of farmers’ organizations or cooperatives supported by the following programmes:

• APFP-FO4A and ARISE programmes implemented by the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC)
• FO4A programme implemented by the AgriCord
• PIRAS programme (Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility) implemented by the PIFON

Participants can enter the contest individually or as a group/team.

Contest Mechanics

Make a video that shows farming practices demonstrating a clear connection to climate change adaptation and /or mitigation. The video can contain any or all of the following elements/topics:

Themes/Content Elements

Farmer Profiles: Feature small-scale farmers, women farmers, and indigenous communities and highlight their unique challenges, local climate impacts, and innovative adaptations they have implemented.

Innovative Farming Techniques: Showcase sustainable farming practices, such as agroecology, agroforestry, conservation agriculture, precision farming, organic farming, circular economy, and water-efficient irrigation systems. Emphasize how these techniques contribute to climate resilience and enhanced productivity.

Climate-Resilient Technologies: Introduce cutting-edge technologies, such as weather forecasting apps, drone-based crop monitoring, soil sensors, and climate-resilient crop varieties. Explain how these technologies empower farmers to make informed decisions and adapt to changing climatic conditions.

Community Resilience: Explore community-driven initiatives, cooperative farming models, and knowledge-sharing platforms that facilitate collaboration among farmers. Highlight success stories of collective action in adapting to climate change. (Emergency response or quick response during disasters by FOs (e.g. evacuation plan, food relief, etc.)

Climate Financing: Discuss financial mechanisms and support programs available for farmers to access funding for climate-resilient infrastructure, equipment, and capacity-building initiatives.

Policy and Advocacy: Examine the role of governments, NGOs, and international organizations in creating supportive policy frameworks, incentivizing sustainable agriculture practices, and integrating farmers’ knowledge into climate change adaptation strategies.

Categories

Participants can send their entries under any of the following categories:

• Farm level – focusing on the efforts of individual farmers on the farm level
• Farmers Organization level – features the actions of FOs/cooperatives on how they service their members, what their programs are, etc.

Video Requirements

• The video should have a minimum duration of 1 minute and a maximum duration of 3 minutes.
• Participants may use any video recording device (DSLR camera, video camera, or smartphone) or software of their choice.
• The video must be in a standard video format (e.g., MP4, AVI, MOV) and should be of high quality (at least 720p resolution).
• Any spoken language in the video should include subtitles in English (if the spoken language is in the participant’s native language).

Submission Process

• Participants must fill out the entry form (link to be shared by AFA)
• Participants must submit their video file to afairish@asianfarmers.org. The video must be accompanied by a title, a brief description (200-300 words), and the participant’s/team’s name(s), and organization.
• There is no limit to the number of videos to be submitted from each country.
• The submission deadline is on 15 October 2023.

Evaluation Criteria

Entries will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Good practices in climate adaptation and mitigation
• Farmers/Farmers Organizations/Cooperatives as solution providers
• Involvement of women and youth in the initiative
• Social Media Votes(YouTube and Facebook) – The number of likes and subscribers garnered on YouTube and Facebook. (Applicable only for the special award)

Judging Panel

An expert panel comprising representatives from the agriculture, climate change, and sustainability sectors will evaluate the entries. The panel will assess the submissions based on the established evaluation criteria. (TBC)

Prizes and Recognition

Participants will receive certificates and/or trophies. All video entries will be featured in promotional materials, publications, and public exhibitions to gain recognition and visibility.

Winners will receive the following cash prizes:

Grand Winner – USD 500
First Runner-Up – USD 300
Second 2nd Runner-Up – USD 200

Social Media Favorite – USD 100

*Winners will claim their cash prize after submitting a farm or agribusiness plan.

Guidelines for Participants:

• Entries must be original and not infringe on any copyright or intellectual property rights.
• Participants must provide accurate and complete information about their projects or practices.
• Entries should be submitted in the specified format and within the designated timeframe.
• Participants may be required to provide additional information or documentation upon request.
• By participating in the contest, participants agree to grant permission for their submissions to be used for promotional and educational purposes.

We are calling all farmers, farmers’ organizations, and cooperatives to join this contest. Together, let us inspire a global movement towards sustainable agriculture, foster partnerships, promote the exchange of knowledge to combat climate change’s adverse effects on farming communities, and advocate for better access to climate financing for smallholder farmers.