Report of the 2008 global meeting - IFAD

Report of the global meeting of 

The Farmers’ Forum 

in conjunction with the Thirty-First Session 

of IFAD’s Governing Council, February 2008 

Enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty

Farmers’ Forum Consensus 2005* 

The Farmers’ Forum is: 

• an ongoing, bottom-up, process – not a periodic event – spanning IFAD supported 

operations on the ground and policy dialogue; 

• a tripartite process involving farmers’ organizations, governments and IFAD; 

• a space for consultation and dialogue focused on rural poverty reduction; 

• an instrument for accountability of development effectiveness, in particular in the area of 

empowerment of rural poor people and their organizations; and 

• an interface between pro-poor rural development interventions and the process of 

enhancing the capacity of farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations (including 

organizations of artisanal fishers, pastoralists, landless workers and indigenous peoples). 

The Farmers’ Forum is: 

• guided by the principles of inclusiveness, pluralism, openness and flexibility; 

• built on existing forums where possible and avoid duplication in these cases; and 

• respecting existing organizations and creates new spaces where needed. 

Conditions 

• The forum process starts with national-level consultations that feed into regional or 

subregional meetings. The latter shape the content of, and participation at, the farmers’ 

forum at the IFAD Governing Council. 

• The forum process should feed into IFAD’s governing bodies. 

• The forum’s success depends on IFAD’s capacity to enhance country-level consultation 

with farmers’ organizations and contribute to their capacity building needs. 

• Participants recommend, in particular, institutionalizing engagement with farmers’ 

organizations in key IFAD operational processes (projects, and country and regional 

strategies). 

(*) from the Concluding Statement of the 2005 Workshop 

The Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee members 

• International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) 

• La Via Campesina (LVC) 

• Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) 

• Confederación de Organizaciones de Productores Familiares del Mercosur 

• Reseaux des Organisations Paysannes et Producteurs Agricoles de l’Afrique de l’Ouest 

(ROPPA) 

• World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fishworkers (WFF) 

• World Forum for Fisher Peoples (WFFP) 

• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Report of the global meeting of 

The Farmers’ Forum 

in conjunction with the Thirty-First Session 

of IFAD’s Governing Council, February 2008 

Enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty

Table of contents 

Acronyms 3 

Foreword 5 

Introduction 7 

Section 1: Introductory addresses and Steering Committee statements 11 

Section 2: Assessment of IFAD-FO partnerships and the way forward 17 

2.1 Country Strategic Opportunities Programmes (COSOPs) 18 

2.2 Project design and implementation 18 

2.3 Direct grant financing 19 

2.4 The Farmers’ Forum process and its guiding principles 21 

2.5 Gender 22 

2.6 Joint monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system 24 

Section 3: Regional perspectives 25 

3.1 Common issues emerging from the regional discussions 25 

3.2 Regional specificities 27 

Section 4: Partnership on thematic areas 37 

4.1 Access to land: trends, challenges and opportunities – 

role and perspectives of FOs 37 

4.2 FOs’ experience with, and lessons learned from, engagement 

with, and influence over, policy processes regarding 

smallholder family agriculture 40 

4.3 Climate change and smallholder agriculture: perspectives of FOs 42 

Section 5: ‘Synthesis of Deliberations’ and IFAD’s response 47 

5.1 Synthesis of deliberations of the global meeting 

of the Farmers’ Forum 2008 47 

5.2 Response by IFAD senior management 50 

5.3 Closing of the Farmers’ Forum meeting 53 

Annexes 

Annex 1: Agenda 54 

Annex 2: List of participants 56 

2

Acronyms 

ACP 

AFA 

AROPA 

ASEAN 

COPROFAM 

CAADP 

COSOP 

EAFF 

ECOWAS 

EPAs 

EU 

FAO 

FOs 

FNP 

KENFAP 

IACHR 

ICARRD 

IFAD 

IFAP 

LVC 

MERCOSUR 

M&E 

NGO 

PROPAC 

REAF 

ROPPA 

SAARC 

SACAU 

UNAC 

USMEFAN 

WAMIP 

WFF 

WFFP 

WINFA 

African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries 

Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development 

Support Project to the Farmers’ Professional Organisations 

Association of Southeast Asian Nations 

Confederación de Organizaciones de Productores Familiares 

del MERCOSUR 

Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme 

IFAD Country Strategic Opportunities Programme 

East African Farmers' Federation 

Economic Community of West African States 

Economic Partnership Agreements 

European Union 

Food and Agriculture Organisation 

Rural Producers’ and Farmers’ Organisations 

Federation Nationale de Pêche 

Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers 

Inter American Commission on Human Rights 

International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development 

International Fund for Agricultural Development 

International Federation of Agricultural Producers 

La Via Campesina 

Southern Common Market 

Monitoring and Evaluation 

Non-Governmental Organisation 

Plateforme Régionale des Organisations Paysannes d’Afrique Centrale 

MERCOSUR Specialised Meeting on Family Agriculture 

Reseaux des Organisations Paysannes et Producteurs Agricoles 

de l'Afrique de l'Ouest 

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation 

Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions 

Unia ~ o Nacional de Camponeses 

Union of Small & Medium Scale Farmers of Nigeria 

World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples 

World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fishworkers 

World Forum for Fisher Peoples 

Winward Islands Farmers’ Association 

3

Introduction 

On 11 and 12 February 2008, the Farmers’ 

Forum held its second global meeting in 

conjunction with the Thirty-first Session of 

IFAD’s Governing Council. The Forum 

brought together more than 80 leaders, 

representing hundreds of millions of small 

farmers and rural producers, pastoralists 

and fishers from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin 

The Farmers’ Forum Plenary, 

America and the Near East to interact with 

Opening Session, February 2008 

IFAD staff and senior management. 

Representatives from FAO, selected nongovernmental 

organizations (NGOs), members of Agricord, and other partners also 

participated in the meeting as resource persons and observers. 

One of the objectives of the meeting was to assess the progress of partnership 

between 2006 and 2008. The meeting was opened with the reading of a welcoming 

message from Honourable Patrizia Sentinelli, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the 

Government of Italy. The President of IFAD, FAO Assistant Director-General, and each 

member of the Steering Committee of The Farmers' Forum addressed the Forum during 

this opening session, explaining their reasons for engagement with the Forum, their 

expectations from the meeting and some of the current challenges that smallholder 

farmers and rural producers are facing. IFAD gave a presentation describing its evolving 

engagement with farmers’ organisations (FOs). 1 The afternoon was spent in five regional 

working groups, where discussions were held on progress achieved and future goals for 

IFAD/FO partnerships. 

The first Farmers’ Forum global meeting 

In February 2006, the first global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum was held in Rome in 

conjunction with the Governing Council of IFAD. At the conclusion of the meeting, the 

Steering Committee agreed upon a list of requests and recommendations to IFAD that 

were presented to the Governing Council. In May of that same year, the President of 

IFAD participated in the World Farmers Congress of IFAP in Seoul. In his keynote 

address to the Congress, the President responded to the recommendations of The 

Farmers’ Forum and took a number of commitments on behalf of the Fund. Progress 

on the implementation of these recommendations was reported on by IFAD to the 

second global meeting of The Farmers’ Forum (see section 2). 

1 FOs are defined as membership-based organizations of smallholders, family farmers and rural producers, including 

pastoralists, artisanal fishers, landless people and indigenous people, that are structured beyond the grassroots or 

community level, at local, national, regional and global levels. 

5

On the second day of the Forum, thematic working groups were set up to discuss: 

(i) Access to land: trends, challenges and opportunities and the role and perspectives of 

FOs; (ii) FO experience with, and lessons learned from, engagement with, and influence 

over, policy processes regarding smallholder and family agriculture; and (iii) Climate 

change and smallholder agriculture: perspectives of FOs. The purpose of these thematic 

group sessions was to orient IFAD-FO partnerships on these issues, which had been 

identified in close consultation with The Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee as issues 

of particular interest to FOs and their constituencies. In the afternoon, a synthesis of 

deliberations to be delivered to the Governing Council was prepared by the Steering 

Committee for presentation to, discussion with, and approval by The Farmers’ Forum. 

A final draft was presented at the Forum to IFAD senior management, followed by their 

reactions and a general discussion. The Farmers’ Forum was closed by Kanayo Nwanze, 

Vice President of IFAD. 

The full agenda is provided in Annex 1. A list of participants is provided in Annex 2. 

A CD-ROM and a DVD are also attached to this publication: the CD-ROM contains 

the documents shared by IFAD for the 2008 global meeting and the report of the 2006 

Global meeting – including the ‘Partnerships in Progress’ report. The DVD contains 

selected videos of the 2008 meeting together with the reading of the Synthesis of 

Deliberations read by E. Penunia on behalf of the Forum at the Thirty-first Session of 

IFAD’s Governing Council. 

6

Section 1: Introductory addresses 

and Steering Committee statements 

The Honourable Patrizia Sentinelli, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the 

Government of Italy, highlighted the importance of rural development as a core 

element of the global fight against poverty, and underlined the major role of IFAD, FAO 

and WFP in this context. She called for urgent, common action “to pursue the full 

participation of civil society and farmers’ organisations in the local, national and 

international policy-making processes”. Hon. Sentinelli highlighted the importance to 

the government of Italy of creating new international partnerships for rural 

development, and Italy’s commitment to further support the strengthening of the role of 

farmers’ organisations. She concluded her message affirming her belief that “the path 

that IFAD and farmers’ organisations have started together, leading to The Farmers’ 

Forum, represents an important step in dealing with the challenges ahead”. 

Mr Lennart Båge, President of IFAD, welcomed the growing number of participants 

as testimony of commitment towards shared goals. He acknowledged the need to join 

hands in view of current challenges: “we have extraordinarily complex challenges ahead 

of us [...] Agriculture is and will be the human activity most directly affected by climate 

change […] Bold action has to be taken on adaptation and mitigation to climate change 

[Those you represent] are not only the potential victims of climate change. They are and 

must be very much part of the solution. And for this, of course, substantial additional 

resources will be needed. With the Farmers’ Forum […], we are committed to building a 

common and inclusive framework for regular interaction and partnership between IFAD, 

rural producers’ organizations and governments. More than that, we are 

institutionalizing this process in all our engagements and we are “With the Farmers’ Forum, we are 

mainstreaming it into IFAD’s key operational processes. You gave us, at committed to building a common 

the Farmers’ Forum 2006, two years ago, very clear recommendations and inclusive framework for 

and I responded to them in May 2006 in Seoul where I, on behalf of regular interaction and partnership 

IFAD, took on a number of very specific and concrete commitments. I between IFAD, rural producers’ 

am happy to say that on all fronts I believe we have made significant organizations and governments.” 

progress and we are gearing up to do more, much more […] This is also Lennart Båge, President, IFAD 

an invitation to our friends from FAO […] We very much value our 

partnership and collaboration with you, not only to help us provide the 

relevant and effective responses, but also, and maybe most importantly, 

to ask the right questions and to see and understand the full reality that 

we engage in.” 

José María Sumpsi Viñas, Assistant Director-General of the 

Technical Cooperation Department of the Food and Agriculture 

Organization (FAO), and acting Director-General of the Agriculture 

Department, on behalf of Jacques Diouf, FAO Director-General, 

emphasized the importance for FAO to work with farmers and 

smallholders to achieve its mandate, objectives, and activities. An 

José María Sumpsi Viñas, FAO, Lennart 

Båge, IFAD, and Kanayo Nwanze, IFAD 

9

“The need to build consensus, 

trust and capacity at the national 

level of farm and civil society 

organizations is critical if longterm 

gains are to be made in 

agricultural and fishery policies.” 

Jack Wilkinson, President, International 

Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) 

Kanayo Nwanze, IFAD and Jack Wilkinson, 

IFAP 

“Staple food prices have 

increased, creating extreme 

hardship especially for the poorest 

consumers. This is not because of 

low production. This happens 

because production is taken away 

from the food value chain and 

global stocks are at their lowest in 

25 years. Things have to be put in 

the hands of smallholder farmers 

to protect their livelihood sources.” 

Henry Saragih, La Via Campesina / 

International Operative Secretariat 

Henry Saragih, LVC/IOS and Nemesia 

Achacollo, FNMCB, Bolivia 

example of this is the historic collaboration between FAO and FOs in promoting the 

Farmer Field School approach, for capacity-building of FOs at national level. Mr Viñas 

underlined the value of the increasing collaboration between IFAD and FAO, well 

represented by their collaborative action in relation to the Economic 

Partnership Agreements under negotiation between African, Caribbean 

and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union. In FAO’s view, 

this “is indeed a new quality of this partnership responding directly to 

the contemporary priorities and demands of farmers’ organizations 

facing dramatic changes in rural societies worldwide and in the 

environment. FAO intends to build on this experience and the strong 

partnership with IFAD as a basis for all the programmes responding to 

[FOs] requests and decisions as representatives of your organizations 

and your members.” 

Jack Wilkinson, President, International Federation of 

Agricultural Producers (IFAP), spoke about the importance of strong 

national-level consultations and acknowledged the significant 

improvements achieved so far. Mr Wilkinson affirmed that this is a 

number-one priority IFAP will continue to encourage, because “[…] 

consultations were not done in every country and therefore IFAD 

country managers have not gained the insight that the consultations 

would have contributed to the effectiveness of IFAD’s programmes.” 

The need to build consensus, trust and capacity at the national level of 

farm and civil society organizations is critical if long-term gains are to 

be made in agricultural and fishery policies. “IFAD has also increased 

grants to build capacity at the national level,” added Wilkinson. “This 

needs to be done in a way that builds national consensus amongst 

organizations. If this criterion is not respected, we will fracture civil 

society and it will, in fact, be a step backwards. The same thing should 

be fundamental at the regional level. If that is working properly, then 

the need of a forum every two years becomes a meeting to see how well 

we are achieving our goals [...] I think it is important to give more 

authority to the Steering Committee. We have been asked for our 

opinion for members to come, we have been asked for our opinion on 

the agenda, but to be frank we are not at the point where the Steering 

Committee is organizing the meeting [...]”. Mr Wilkinson concluded 

his statement by stating that “I appreciate that it is early. We are pleased 

with progress. The next steps will be critical.” 

Henry Saragih, International Executive Secretary, La Via 

Campesina/International Operative Secretariat (LVC/IOS), stated, 

“Staple food prices have increased, creating extreme hardship especially 

for the poorest consumers. This is not because of low production. This 

happens because production is taken away from the food value chain 

and global stocks are at their lowest in 25 years. Over-extractive 

development of natural resources is the root of the problem. The whole 

business world is responding to the new market for agrofuel, often at 

the expense of smallholder farmers. Things have to be put in the hands 

of smallholder farmers to protect their livelihood sources; to avoid a 

10

major food crisis, government and public institutions have to create the right policy. We 

hope that the Farmers’ Forum and IFAD will propose concrete actions for all of us – 

access to land and water to increase sustainable local production, to cool down the 

planet, and transparent and simple mechanisms and procedures. We also hope that 

IFAD will take up the results of the ICARRD Conference on Agarian Reform and will 

help FOs to develop negotiating processes with their respective governments regarding 

the programmes that are implemented with IFAD support in their respective countries. 

We also hope to set up specific programmes at country level for peasants. Some first 

steps have been met, but we still have a long way to go.” 

Pedro Avendaño Garcès, Executive Secretary, World Forum of Fish 

Harvesters and Fishworkers (WFF), stated, “Family fishing and the 

fisher communities have not made up the problem that the planet is 

facing but are rather part of the solution to the crisis of the main fishing 

sectors. There are not too many fisherfolk in the world, but there are too 

many fishing fleets from far away. These fleets use non-selective fishing 

which depredate the seas of the world. The seas are not for sale from the 

point of view of the fisherfolk. This is a political and ethical question 

that we all have to face […] Therefore it becomes essential that this 

sector should be a visible part of the protection by the international 

organizations that are acting for rural development […] This 

contribution requires policies that will help the sustainable fishing […] 

A wider application of the rules and principles of international law in 

terms of human rights will certainly be beneficial for organizing the 

small-scale fishing in order to reduce the vulnerability and social 

exclusion of fisher communities and the vulnerable groups within those 

communities, among them women, immigrants and the elderly...We are 

not represented at the political level. FAO will be holding a special 

conference on fishing in October. We hope that IFAD will support us so 

that the fishing organizations can be present at this conference.” 

Herman Kumara Wijethunge, General Secretary, World Forum of Fishermen 

Peoples (WFFP), explained “Activities by international corporations, such as coastal 

aquaculture and water bodies often devastate coastal areas and cause the displacement 

of the coastal communities. Industrial fishing is also a serious problem. Subsidies for 

artisanal fisheries are being cut, markets are being opened to trade liberalization, and 

these are having an impact. Our prices go down, and our fishers cannot compete with 

the prices of the market [...] WFFP expects that IFAD will consider fisherpeople to be 

equal partners in the development process. We also expect that the concerns and 

recommendations and consent that we arrive at in this forum will be reflected at the 

Governing Council and will be implemented in an effective manner.” 

NDiogou Fall, President, Network of Farmers’ and Agricultural Producers’ 

Organisations of West Africa (ROPPA), said, “This forum is an exceptional event and a 

great opportunity to compare our ways of working with other organizations. But it is 

also a privileged moment in time because we can help IFAD to help the poor. 

Instruments and tools must help to make FOs more organized. Over the last few years, 

we have undertaken, with the support of IFAD, various projects and programmes to 

strengthen the capacity of FOs, and to help the poor seize certain economic 

opportunities. We have had incredible successes. We saw that if you develop a 

“There are not too many fisherfolk 

in the world, but there are too 

many fishing fleets from far away. 

The seas are not for sale from the 

point of view of the fisherfolk.” 

Pedro Avendaño Garcès, Executive 

Secretary, World Forum of Fish Harvesters 

and Fishworkers (WFF) 

Alberto Ercilio Broch, COPROFAM, Pedro 

Avendaño Garcès, WFF and Herman Kumara 

Wijethunge, WFFP 

11

“We saw that if you develop a 

partnership that starts with the 

priorities of the poor, a partnership 

which respects the thoughts, the 

rhythms, the mentalities of the 

producers we can actually be 

extremely efficient. Therefore we 

must develop a stronger threeway 

partnership between FOs, 

FAO and IFAD.” 

NDiogou Fall, President, Network of 

Farmers’ and Agricultural Producers’ 

Organisations of West Africa (ROPPA) 

NDiogou Fall, ROPPA and Makanjuola 

Olaseinde Arigbede, USMEFAN, Nigeria 

“Farmers have a limit to the fight 

they can wage. But if they have a 

small brother like IFAD, they can 

do it. We are not asking an 

intergovernmental organisation to 

achieve magic. We are asking, 

where there is a slight dent in the 

knowledge of farmers, for 

organizations like IFAD to supply.” 

Olaseinde Arigbede, National Coordinator, 

Union of Small & Medium Scale Farmers of 

Nigeria (USMEFAN) 

partnership that starts with the priorities of the poor, a partnership 

which respects the thoughts, the rhythms, the mentalities of the 

producers we can actually be extremely efficient. Therefore we must 

develop a stronger three-way partnership between FOs, FAO and IFAD 

[...] New challenges include climate change, biofuels, and the prices 

of agricultural products [...] IFAD and FAO can help by providing the 

tools and vehicles to reverse these dangerous trends for the whole 

of mankind [...] We also believe that IFAD and FAO need to help us 

take part in discussions of land reform. We believe in this threeparty 

partnership, especially since IFAD and FAO have a distinct 

advantage in terms of accompanying FOs and having worked with 

them in the field.” 

Makanjuola Olaseinde Arigbede, National Coordinator, Union 

of Small & Medium Scale Farmers of Nigeria (USMEFAN), said “From 

all smallholder farmers in Africa, we are very grateful to be part of this 

process and to be able to talk to you, people who are very important in 

matters of food production and farming across the entire world. 

Farmers have a limit to the fight they can wage. But if they have a small 

brother like IFAD, they can do it. We are not asking an 

intergovernmental organisation to achieve magic. We are asking, where 

there is a slight dent in the knowledge of farmers, for organizations like 

IFAD to supply this […] If we are not able to talk to other stakeholders 

in clear, scientific terms, as farmers, or farmers’ leaders, then nobody 

takes us seriously. IFAD must play this support role, not just in terms 

of money, but in terms of a back-up that allows us to speak with 

authority. Another issue of great concern is the future of agriculture. 

To become a farmer is a curse in many of our countries. Yet, we are all 

clamouring to be able to control our food production, now and into 

the future. Who is going to do that? We expect IFAD to help us to find 

solutions to these kinds of thorny problems. We need an IFAD that is 

courageous and does not succumb to the big powers.” 

Estrella Penunia Banzuela, Secretary General, Asian Farmers’ 

Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), stated, “Even 

if agriculture remains a vital sector in Asian economies, we small men 

and women farmers and producers, who form the majority of the 

people dependent on agriculture, are still poor. Our poverty is caused 

by unequal distribution of natural and economic resources, and access 

to decision-making processes. The regional integration processes taking place in Asia are 

not benefiting smallholders. They are further displacing us. Women farmers bear the 

brunt of this, and with less income in our pockets, there is less money for food, health 

and education. Global warming has emerged as the most serious, yet unifying, global 

issue affecting every citizen, rich and poor. But it has a disproportionately serious effect 

on smallholders, fishers and indigenous peoples, even if we have contributed the least to 

it […] We look forward to IFAD in this partnership to continue mobilizing its technical 

and financial resources, as well as the resources of the international community, to assist 

farmer organizations so that we can build our capacities in policy research, analysis and 

formulation in order to enable us to engage our governments and the regional and 

12

international intergovernmental bodies. We would like to have more 

ownership of IFAD projects and programmes, also in their 

implementation and monitoring. Not one of us is currently involved in 

these projects. We would like to ask if it is possible for IFAD to have 

representatives of farmers in its executive decision-making bodies. As 

this is a partnership, as a farmers group we want to take on our role, 

our passion to organize ourselves and understand the best we can do.” 

Alberto Ercilio Broch, Executive Secretary, Confederación de 

productores familiares del MERCOSUR (COPROFAM), said “In spite 

of all the efforts that are being made, hunger continues and poverty is 

still here. COPROFAM’s vision is that one of the drivers of the current 

situation is the model of agriculture and development that is 

implemented in many regions of the world, and particularly in Latin 

America – a model based on cash crops and large plantations and one 

that is driving the smallholder and indigenous peoples away from the 

land […] We see that in many countries a lot of land is being taken 

over by the multinationals. We must attack this very perverse model of 

agriculture. We want a model that is favourable to small farmers, and 

we believe this is possible. One of the important things is access to 

land, together with land tenure, access to natural resources [and] 

having pro-farmer policies in place. We need to have a sustainable 

model from the economic and social points of view. Sustainable in 

terms of land sovereignty and food security. We need to strengthen the 

model of family farming. This is why IFAD has a very important role to 

play. It is important to continue believing in a process of working 

together with associations […] but we must empower our organization 

if we want to break the model. That is why we believe in the Farmers’ 

Forum process.” 

“We small men and women 

farmers and producers, who form 

the majority of the people 

dependent on agriculture, are still 

poor. Our poverty is caused by 

unequal distribution of natural and 

economic resources, and access 

to decision-making processes.” 

Estrella Penunia Banzuela, Secretary 

General, Asian Farmers’ Association for 

Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) 

Estrella Penunia Banzuela, AFA 

“We see that in many countries a 

lot of land is being taken over by 

the multinationals. We must attack 

this very perverse model of 

agriculture. We want a model that 

is favourable to small farmers, and 

we believe this is possible.” 

Alberto Ercilio Broch, Executive Secretary, 

Confederación de productores familiares 

del MERCOSUR (COPROFAM) 

Alberto Ercilio Broch, COPROFAM 

13

Section 2: Assessment of IFAD-FO 

partnerships and the way forward 

The Farmers’ Forum process formally started in 2006 and is therefore a relatively young 

process. Nevertheless, it has become much more than a dialogue process between IFAD 

and FOs. After only two years, the Farmers’ Forum process has had 

“The IFAD which sits down with 

tangible effects on the way IFAD and FOs work together at all levels, 

you today is not the IFAD of two 

with new collaborations and partnerships started at local, national and 

years ago. Today we are convinced 

regional levels. 

more than ever that together we 

can make a difference, all along 

“When we met, just two years ago, we did not have a clear sense of 

accepting our diversity, our origins, 

possibilities. We only had a clear sense of good faith and a hope 

our cultures, our strengths. We no 

that possibilities did exist. Over those two years we have broadened 

longer need to test our good faith. 

our relationships and we have deepened our understandings. We 

What we need to do is chart out 

have joined hands and done quite a number of things together. The what we will do and how we will 

IFAD which sits down with you today is not the IFAD of two years do it, more and better.” 

ago. Today we are convinced more than ever that together we can 

Sappho Haralambous, Policy Coordinator, 

make a difference, all along accepting our diversity, our origins, our IFAD 

cultures, our strengths. We no longer need to test our good faith. 

What we need to do is chart out what we will do and how we will 

do it, more and better.” 

Sappho Haralambous, Policy Coordinator, IFAD 

A first formal assessment of the IFAD-FO partnership was prepared by 

IFAD. The results of the assessment, “Partnerships in Progress”, was 

prepared to inform the participants about the progress made over 2006 

and 2007 and to take stock vis-à-vis the recommendations made at the 

first global meeting and IFAD commitments thereof (see the attached Sappho Haralambous and Matthew Wyatt, 

CD-Rom for the full text of the report). The Policy Division of IFAD IFAD 

presented a synthesis of the paper. 2 IFAD’s overall assessment of the 

2006-2008 partnerships with FOs is that they vary according to: the personal 

engagement of country programme managers and country teams; the willingness of 

governments to engage with FOs and the degree of engagement; and the 

representativeness and capacity of individual FOs and their willingness to engage with 

their government in public investments focused on rural poverty reduction. IFAD’s own 

institutional evolution towards greater country presence and direct supervision of its 

projects will undoubtedly increase this engagement. Still, further progress is needed in 

different domains. 

After IFAD’s presentation, plenary discussions were held on the partnerships. The 

following sections synthesize the discussions along thematic lines. 

2 The synthesis of the report “Partnerships in progress” was presented by Philippe Remy, Policy Coordinator, IFAD. 

15

2.1 Country Strategic Opportunities Programmes (COSOPs 3 ) 

In 2006 and 2007 IFAD designed and approved 24 COSOPs. FOs’ involvement in the 

design of these country programmes saw a notable increase during the biennium. For 

example in 2007, FOs actively participated 4 in the design process of 60 per cent of the 

COSOPs approved, showing a significant improvement compared to the 33 per cent 

registered in 2006. Current efforts must be pursued, but the modalities and effectiveness 

of this dialogue and consultation in country strategies should be discussed. What are the 

respective expectations from IFAD and FOs? Are the modalities of these consultations 

satisfactory? What is the assessment by FOs and by IFAD staff of their interaction in 

COSOP processes in 2006-2007? 

IFAD’s efforts and achievement in involving FOs in the design and implementation 

of its country strategies were widely acknowledged. Still, further efforts are needed: 

participants agreed with IFAD that FOs’ involvement in IFAD country programmes is 

still highly variable across countries and still dependent upon the personal engagement 

of country programme managers. 

2.2 Project design and implementation 

Loan-funded projects 5 represent the bulk of IFAD operations and its main instrument for 

achieving its strategic objectives. In 2006 and 2007, the Executive Board of IFAD 

approved 62 loan-funded projects for a total volume of USD 1,055 million. FOs were 

consulted during the design process of 77 per cent of these projects, although the 

degree of involvement is highly variable across projects. FOs also actively participated in 

the design of over one-third of all projects approved in 2006 and 2007. As regards the 

implementation of projects approved in 2006-2007, in 39 per cent of cases at least one 

FO is a member of the project’s Steering Committee. As for design, the actual 

involvement of FOs in project implementation is highly variable. In the box below, cases 

of the partnership between IFAD and FOs on COSOPs and projects are presented. These 

cases were jointly presented by IFAD and FO partners during the meeting. 6 

FOs’ participation in project design and implementation could increase further, 

both in frequency and scope. FO involvement in IFAD projects can contribute to the 

quality, relevance, efficiency and sustainability of services and support. What lessons can 

be drawn from the various experiences and modalities of operational partnership in 

development projects? 

Here as well, participants acknowledged IFAD’s efforts and achievement in involving 

FOs in the design and implementation of its projects. However, it was also stated that 

the involvement is often not planned well in advance, thus limiting FOs’ capacity in 

providing quality inputs. Some FO representatives requested IFAD to involve FOs in the 

negotiation process between IFAD and governments before signing the agreement for 

an IFAD project. 

3 IFAD supported operations take place at country level in the framework of its country programmes. Country 

programmes are defined by the Country Strategic Opportunities Programme document (COSOP). The COSOP 

process involves a cycle of formulation, review and evaluation. Once reviewed by the Executive Board of IFAD, 

COSOPs define all IFAD’s activities in the country: loan funded investment projects, country grants and policy 

dialogue initiatives, all of which are intended to reinforce each other. 

4 “Active participation” refers to FOs’ representatives formally included in the team responsible for the development 

of the COSOP or to FOs providing substantial contributions throughout the COSOP design process. 

5 These are public development projects and governments are the direct recipients and owners of IFAD loan funding. 

6 Mr Paolo Silveri, Country Programme Manager for Uruguay, and Mr Fernando Ariel Lopez Rodriguez, 

President of the Uruguayan Comisión Nacional de Fomento Rural (CNFR) presented the Uruguay COSOP case. 

Mr Benoit Thierry, Country Programme Manager for Madagascar, and Mr Jean Berthin Rabefeno, Secretary General, 

Firaisankinan’ny Tantsaha eto Madagasikara ou Coalition Paysanne de Madagascar (FTM/CPM), presented the 

design process of the Support Project to the Farmers’ Organisation in Madagascar. 

16

IFAD – FO partnership in COSOP and project design 

In Uruguay, the COSOP design process develops in a particular context since Uruguay 

is piloting the One UN experience for Latin America. In this framework, IFAD is 

informing and consulting FOs in the COSOP design process, while at the same time 

ensuring coordination with other UN agencies in the country, as well as with the 

national government. FO representatives underlined the importance of involving their 

organizations in COSOP implementation so that they become actors and decision 

makers rather than simply beneficiaries of the programme. 

In Madagascar, the formulation of the Support Project to the Farmers’ Professional 

Organisations (AROPA Project), to start in 2008, involved representatives of all five apex 

farmers’ organizations throughout the whole design process, including participation in 

the field visits, and culminated in a participatory workshop gathering government, 

donors, NGOs and farmers’ organizations (60 participants) where the components of 

the project were defined and articulated into activities. Similar involvement is forecast in 

the next steps of the design of the programme, until its submission to IFAD’s Executive 

Board. The project is in line with the Madagascar COSOP strategic objective to 

empower FOs. 

“The information we were given today clearly shows that things are being done. 

What we believe is important is to work together so that we strengthen our strategies 

to do more and better in the future.” 

R.C. João, President, Unia ~ o Nacional de Camponeses (UNAC), Mozambique 

2.3 Direct grant financing 

IFAD’s grant facility is its main instrument for direct financial support to FOs. Compared 

to the 2004-2005 biennium, IFAD direct financial support to FOs increased dramatically. 

In 2004-2005, seven grants went directly to initiatives of FOs. In 2006-2007 the number 

rose to 34. The volume of the grants increased, correspondingly, from USD 2.4 million 

to over USD 5.8 million. IFAD grants to FOs supported national, regional and global 

initiatives. Most of them focused on capacity-building and institutional strengthening, as 

well as on supporting FOs’ independent policy engagements. 

With specific reference to IFAD support to FOs to engage in policy dialogue, three 

regional platforms facilitating the dialogue between FOs and regional and national public 

counterparts were supported: the Mercosur Specialized Meeting on Family Agriculture 

(REAF) in Latin America, the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH – 

IACHR) in Central America and the Hub in West Africa. In addition, five international 

advocacy campaigns or policy dialogue and research initiatives were supported during 

2006 and 2007. The box on page 20 summarizes the example presented at the Forum. 7 

Further progress on the volume of grants to FOs may still be possible. However, for 

IFAD this would imply a growing administrative cost which could soon reach its limit. 

IFAD may have an interest in providing larger but fewer capacity-building grants through 

regional umbrella organizations and regional (or sub-regional) programmes targeting 

national-level capacity-building. FOs may have the same interest. How can it be ensured 

that medium to large capacity-building programmes at regional levels are effectively and 

efficiently serving national and local organizations and ultimately the small-scale 

producers at village level? Where is the right balance between subsidiarity and efficiency 

in channelling funds, or between inclusiveness, cooperation and competition among FO 

groupings? How can the capacities of regional networks be strengthened to manage 

7 Mr Ibrahima Coulibaly, President, Coordination nationale des organisations paysannes du Mali (CNOP), presented 

this case on behalf of ROPPA. 

17

“We are not asking an 

intergovernmental organization to 

achieve magic and change the 

world. This partnership is an 

opportunity for IFAD to play a 

support role. It is not just money, 

but it is providing the back-up that 

allows us to speak with authority.” 

Olaseinde Arigbede, National Coordinator, 

Union of Small and Medium Scale Farmers 

of Nigeria (USMEFAN) 

these programmes without creating a new bureaucracy dependent on 

international funding? 

Forum participants highlighted the importance of maintaining the 

current trend which sees IFAD’s direct grant financing to FOs increasing 

year by year. Direct grant support aims to build capacity of FOs in 

relation to policy dialogue and production-related activities. In 

particular participants highlighted: 

• the need for increased support for the capacity-building of FOs to enable them to 

engage in policy dialogue and decision-making processes, whereby FO 

representatives are able to negotiate with their counterparts on an equal footing. 

To achieve this, participants stressed the need for continuous support, in the form 

of adequate financial resources and sound technical expertise. 

“We are not asking an intergovernmental organization to achieve magic and change 

the world […] this partnership is an opportunity for IFAD to play a support role. It 

is not just money, but it is providing the back-up that allows us to speak with 

authority”. 

Olaseinde Arigbede, National Coordinator, Union of Small and Medium Scale 

Farmers of Nigeria (USMEFAN) 

• the importance of engaging in “economic dialogue” with professional 

organizations. To this end, capacity-building at national and regional levels is 

critical to enable an increase in production. There is also a need to provide 

capacity-building at local level, or to ensure that capacity-building at national and 

regional levels reach the grassroots level. 

“We need the support of IFAD in the international community so that we can 

mainstream, replicate and scale up sustainable and organic agriculture, to market 

our products, and we need your support so that our governments will prioritize 

these initiatives”. 

Estrella Penunia Banzuela, Secretary General, Asian Farmers’ Organisation for 

Sustainable Development (AFA) 

IFAD – FO partnership in policy dialogue 

At the request of African farmers’ organizations, IFAD, FAO and selected European 

NGOs collaborated in 2006 and 2007 to support FOs’ engagement in the Economic 

Partnership Agreements (EPAs) negotiation process between the European Union and 

the African, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) countries. The objective was to enable 

farmers to share their views and perceptions on EPAs with negotiators from ACP 

countries. ACP FOs (from Africa and the Caribbean 8 ) developed a joint position on the 

EPAs mid-term review and presented it in various instances to representatives of ACP 

Governments, ACP regional institutions and the European Commission. The concerted 

IFAD, FAO and NGOs support has been catalytic in enabling them to advocate in 

favour of EPAs strongly oriented towards sustainable development. Initial impacts are 

most notable in West Africa, where FOs mobilized at national level, created a dialogue 

with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and were able to 

attend the meeting of ACP experts and negotiators. They were therefore in a position to 

influence the report on sensitive products and in the freezing of the deadline for 

signature set for 31 December 2007. 

18 

8 EAFF: East African Farmers' Federation; SACAU: Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions; ROPPA: 

Réseau des organisations paysannes et des producteurs de l'Afrique de l'Ouest; PROPAC: Plateforme Régionale 

des Organisations Paysannes d’Afrique Centrale; WINFA: Winward Islands Farmers’ Association.

Overall, FO representatives emphasized that capacity-building must be part of a longterm 

process that will enable IFAD and its partners to achieve more durable results and 

forge stronger partnerships. 

2.4 The Farmers’ Forum process and its guiding principles 

In 2006-2007, the Farmers’ Forum process did not follow the bottom-up approach 

established in 2005, which foresaw consultations taking place at national level that 

would then feed into regional level consultations and in turn feed into the Farmers’ 

Forum global meeting. In practice, this did not occur due to the limited availability of 

time and resources on the part of both IFAD and FOs. Should this “model” be reviewed 

and adjusted? There was an agreement that the Forum would be “guided by the 

principles of inclusiveness, pluralism, openness and flexibility”. Were these principles 

fully complied with? 

FO representatives agreed with IFAD’s assessment that the consultation mechanism 

established in 2005 did not work as expected. In this regard, participants reiterated the 

central role of the Steering Committee in guiding the Farmers’ Forum process and in 

organizing the biannual global meetings. Yet, the Steering Committee plays a 

consultative role rather than a guiding one. Participants reaffirmed their agreement on 

the way decision-making takes place within the Committee, but pointed out that further 

empowerment of the Steering Committee is needed. It was proposed that the Steering 

Committee meet regularly to: (i) assess the progress made by IFAD-FO partnerships and 

to promote its way forward; (ii) exchange views and ideas on issues of importance to FO 

constituencies; and (iii) discuss how the Steering Committee itself is performing. 

In line with this increased role of the Steering Committee, some participants called 

for the inclusion of farmers’ representatives within IFAD decision-making bodies, in 

order to enable them to be part of ongoing and forthcoming debates within IFAD and 

represent FOs’ views. This is considered a further step in institutionalizing IFAD-FO 

partnership and to enable them to take an active role in IFAD corporate processes. 

“We would like to ask if it is possible for IFAD to have representatives of farmers in 

its executive decision-making bodies. As this is a partnership, as a farmers’ group we 

want to take on our role, our passion to organize ourselves and understand the best 

we can do.” 

Estrella Penunia Banzuela, Secretary General, Asian Farmers’ Organisation for 

Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) 

In light of the experiences of 2006-2008, Forum participants reaffirmed the general 

principles of the Farmers’ Forum, and stressed their importance in strengthening IFAD- 

FO partnerships since 2006. Among these, specific discussions developed around the 

principle of inclusiveness – which organizations IFAD engages with in its partnerships 

and how they are and should be selected. Participants do not consider the selection 

process, particularly country level partnerships, sufficiently transparent and capable of 

boosting genuine dialogue with representatives of poor rural people in a given country. 

IFAD acknowledged this deficiency and underlined the need for very serious discussion, 

since it is critical for a solid partnership although very complex to apply. Therefore, IFAD 

called on guidance from the Forum in order to organize IFAD-FO cooperation in an 

inclusive, productive and systematic way. 

19

“IFAD is not making policy 

recommendations; it is leaving 

autonomy to the organizations and 

empowering farmer organizations. 

We feel that it is very important to 

support IFAD in its approach.” 

Pedro Peretti, Secretary, COPROFAM 

Although not among the principles of the Farmers’ Forum, 

participants expressed appreciation of IFAD’s ability to support FOs in 

an impartial way, respecting their autonomy, diversity and 

independence. IFAD’s efforts to empower FOs without entering 

discussions on political issues were also recognized. There was a 

consensus among participants on the importance of IFAD maintaining 

this approach, and continuing to engage not only in international 

cooperation in a broad sense but also in partnerships with 

organizations that are active at field level. 

Pedro Peretti, COPROFAM and Eduardo 

Buzzi, FAA, Argentina 

“IFAD is not making policy recommendations; it is leaving autonomy 

to the organizations and empowering farmer organizations […] We feel 

that it is very important to support IFAD in its approach.” 

Pedro Peretti, Secretary, COPROFAM 

2.5 Gender 

Women farmers are still few among the leadership of national and international FOs. 

How could the partnership between IFAD and FOs contribute to the promotion of 

women’s leadership in rural organizations? 

A strong call for increased involvement of women in the context of IFAD-FO 

partnership was made unanimously by Forum participants. Women’s contribution in 

agriculture and rural development was stressed, both quantitatively and qualitatively. In 

spite of this, they are usually poorer than their male counterparts and are strongly 

underrepresented at all levels of FOs. For this reason, participants called for targeted 

support that would enable women to strengthen their position within 

“I note that you said that the 

their organizations and in the Farmers’ Forum context. They also called 

gender issue is of concern to all; for IFAD to promote activities to promote women’s economic 

however, you need to be careful. independence, coupled with specific capacity-building activities, as a 

People fall into the temptation of means to increase their confidence and self esteem. 

believing that an issue is settled 

once everyone agrees that it is an “I note that you said that the gender issue is of concern to all; however, 

issue, and that is when you tend you need to be careful. People fall into the temptation of believing that 

to slide backwards.” 

an issue is settled once everyone agrees that it is an issue, and that is 

Karen Serres, President, Fédération 

when you tend to slide backwards. […]strength will lie in numbers so 

nationale des syndicats d’exploitants 

perhaps we should think in terms of defining representation; we cannot 

agricoles (FNSEA), France 

demand anything from IFAD but perhaps we could set a target, perhaps 

a 30 per cent target […] to support the interest of women in 

agriculture.” 

Karen Serres, President, Fédération nationale des syndicats d’exploitants 

agricoles (FNSEA) 

Laurent Pellerin, AGRICORD and Karen 

Serres, FNSEA, France 

The Forum requested IFAD to support FOs to engage their women 

members in the management and decision-making processes of their 

organization, establishing a minimum quota. A call was also made to 

IFAD to apply a minimum quota of 30 per cent women farmers in all 

its programmes, projects, events and activities. This quota should 

20

increase progressively at each Farmers’ Forum global meeting, with a view to reaching an 

equal representation of male and female participants. 

A proposal was also made for women’s consultations at national and regional levels 

that would then feed in the Farmers’ Forum global meeting, where a meeting of women 

representatives should be organized (before the global meeting) so that a common, 

agreed-upon position could be presented by women FO representatives. 

2.6 Joint monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system 

Participants highlighted the importance of assessing the development effectiveness of 

IFAD-FO partnerships vis-à-vis its impact on smallholders’ organizational capacity; the 

empowerment of rural women and men; and ultimately on the reduction of rural 

poverty. To this end, participants agreed on the need to ensure that future IFAD activities 

focus more on results-oriented programmes with measurable results. IFAD-FO 

partnership development effectiveness and its impact could then be monitored and 

evaluated through the development of a joint monitoring and evaluation system. 

“There should be a programme in every country where a change can be seen, where 

the life of the people has been transformed – even in one village. If you can quote a 

small section of any country where the life of small-scale farmers has been 

transformed, then these set an example of what can be done. Success will breed 

success, if it can be measured.” 

Kariuki, National Chairman, Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers 

(KENFAP) 

21

Section 3: Regional perspectives 

During the afternoon session of the first day of the Farmers’ Forum global meeting, 

participants divided into five Regional Working Groups (Western and Central Africa, 

Eastern and Southern Africa, Near East and North Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin 

America and the Caribbean) in order to discuss among each other and with IFAD the 

progress made in their partnership since the first global meeting in 2006. All groups 

presented a synthesis of their deliberations to the plenary. 

In spite of the diversity and richness of the debate developed within each regional 

group, a number of issues emerged in all groups: i) institutionalization of FOs’ 

engagement in the design and implementation of IFAD country strategies, projects and 

programmes; ii) direct grant support to FOs for their engagement in policy dialogue; 

and iii) creation of a joint IFAD-FO monitoring and evaluation system. 

Discussions at regional level allowed regional complexities and specificities to be 

explored as well as to enable proposals to be put forth. 

3.1 Common issues emerging from the regional discussions 

Institutionalization of FOs’ engagement in the design 

and implementation of IFAD country strategies, projects 

and programmes 

Considerable time was devoted to the discussion of how FOs can be 

more effectively involved in IFAD country strategies, programmes and 

projects. All regional groups pointed out the sustainability of IFAD 

projects as a common issue of concern, which could be enhanced 

though FOs’ involvement in country strategies and project 

implementation, while reducing the number of issues that arose in the 

post-project phase. As the Asia and the Pacific group pointed out, FO 

involvement throughout the various stages of IFAD activities would also 

contribute to increasing ownership. 

Bassiaka Dao, CPF, Burkina Faso and 

Jacques Bonou, FUPRO, Benin 

“I think that the value added of FOs in COSOPs is that these will be more relevant, 

more responsive to FOs’ realities and needs […] I also think that farmers’ involvement 

should not stop only during the consultation on what COSOP is or just reviewing it. 

The COSOP as a strategy paper can be much owned by the farmers.” 

E. Penunia Banzuela, Secretary General, AFA 

FOs from the Western and Central Africa and the Latin America and the Caribbean 

regions stressed the need to provide them with greater capacity-building so that they can 

be effectively – and on an independent basis – involved in the COSOP and project 

design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation processes. Direct financing for FOs 

23

within the framework of COSOP and project design and implementation was in fact 

identified as key to enable FOs to develop the appropriate technical capacity. 

In order to overcome the unevenness among countries where FOs are involved in 

IFAD activities, FO representatives proposed the institutionalization of their involvement 

through the creation of operational guidelines for IFAD staff. These would provide 

guidance in relation to how to involve FOs in IFAD activities, especially at country level. 

FOs also proposed that the necessary amount of time be given to them to enable 

constructive interaction and the exchange of the necessary information. 

Direct and flexible financial support for policy dialogue 

The need for capacity-building of FOs to enable them to participate in international 

negotiations on issues of interest to their livelihoods was also put forward by all 

regional groups as a necessary step so that FOs can discuss with other stakeholders on 

an equal footing. To this aim, FOs requested IFAD to increase its direct financial support 

to them. The Western and Central Africa group recommended that IFAD could 

undertake a wider-ranging financing decision, such as the creation of a multi-year 

funding programme – with annual programmes of work – to allow room for adjustment 

and flexibility when needed and to enable FOs to respond to policy issues that may arise 

unexpectedly. Such a programme would also respect FOs’ independent and different 

ways of engaging in policy dialogue initiatives. 

“We can plan for most of the activities but that is not always possible for the 

support of political activities, because things move very quickly from one day to the 

next and you have to be able to mobilize forces and move on those issues very 

quickly. So I think that on these specific issues we need to think and see how we 

could actually reinforce our planning actions and enable our partners to intervene 

when it is necessary.” 

NDiogou Fall, President, ROPPA 

Moreover, the Eastern and Southern Africa group highlighted that the small size of IFAD 

grants did not always enable them to fulfil their goals, and recommended that it should 

be increased to enhance their impact or to allow them to expand from the local to the 

national level. 

M&E system and accountability mechanisms 

Regional discussions recommended that all actions undertaken be results-based and 

carried out in such a way that there is collective responsibility on the part of both IFAD 

and FOs. The importance of follow-up and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms was 

highlighted by the Near East and North Africa group as a way to assess the impact of 

IFAD activities. The Western and Central Africa group pointed out that such an M&E 

mechanism would also be important to reinforce FOs’ accountability vis-à-vis IFAD and 

their members. The Eastern and Southern Africa group emphasized the importance of 

capacity-building initiatives for FOs to enable them to actively participate in this joint 

initiative. Lastly, all regional groups agreed that such a system would promote 

transparency and would generate important lessons for future activities. 

24

“We need to develop a joint monitoring and evaluation of IFAD programmes with 

farmers’ organizations – are they actually addressing poverty? Are they addressing 

empowerment? This would be an important step forward.” 

A. M. Vashee, President, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions 

(SACAU) and Vice-President of IFAP 

3.2 Regional specificities 

IFAD-FO partnerships in Western and Central Africa 

The working group focused mainly on how FOs can be more effectively involved in 

IFAD programmes and projects. Specific issues addressed are as follows. 

“I think we must think about the 

Communication and information sharing. The group emphasized the future because IFAD represents a 

importance of improving communication and information sharing at sort of break. It represents an 

country and regional levels between IFAD and FOs. The group stressed element of change. We have to 

the need to have an evolving collaboration between IFAD and FOs that see how we can communicate 

would lift the partnership to a higher level. Improved communication well with respect to this innovative 

and information sharing would be fundamental to enable FOs to process.” 

engage more easily with IFAD, and to have ready access to the necessary Ibrahima Coulibaly, President CNOP, Mali 

information and to know when and how to intervene in IFAD processes. 

Therefore, the group recommended to create a communication and 

information ‘desk’. 

This tool could then be used to disseminate the innovative nature 

of the Farmers’ Forum process and IFAD-FO partnership to other 

organizations and institutions, enhancing the impact of the lessons 

learned. The group expected that this knowledge process would 

trigger approaches similar to the Farmers’ Forum within the 

development community. 

Ibrahima Coulibaly, CNOP, and Korotoumou 

“I think we must think about the future because IFAD represents a Gariko Sanogo, ROPPA 

sort of break. It represents an element of change […] we have to see 

how we can communicate well with respect to this innovative process.” 

Ibrahima Coulibaly, President, CNOP, Mali 

Supporting subsidiarity between national and regional FOs. Following a discussion 

on levels of support to FOs at local, national or regional level, participants agreed that, 

in light of experience in the region, the regional level has greater potential for 

strengthening FOs as they unite for a common goal. Regional-level action has also 

enabled FOs to consolidate their action and ensure they do not operate in isolation. 

However, this can only take place when the subsidiary levels are clear, and when what 

happens at local, national and regional levels is shared and mutually supportive. 

The group also discussed a number of issues concerning the development of family 

agriculture in the region. Themes discussed were land access and tenure, the 

proliferation of crops for biofuel production, climate change, and the current rise in 

food prices. 

25

IFAD-FO partnerships in Eastern and Southern Africa 

The working group started its session with a brief presentation from IFAD’s regional 

division staff. 9 It was acknowledged that IFAD has more experience in supporting grassroots 

groups than it has in working with higher-level producers’ organizations at 

national or regional levels. Because of this, the validity of the principles of engagement 

that were defined in the 2005 workshop when the Farmers’ Forum process was created 

was reaffirmed: providing support to national and regional membership-based 

organizations to support their own strategic priorities; enabling FOs to contribute to 

shaping IFAD’s agenda and strategies; and promoting inclusiveness, i.e. working with all 

genuine, membership-based national and regional organisations that represent IFAD’s 

target group. 

IFAD’s presentation provided examples of FO involvement in COSOP design 

processes in Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya, and of FO involvement in IFAD 

projects – in the case of FOs in Kenya (KENFAP), Madagascar (five apex organizations), 

Mozambique (National Farmers’ Union – UNAC) and Rwanda 

(national FOs). IFAD also presented several cases of direct financial 

support to FOs at national and regional levels. 

Moreover, IFAD provided its view of opportunities for the future: 

i) further emphasis on capacity-building and institutional 

strengthening of FOs; ii) creation of linkages between grassroots groups 

that have worked with IFAD and the programmes in support of 

national-level farmers’ organizations; and iii) strengthening of FOs as 

providers of relevant services to their members and in policy advocacy. 

Elisabeth Mpofu, ESAFF, Eastern 

Overall, the group shared a sense of progress in IFAD-FO 

and Southern Africa, and 

partnership since 2006, both at national and regional levels. Then the 

Andrew Charles Hepelwa, MVIWATA, Tanzania 

discussion focused on recommendations and suggestions for enhancing 

the partnership. 

FOs as recipients of IFAD loans. The possibility of FOs becoming direct recipients 

of an IFAD loan was explored as an effective way of strengthening the partnership at 

national level. Indeed, some participants saw this development as a natural step for an 

FO that has the capacity to manage IFAD funds. Where this capability is not present 

(specifically for sound financial management), a capacity-building process needs to take 

place first. This would enhance the recipient FO’s responsibility and ownership of the 

activities undertaken with the loan. 

Reinforcing the partnership at regional level. At regional level, the group 

recommended that IFAD link the national and regional levels through the 

Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) process, since 

this is a key agenda. Capacity-building for regional FOs was also recommended. 

IFAD as honest broker for policy dialogue processes. Participants agreed that IFAD 

has an important role to play in facilitating the relation between FOs and governments. 

It should also ensure that the priorities of these two major stakeholders are taken into 

account in IFAD programmes. 

The centrality of supporting the delivery of economic services by FOs to their 

members. The group also affirmed that while support to policy dialogue is important, 

IFAD must not forget those activities that have more immediate benefits for the lives of 

26 

9 Mr Alessandro Marini, Country Programme Manager and divisional focal point on Farmers’ Organisations, opened 

the session with his presentation.

poor rural people, such as support to the organization of marketing systems, provision of 

information and support to production groups in order to produce more economically. 

“I think that policy dialogue is important and should be reinforced and must be 

assisted. But I find that there are a lot of resources that are being put on policy 

dialogue. This is all right but should not be at the cost of other programmes that are 

of more immediate and of more practical benefit to the farmers.” 

Mr L. N. Kariuki, National Chairman, KENFAP, Kenya 

The group also discussed land issues, and how policy processes develop in the region at 

various levels. 

IFAD-FO partnerships in Asia and the Pacific 

The working group opened with a presentation 10 of the underlying reasons for IFAD to 

further engage in partnership with FOs, in light of the experience to date. First, the 

strengthening of IFAD-FO partnerships has enabled the Asia and the Pacific Division of 

IFAD to more effectively design and implement its projects and programmes. Second, 

the involvement of FOs in IFAD activities is having a tangible and positive impact on 

agricultural institutions. A third reason is the role FOs can play in relation to the 

sustainability of IFAD projects, which continues to be an issue in spite of the efforts 

made by the Fund together with governments and FOs. Lastly, engagement with FOs is 

important in order for FOs to be able to respond in an organized manner to the new 

risks and challenges posed by climate change. 

The presentation was followed by an introduction to the regional mid-term 

collaboration programme the Division has been working on since 2006 for the capacitybuilding 

of FOs in Asia, and that will be submitted for approval to the Executive Board 

of IFAD in April 2008. It was highlighted that the programme responds to the request of 

many Asian governments to work again in partnership with IFAD, while 

it also responds to a renewed need for pluralism in this engagement, 

which may be achieved only with the active participation of FOs. To this 

aim, the programme foresees a very strong component of capacitybuilding 

for FOs and their members. 

An overview of the progress made in 2006-2008 in the partnership 

between the regional division and FOs was then presented, 11 with 

examples from the definition of country strategies (COSOPs), the design 

and implementation of projects and programmes, and direct financing 

to FOs (grants). The last section of the presentation presented some of Zainal Arifin Fuat, SPI, Indonesia and 

Sarath Fernando, MONLAR, Sri Lanka 

the difficulties IFAD encountered in its partnership with FOs, in 

particular: i) competition among the farmers’ networks and platforms IFAD engages 

with, which has proved a challenge for inclusive consultations; ii) understanding the 

limits of IFAD and FOs in terms of their mandates and policies in the design of IFAD 

country programmes; iii) the need to raise dialogue at a much higher level that relates to 

daily needs and activities of FOs when discussing IFAD country strategies (the “shopping 

list” problem); iv) need for capacity-building of FOs before their engagement in the 

implementation of IFAD programmes; v) lack of IFAD’s full knowledge of FOs in the 

10 The presentation was made by Mr T. Elhaut, Director of the Asia and the Pacific Division, IFAD. 

11 The presentation was made by Mr Sana Jatta, Country Programme Manager and divisional focal point on 

Farmers’ Organisations. 

27

“There is a third partner that is very 

important and it is governments. 

Without the government on our 

side there is little we can do.” 

Raoul Montemayor, National Manager, 

Federation of Free Farmers Cooperatives 

(FFFC), Philippines and Vice President, IFAP 

region, which calls for a mapping activity to ensure all relevant partners are included 

in the partnership. 

Overall the group shared a sense of progress in IFAD-FO partnerships since 2006, 

at national and regional levels. The discussion then focused on recommendations and 

suggestions for enhancing the partnership. 

IFAD strategic priorities in the region and IFAD engagement in agricultural 

policy processes. IFAD projects should focus on enabling small farmers to market their 

products, which is a major priority in the region; this is also seen as a trigger to make 

agriculture more viable and attractive, especially to young people. As regards policies, 

the group suggested that IFAD advocate for price support policies, policies that promote 

food security and food sovereignty and, very importantly, policies that support access to 

natural resources, in particular land and water. 

Importance of tri-partite partnership. At the strategic level, the 

group affirmed the need to engage governments in IFAD-FO 

partnerships, since government support is needed for the partnership 

to work. The group therefore deliberated on how IFAD can best engage 

with governments to involve farmers’ groups in the development of 

agricultural policies and programmes. 

“There is a third partner that is very important and it is governments. 

Without the government on our side there is little we can do. So, I 

think part of the strategy and approach that we should take is how do 

we use the leverage of IFAD as a lender to pressure governments to 

listen to us?” 

Mr R.Q. Montemayor, National Manager, Federation of Free Farmers 

Cooperatives (FFFC) and Vice President, IFAP 

A suggestion was made that a regional Steering Committee be created 

Hung Nguyen Mahn, VNFU, Vietnam 

as counterpart of the Steering Committee of the Farmers’ Forum global 

and Raoul Montemayor, FFFC, Philippines 

meeting. This is considered necessary since every region has its own 

priorities and features that cannot always be grasped at global level if there is no 

intermediate, regional level of discussion to feed into the global level debate. 

Lastly, an important issue that was raised was regional integration. FOs expressed 

concern about the current trends in Asia, with the Association of South-eastern Asian 

Nations (ASEAN) and in South Asia with the South Asian Association for Regional 

Cooperation (SAARC). 

“The integration will further displace us, we will lose our livelihoods and lose the 

rural heritage and the culture of agricultural communities in Asia.” 

Estrella Penunia Banzuela, Secretary General, AFA 

The group also discussed a few thematic issues such as access to natural resources – land 

in particular – and agricultural commodities’ prices (see section 3). 

28

IFAD-FO partnerships in Near East and North Africa 

This meeting was the first of this kind between IFAD and representatives of rural producers 

in the region. Therefore the first part of the discussion was devoted to the participants 

getting to know each other and to set the basis for a common platform for dialogue. 

The meeting opened with a presentation 12 on IFAD’s mandate and how it functions, 

and the Strategic Framework 2007-2010. A brief presentation on IFAD 

activities in the Near East and North Africa region and on the Farmers’ 

Forum process 13 followed. 

Participants then introduced themselves, explaining how the 

organizations they represent were created, their goals, specialized field 

of work and main activities, and membership. The floor was then 

opened for discussion, with a focus on participants’ recommendations 

on their future cooperation with IFAD. 

Direct financing to FOs for production activities. Participants 

requested IFAD to finance FOs directly through grants so that they can 

develop their own productive activities. Participants do not believe 

government intermediation to always be necessary. Participants also 

proposed that IFAD provide financing to FOs through loans, when FOs 

have the financial and administrative capacity to manage them. 

“To neglect agriculture will have 

very negative consequences on 

the economy, much worse than 

any war.” 

Ahmad Al Faour, President, Jordan Farmers’ 

Union (JFU) 

“Agriculture is simply not quite as popular as it has been in the 

past. Agriculture is something that you do if you must. Obviously 

we cannot deny that agriculture is a very important sector because it 

is to agriculture that we owe our very survival. To neglect agriculture 

will have very negative consequences on the economy, much worse 

than any war.” 

Ahmad Al Faour, President, Jordan Farmers’ Union (JFU) 

Direct financing to FOs for capacity-building. During the debate the 

need for financial support for capacity-building and training of smallscale 

producers and their organizations was emphasised. Lack of 

suitable training was seen as a limit to the capability of rural producers 

to improve their livelihoods. 

Natural resources management and indigenous and nomadic 

knowledge. The group affirmed the need to acknowledge and promote the preservation 

of indigenous and nomadic peoples’ knowledge of natural resources management, as 

well as their contribution to the conservation of biodiversity. The group observed that 

this knowledge could be the basis for the promotion of organic farming in the region, 

which has yet to be developed in spite of its potential. This is also seen as a response to 

the challenges posed by climate change, which participants pointed out as a major 

concern. They called for IFAD to support them in engaging in organic agriculture. 

Taghi Farvar, WAMIP and Ahmad al Faour, 

JFU, Jordan 

“Nomadic people and tribes are 

far disproportionately neglected, 

even though they know far more 

about the management of natural 

resources on a sound basis 

than most of us experts and 

governments in this world.” 

Taghi Farvar, Executive Secretary, World 

Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples 

(WAMIP) 

12 The meeting was opened by Ms Mona Bishay, Director of the Near East and North Africa Division. 

13 This was presented by Mr Tawfiq El-Zabri, Country Programme Manager and regional Focal point for the 

Near East and North Africa Division. 

29

“In many countries nomadic peoples and tribes are a very small number of the total 

population; yet they contribute greatly to the animal production of those countries. 

So these people are disproportionately contributing as producers to the national 

economy and the national livelihoods. However, they are far disproportionately 

neglected, even though they know far more about the management of natural 

resources on a sound basis than most of us experts and governments in this world.” 

T. Farvar, Executive Secretary, World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples (WAMIP) 

Research activities and technology development. The group discussed the need to 

engage in agricultural research work and to promote the development of accessible 

technologies that can be transferred throughout the region. In fact, unsuitable 

technology practices was seen as one of the main constraints to increasing the quantity 

and quality of production that could enable producers to compete in an open market. 

This is especially the case when international standards need to be respected. Research 

activities also need to engage in the development of suitable risk management and 

compensation mechanisms, which will be increasingly needed as the impact of climate 

change increases. IFAD support to such activities was requested. 

Attention to vulnerable groups – including women and pastoralists. The group 

discussed the important role of women in agriculture as well as the role of pastoralists 

and herders in the economy of the region. The groups called for IFAD support to enable 

these groups to be represented at all levels of decision-making processes and to engage 

in leadership roles. 

Other thematic issues addressed by the group were climate change, the rise in food 

and fuel prices and access to and management of natural resources. 

The group concluded by highlighting its support to the Palestinian farmers and 

those farmers working in the Golan Heights and Southern Lebanon. 

IFAD-FO partnerships in Latin America and the Caribbean 

The working group started with a presentation of IFAD challenges in the region: 14 

i) working with middle-income countries, which requires new approaches and tools 

from IFAD; ii) a renewed and more concrete political dialogue; iii) very diversified areas 

for investment (rural infrastructure, biofuels, capacity-building, access to markets); 

iv) support to new financial tools and loans in local currency; and v) projects like the 

Banco del Sur and other loan mechanisms at regional level. 

The need for IFAD to change its way of working in the region was highlighted, 

following changes at regional level such as: i) the radical transformation of the food 

chain; ii) climate change and its impact on sustainable natural resources management; 

iii) the growing role of migrants’ remittances, whose overall amount is higher than that 

of international cooperation in the region; iv) the importance of off-farm incomeearning 

activities or rural microenterprise; and v) the development of information and 

communication technologies. The presentation concluded with an overview of IFAD 

activities in the region. 

Before starting discussions, two FO representatives provided examples of their 

partnership with IFAD: 15 the experience of the Mercosur Specialised Meeting on Family 

Agriculture (REAF) in the Southern Cone and that of the Programme for strengthening 

14 The presentation was made by Mr R. Cooke, Acting Director, Latin America and the Caribbean Division, IFAD. 

15 The examples were presented by Mr Eduardo Buzzi, President of the Federación Agraria Argentina, and 

Mr Félix Vásquez López, Consejo Coordinador de Organizaciones Campesinas de Honduras. 

30

Rural Organizations for Policy Dialogue in the context of the Dominican Republic- 

Central America Free Trade Agreement. 

The REAF experience was presented as a good example of tri-partite action bringing 

together IFAD, FOs and national governments to jointly engage in policy dialogue on 

relevant issues at regional level. IFAD technical and financial support, together with an 

ongoing dialogue with FOs and governments, were fundamental to the creation of the 

REAF. Four key aspects of this process were identified: ongoing dialogue, respect for the 

autonomy of all actors, the availability of the necessary funds, and the joint 

implementation of those programmes and activities that led to the creation of REAF. 

The Programme for Strengthening Rural Organizations in Central America was 

born out of FO requests for IFAD support in view of the free trade agreements that were 

being negotiated in the region. This was a new experience for IFAD in 

this sub-region – implementing a programme directly with FOs rather 

“I think it is important for us to 

than governments – and several workshops and meetings were needed, realize that we are beginning to 

as well as various negotiations, to articulate the programme. FOs are influence the policy direction of an 

strongly supportive of this IFAD-FO consultation process since it intergovernmental organization. It 

enables them to have a direct relation with IFAD and to be the actual is something that I believe we must 

implementers of the programme. Mutual respect for the identity and cherish, we must try to build on 

autonomy of all stakeholders was reiterated as a key factor for the and see how we can replicate it 

success of the process. 

with other intergovernmental 

organizations.” 

“We believe that the farmers’ organizations of the region have their 

Renwick Rose, Coordinator, Winward Islands 

role to play, their autonomy. We believe that we have our own 

Farmers Organisation (WINFA) 

identity and we want to have the opportunity to be able to manage 

programmes. We want to have the opportunity to show that in our 

sector we do have the ability to make a real difference to change the 

economic, political and social conditions that prevail in our region.” 

F.P. Vásquez López, COCOCH 

During the group discussion, several issues were identified in relation to 

Latin American and Caribbean FOs’ expectations from IFAD, and what 

they believe IFAD priorities should be. There was a general agreement 

that the REAF and Central America programmes are positive examples 

of IFAD-FO partnerships, as well as that progress has been made in 

general terms during 2006-2008. There was also an agreement that more 

can be done. 

Faustino Torrez Arauz, ATC, Nicaragua 

and Renwick Rose, WINFA 

“There will be and there are many areas of weakness [in the partnership between 

IFAD and FOs] which we can look at, but I think it is important for us to realize that 

we are beginning to have a dialogue directly and farmers' organizations are getting 

the opportunity, even though still small, to begin to influence the policy direction of 

an intergovernmental organization. It is something that I believe we must cherish, 

we must try to build on and see how we can replicate it with other 

intergovernmental organizations.” 

Renwick Rose, Coordinator, Winward Islands Farmers Organisation (WINFA) 

31

Long-term vision of capacity-building activities. The group stressed that capacitybuilding 

activities should not be ad-hoc events, such as workshops or seminars, but 

should be ongoing, continuous programmes tailored to farmers’ needs, such as Farmer 

Field Schools. These schools should target the rural youth, indigenous people and 

women in particular. 

Differentiated policies and approaches by sub-region and target group. Another 

key issue discussed by the group was the need for differentiated policies and initiatives 

across the Latin American sub-regions, given their differences. An example is that of 

small island states in the Caribbean, which need specific support to reduce vulnerability 

in relation to production or natural disasters. IFAD needs to take such specificities into 

account, as well as specificities of stakeholder groups, such as fisherfolk, women and 

youth, whose contribution to production and poverty reduction is often not fully 

acknowledged. 

Centrality of effective communication/information flows between IFAD and FOs. 

The group discussed the availability of information on IFAD activities in a given country, 

and the need to communicate it better to FOs, since such information is a key to 

promoting and enabling joint efforts by IFAD and FOs, and to provide visibility and 

transparency to the initiatives undertaken. 

The group also engaged in discussion on the issue of land and water access, climate 

change, food sovereignty and the rise of food prices. 

32

Section 4: Partnership on 

thematic areas 

On the second day of the Farmers’ Forum global meeting, participants divided into 

groups to discuss issues related to access and tenure of land, the role and capacity of 

FOs in shaping public policies, and the challenges and eventual opportunities of 

climate change for agriculture. The purpose of these thematic group sessions was to 

orient IFAD-FO partnerships on these issues. A synthesis of the debate is provided in 

the following sections. 

4.1 Access to land: trends, challenges and opportunities – role and 

perspectives of FOs 

Discussions during this thematic working group of the Farmers’ Forum sought to receive 

FOs’ feedback on IFAD’s own draft policy on “Promoting equitable access to land and 

tenure security for rural poverty reduction”, which was shared with participants. It also 

aimed at discussing current dynamics of access to land and control of natural resources, 

at considering follow-up action to the International Conference on Agrarian Reform 

(ICARRD) and at suggesting ways to involve FOs in consultations on the joint African 

Union, Economic Commission for Africa, and African Development Bank initiative on 

a pan-African land policy framework. 

Discussions opened with a brief introduction to the problems faced 

by smallholder farmers in relation to land access and tenure by three 

member organizations of the Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee 16 – 

ROPPA, La Via Campesina and the Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA). 

The ROPPA presentation focused on the plight of women, who 

often have no access or ownership rights to land, even though 

52 per cent of all farmers are women. The presentation also focused 

on the centrality of family farming but the need to also go beyond 

family farming. 

“If a woman is unfortunate enough 

to lose her husband, if he dies, and 

if the children are under age, then 

the land goes back to the family of 

the husband and the woman is left 

without anything. She has no land 

and no access to land anymore.” 

Korotoumou Gariko Sanogo, , President, 

Membre du collège de Femmes du ROPPA 

“In Africa we truly believe that this is a fundamental problem because it is not a 

question really of access, it is the question of ownership of the land because women 

work with their husbands on family farms and they have access to the land as long 

as the husband is alive. But if a woman is unfortunate enough to lose her husband, 

if he dies, and if the children are under age, then the land goes back to the family of 

the husband and the woman is left without anything. She has no land and no access 

to land anymore.” 

Korotoumou Gariko Sanogo, President, Membre du collège de Femmes du ROPPA 

16 Ms Korotoumou Gariko Sanogo, President, Membre du collège de Femmes (ROPPA); Mr Pedro Rafael Alegria 

Moncada, La Via Campesina (LVC); and Mr Crispino T. Aguelo, President, PAKISAMA (member of AFA). 

35

The Via Campesina presentation described the international conference on land reform 

and rural development that FAO had organized in 2006 in Porto Alegre and reiterated 

the suggestions that it had made to IFAD at the time: IFAD and FAO undertake to 

implement the action plan decided at the conference; support follow-up dialogue 

initiatives to the conference; and that IFAD programmes and projects take into account 

the possibility of direct action on the international conference on ICARRD. The 

presentation also made a number of policy recommendations for IFAD: protection of 

human rights as well as social, cultural, civil and political rights; prevention of 

transnational ownership of natural resources; direct cooperation without the 

intermediation of governments, NGOs or other organizations. 

The AFA presentation described a recent successful land campaign in the Philippines 

in which indigenous farmers marched 1,700 kilometres over two months to have an 

audience with the President in order to regain ancestral land that had been taken over 

by a multinational for the production of genetically engineered pigs. The presentation 

then focused on three points: the issue of land tenure security; the importance of 

effective and massive peasants’ organizations and movements; and the importance of 

civil society alliances to gain a stronger voice in decision-making. 

Participants pointed out that in many countries, recently introduced government 

policies have, in many cases, exacerbated the problem, as certain types of crops are being 

subsidized – in particular for biofuel production – to the detriment of traditional staple 

food production. The use of agricultural land for this type of produce undermines food 

security even further. 

Another very important issue that was highlighted was the importance of having 

access to and understanding of the national legislation on land tenure, since this is key 

for FOs to be able to address this issue and to be able to engage in dialogue with 

national authorities. FOs called on IFAD’s prompt support for capacity-building in 

relation to this issue, at a time when decisions on land tenure are being decided, 

particularly in Africa. 

“The African countries are particularly vulnerable and if we continue with this trend 

(of land laws favouring large multinationals) we are sitting on a time bomb; the 

directions have to change, they must change. We know that many of our countries 

in Eastern Africa, Western Africa, the Ivory Coast, the wars that are going on – and 

also in Kenya and so on – have to do with territorial controls. Things have to be 

done and pressure has to bear.” 

NDiogou Fall, President, ROPPA 

Land access and tenure issues were also debated in various regional working groups. The 

West and Central Africa group expressed concern in relation to the current trend as 

regards the expropriation and acquisition of land by investors for crops for biofuel 

production. Expropriation of land was also one of the issues discussed in the Latin 

America and the Caribbean group, since one of the main challenges to family farming in 

the region is in fact land legal tenure. The Eastern and Southern Africa group debated on 

land issues in relation to the ongoing process of definition of land policies in Africa. The 

Asia and the Pacific group raised concerns for the many landless peasants in the region. 

36

Participants welcomed IFAD’s initiative for a policy on land access 

and tenure, and urged it to be approved promptly. The group had the 

following key recommendations to make to IFAD: 

• IFAD, jointly with FAO, take on follow-up action to the 

International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural 

Development (ICARRD), and strengthen ICARRD follow-up 

in Latin America and Asia. 

• Support dialogue among the parties in countries where initiatives 

already exist or are to be created, e.g. the Dominican Republic, Sid Ahmed Ould Abeid, FNP, Mauritania and 

Ecuador, Honduras and Nepal, and Southern Cone in 

Elisabeth Atangana, PROPAC, Central Africa 

South America. 

• Develop projects and programmes around access to land and other natural 

resources, with such access extending to women, young people, indigenous 

people, herders and small-scale fishers. 

• Revise legal frameworks created before and during structural adjustment plans 

that prevent full access to land and natural resources by farmers and indigenous 

populations, and strengthen the rights of women and young people. 

• Strengthen partnerships in connection with access to land and natural resources. 

• Build capacity among farmers’ organizations through: training; research; 

communication and publications; legal support for making use of existing 

legislation that provides protection for rights and changing adverse legislation; 

and technical and financial assistance. 

• Support farmers’ organizations in presenting their views and proposals within the 

African Union process to adopt guidelines on land policies, supporting studies 

and meetings in this regard. 

• Facilitate meetings of women and young people to help them make use of land 

equally and legally, attaching priority to creating a level playing field for men 

and women. 

• Strengthen direct links with organizations proposing agrarian reform, as a 

necessity for society as a whole and for the future. 

• IFAD should not support projects for the settlement of nomads. 

• Support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. 

• Adopt policies to defend human, political, economic, social and cultural rights in 

cases of evictions and the criminalization of men, women and young people. 

• Support a policy and regulatory framework to counter transnational land 

acquisitions for use in extensive agro-fuel production. 

• Approve policies to strengthen the socio-environmental dimension of land use. 

• Refrain from supporting actions promoting work that enslaves women, young 

people and children. 

• Reaffirm a relationship of cooperation between IFAD and farmers’ organizations 

with no intermediaries (NGOs or others), directly through the mechanisms 

provided for by such organizations. 

• Publish an international calendar of land policy activities to help farmers prepare 

to influence such processes. 

• Facilitate ongoing coordination and monitoring of the land situation in 

different countries. 

37

• Strengthen the regulatory framework for access to land and, since farmers are not 

familiar with such laws, strengthen decentralized local capacities. 

• Recognize guarantees in peri-urban areas. 

• Create a fund for land tenure development and security. 

Finally, in the case of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, participants 

requested IFAD to help orient these policy-making bodies to support farmers’ 

organizations in their direct relationships and with full support for ICARRD. 

4.2 FOs’ experience with, and lessons learned from, engagement 

with, and influence over, policy processes regarding smallholder 

family agriculture 

Key questions addressed by this working group related to what type of support is needed 

to enable FOs to become influential stakeholders in the entire policy process, as well as 

what support is needed for national government authorities to promote institutionalized 

space for dialogue. IFAD’s role in supporting FOs and promoting open policy processes 

was also discussed, as well as the issue of how to ensure that the involvement of FOs in 

policy processes translates into positive impact on the livelihoods of their constituents. 

This thematic working group was opened with presentations from the Farmers’ 

Forum Steering Committee members – IFAP, COPROFAM and ROPPA. 17 

The IFAP presentation focused on the complexity of changing power structures 

within a country, which is what empowering FOs is about. A major challenge for 

development agencies is working with a group of rural people (e.g. indigenous peoples, 

pastoralists) that is very dispersed and assuring fair and inclusive representation. The 

issue of capacity-building was also highlighted, along with the need for a mapping of a 

country’s FOs to systematically implement a capacity-building process. 

The COPROFAM presentation described the history of the network and highlighted 

how “creating spaces” is not enough, and that capacity-building is essential, since it is 

not easy for FOs to work with governments or with international organizations. The 

presentation also described a pilot project in Paraguay which focuses on thematic areas 

– marketing, credit, etc. – and organizes seminars and workshops with specialists and 

representatives of both COPROFAM and the government. 

“Any government that ignores civil society organizations when building policies will 

weaken its own management and will threaten its own democratic system.” 

Mr Gugenio Rigoberto Turra Paredes, President, MUCECH 

The ROPPA presentation provided a brief history of the struggles occurred in West Africa 

during the period of structural adjustment that led to the creation in 2000 of a platform 

of FOs in the Sahelian countries in an effort to make their voices heard in policy 

processes. ROPPA worked very hard to involve farmers in the agricultural policies that 

were being developed by 15 countries of ECOWAS region in order to bring pressure to 

bear at the regional level. Involvement included the development of a caucus and a 

forum to discuss agricultural policy and to draft strategy documents. Actual policy 

documents exist, and the challenge will be for these documents to be implemented. 

17 Ibrahima Coulibaly (ROPPA), Jack Wilkinson (IFAP) and Eugenio Turra Paredes (MUCECH) presented their 

experience in policy dialogue processes. 

38

“Involvement in policy processes is about influencing a policy document, but also 

about pushing for the policy to become a true political act. It is a long-term and 

complicated task.” – Mr Ibrahima Coulibaly, President, CNOP 

The group discussions brought about an agreement among participants 

on the need for involvement and inclusion of poor rural people and 

the most marginalized, and their organizations, in all policy and 

decision-making processes. Participants also asserted FOs’ capacity to 

promote policy change and propose solutions, since they have their 

own political thoughts. 

“Involvement in policy processes is 

about influencing a policy 

document, but also about pushing 

for the policy to become a true 

political act. It is a long-term and 

complicated task.” 


“I think the major challenge here, as farmers’ organizations, is how do we get 

ourselves positioned to be able to ensure that as governments move along, 

committing themselves around policy issues at all these different focal points, how 

do we ensure that our concerns are actually properly represented, our concerns are 

properly taken?” 

P. Kiriro, President, East Africa Farmers’ Federation (EAFF) 

The fact that policy change is not an immediate action but rather a 

long-term process was also reiterated; a broad message for IFAD 

therefore was the need for a long-term perspective when supporting 

FOs’ engagement to promote equitable policy processes. 

Some regional working groups also addressed how policy processes 

develop at regional level. As explained in the regional partnerships 

section, the Latin America and the Caribbean group discussed the REAF 

and Central America experience, highlighting the importance of the 

specific political environment in every sub-region for the creation of a 

conducive environment for a tri-partite policy dialogue between IFAD, 

governments and regional economic commissions and organisations of 

the rural poor. The Asia and Pacific group suggested that IFAD engages 

in price support policies, policies that promote food security and food 

sovereignty and, very importantly, policies that support access to natural 

resources, in particular land and water. The Eastern and Southern Africa 

group instead discussed how policy processes are developed at national, 

sub-regional and regional level. 

The group made a number of recommendations to IFAD in relation 

to national and regional policy processes. At regional and national 

levels IFAD should: 

• Create the conditions for dialogue between FOs and 

governments, and regional bodies through institutionalized fora 

and councils for dialogue as done for the REAF at regional level 

• Support regional and national FOs’ networks capacity-building 

efforts through training, long-term support and rural schools and 

universities for FO leaders 

• Support the formulation and institutionalization of public policies 

and investments that support family agriculture 

“I think the major challenge here, 

as farmers’ organizations, is how 

do we get ourselves positioned to 

be able to ensure that as 

governments move along, 

committing themselves around 

policy issues at all these different 

focal points, how do we ensure that 

our concerns are actually properly 

represented, our concerns are 

properly taken?” 

Philip Kiriro, President, East Africa Farmers’ 

Federation (EAFF) 

Philip Kiriro, EAFF and Ajay Vashee, 

SACAU, and Vice President, IFAP 

39

• Support the development of key alliances with NGOs and other stakeholders to 

promote policy change 

• Support the mobilization of FOs at regional and national levels to raise awareness 

and promote policy change 

“If you are talking about influence 

in policy, we must not feel that 

farmers’ organizations alone would 

be able to influence policy, even if it 

is agricultural policy, because 

agricultural policy affects the rest 

of the society.” 

Renwick Rose, Coordinator, WINFA 

“I think one of the lessons we have learned is the importance of 

alliances, of working with other civil society organizations. If you 

are talking about influence in policy, we must not feel that farmers’ 

organizations alone would be able to influence policy, even if it 

is agricultural policy, because agricultural policy affects the rest 

of the society.” 

Renwick Rose, Coordinator, WINFA 

• Support mapping of FOs at national level and understand their strengths and 

weaknesses 

“One basic point is to know who is out there, what organizations are ready to 

contribute and participate, what capacity they need for a correct and legitimate 

participation and how we can build this capacity.” 

C.A. Gouet Enriquez, Development Programme Manager, IFAP 

• Provide long-term and flexible support for capacity-building on advocacy and 

policy to FOs for policy formulation and implementation and for supporting the 

autonomous development of FOs’ positions on public policies 

• Support FOs’ involvement in IFAD supported projects to allow policy change 

triggered by FOs and not by IFAD project managers 

• Strengthen the linkages between IFAD regional programmes for policy change 

(such as REAF) and their national ‘chapters’ 

• Create ‘information desks’ on policy processes ongoing and planned at national 

and regional levels to allow FOs to get a stake into policy dialogue and change 

• Promote the inclusion of pastoralists, fishers, indigenous people and other 

important stakeholders in the rural areas into policy dialogue processes 

• Promote an increased engagement of women and young people and the most 

marginalised groups in decision-making processes 

The working group concluded by stating that in all of its work with FOs, IFAD 

should support their autonomous development and promote diversity, inclusiveness 

and pluralism. 

4.3 Climate change and smallholder agriculture: perspectives of FOs 

Issues put forth for group discussion regarded how rural people can be helped to adapt 

to climate change, and benefit from the funding that has been allocated in relation to 

climate change issues. Also, the issue of how rural poor people can benefit from current 

mitigation mechanisms was raised for discussion, with particular emphasis on the 

possibility of paying smallholders for their environmental services. Moreover, the role of 

farmers’ and small producers’ organizations in the design and implementation of 

40

climate change policies and strategies was explored. Lastly, the role of IFAD and how it 

can support FOs in this context was looked at. 

The group was opened with presentations from two member organizations of the 

Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee 18 – IFAP and La Via Campesina. These presentations 

offered an overview of the climate change issue, highlighting its systemic nature, which 

calls for systemic solutions. 

The IFAP presentation described the major barriers to climate change adoption and 

mitigation. These include: deterioration of our natural resource base through soil 

erosion, water logging, salination, land degradation, desertification, increased water use 

and diminished biodiversity; incomplete policy frameworks that are not mainstreamed 

and do not have regulations; and rural infrastructures that cannot bear the consequences 

of climate change. The presentation then focused on mechanisms to enable FOs to 

adapt to or help mitigate the effects of climate change. These included carbon credits, 

introducing tax benefits to stimulate farmers to adopt more sustainable farming 

practices, and establishing appropriate insurance mechanisms, in particular crop 

insurance guarantees. 

“I am a great proponent of getting farmer or other groups organized. This is the 

greatest way to facilitate change because they have a network, a bottom-up platform, 

a forum where issues are discussed and mandates created. IFAD needs to move 

further in this direction and with these kinds of groups.” 

Mr A. M. Vashee, President, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions 

(SACAU) and Vice-President, IFAP 

The Via Campesina presentation described the impact of industrial 

farming and the current agricultural production model on global 

warming. It also suggested that the promotion of biofuels is a false 

solution since biofuels actually contribute to global warming. In this 

context, small-scale farming has a central role to play in “curing” the 

planet. Small farmers support sustainable agriculture and cool the planet. 

Therefore, models need to be developed that allow for the survival and 

small-scale farming. At the same time, these models are incompatible with 

agro-industrial systems and industrial farming. The presentation urged 

IFAD to take an open stance on this model of production. 

“We have to change the types of 

production, of transport, of 

consumption – all of these models. 

We are talking about systemic 

problems and we have to face them 

in this way with radical changes; it 

is necessary to change our social, 

economic and consumption habits.” 

Paul Nicholson, Unión de Ganaderos y 

Agricultores Vascos (EHNE/UGAV), Spain 

“You have got to look at this not from the point of view of mitigating 

the problem or seeking opportunities. We have to change the types of 

production, of transport, of consumption – all of these models. We 

are talking about systemic problems and we have to face them in this 

way with radical changes; it is necessary to change our social, 

economic and consumption habits.” 

Paul Nicholson, Unión de Ganaderos y Agricultores Vascos 

They also provided an overview of other issues related to climate change 

that are of importance to poor rural people and need to be addressed: 

deterioration of the resource base, an incomplete policy framework, 

Paul Nicholson, EHNE, and Taghi Farvar, 

WAMIP 

18 Mr Paul Nicholson, Unión de Ganaderos y Agricultores Vascos (EHNE/UGAV – La Via Campesina), and 

Mr Ajaykumar Manubhai Vashee, President, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU), 

and Vice President, IFAP. 

41

“We need to move with newer 

means of risk management, 

especially for smallholders because 

if they are not assisted you are 

going to have a potentially 

dangerous situation where the 

pressure on the land is going to 

grow, there will be more 

deforestation as people move to 

better ecological areas and it can 

lead to conflict.” 

Ajay Vashee, SACAU and Vice President, 

IFAP 

inappropriate infrastructure, unsuitable instruments for risk 

management associated with climate change, and the possible conflicts 

that may be brought about by competition over resources and 

migration, among others. 

“We need to move with newer means of risk management, especially for 

smallholders because if they are not assisted you are going to have a 

potentially dangerous situation where the pressure on the land is going to 

grow, there will be more deforestation as people move to better ecological areas and it 

can lead to conflict. It is not a far-fetched issue but there is going to be conflict for 

water, there is going to be conflict for land, there is going to be conflict over migration 

of people. They are serious issues so perhaps this is where the multilateral agencies can 

take them on board, because it is within your domain as multilateral agencies to look 

at this and how we can possibly fine tune your programme.” 

A. M. Vashee, President, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions 

(SACAU) and Vice President, IFAP 

The debate brought the group to an agreement on a series of observations about climate 

change. There was a consensus about the negative impacts of climate change on the 

small farmer. A second point was that the small farmers and their organizations have a 

very important role to play in fighting climate change and its negative effects. 

Another observation was that there is inadequate information available to the 

population on climate change, its basic causes and processes, and its impact on farmers 

and their livelihoods. In addition, the legal framework is inadequate to fight climate 

change, especially in developing countries. Lastly, it was observed that in spite of the 

impact climate change has on them, poor rural people are excluded from the global 

debate on climate change. 

Climate change, mitigation and adaptation measures were also discussed in regional 

working groups. The West and Central Africa working group addressed climate change 

from a broad prospective: climate change’s impact on agriculture and the role of small 

farmers in mitigation; the linkages between climate change, land, biofuel production, 

and the rise in food prices. The Latin America and Caribbean group highlighted how 

climate change increases the vulnerability of small farmers and fishers, especially in 

small island states, due to an increase in the number and impact of natural disasters. 

The Near East and North Africa group highlighted the dangers of the ongoing pace 

of the desertification process, and expressed concern for the increasing length of 

drought periods. 

Based on the above observations, the working group developed key 

recommendations for IFAD: 

• IFAD must recognize the fact that small farmers and their organizations can play 

a critical role in cooling the planet. They can be part of the solution through the 

sustainable management of natural resources and IFAD should support their 

contributions to mitigation and adaptation programmes. 

• IFAD should promote long-term sustainable agricultural models designed to 

address planet heating and other climate-change challenges. 

• IFAD should support FOs in playing an effective role in advocacy and policy 

dialogue with governments and within international fora. 

42

• IFAD should provide information and training programmes to smallholder 

farmers, with a focus on young people, so that they can understand climate 

change effects and can better adapt themselves. 

• IFAD must include climate change in its COSOPs and take it into account in its 

projects and programmes. 

• IFAD should promote research programmes to respond to the new magnitude of 

climate change. These should be linked to and designed according to local 

groups’ requests. 

• IFAD should help put in place mechanisms for risk management and insurance to 

cope with climate change effects and impacts. 

• IFAD should facilitate access to existing adaptation and mitigation funds and, where 

necessary, give support in making them more accessible to smallholder farmers. 

The group concluded by requesting IFAD to support their preparation for and 

participation in the FAO High Level Conference on World Food Security and the 

Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy (HLC) to be held in Rome in June 2008. 

Food price increases, biofuel production and natural resource management 

Although the issues around land, climate change and 

policy dialogue were addressed separately by the 

three thematic working groups, they are by no means 

independent from one another. Their interrelationship 

emerged clearly in the group discussions, particularly 

during discussions around food price increases and 

biofuel production. 

The rise of staple food prices on world markets 

that hits consumers and the poorest consumers in 

particular was widely acknowledged as one of the 

major issues of concern. Participants mentioned this 

trend during all five regional working groups, and 

stressed that contrary to traditional trends, the current 

rise in food prices is not caused by a decrease in food 

production, but rather by a diversion of this produce 

from the food chain to the biofuel production chain. 

There is a strong concern about the current and 

future impact of this trend on food security. 

Another concern is the tensions that biofuel 

production is creating in relation to land use. A 

number of participants highlighted the need to further 

analyse this issue so that FOs can adopt an informed 

position on the subject, with a view to its long-term 

consequences; this point was raised in particular 

by the Western and Central Africa working group, 

which called on specific support from IFAD, since 

the issue of biofuel production is also controversial 

among producers themselves. 

“It is difficult to make people understand that you 

could of course earn money in doing such and such 

a thing, but do not do it because there is no future in 

it. People think of the present time. They have 

immediate problems they have to solve and this is 

why they make certain choices.” 


Some participants also expressed concern about the 

trend of clearing forests to grow crops for biofuel 

production. This is seen as a clear contradiction of the 

reason for growing crops for biofuel in the first place, i.e. 

climate change mitigation. 

“There is a huge area of research waiting to be done 

that our governments are not financing […] what I 

am saying is that we know enough about biofuels to 

say please, like with genetically modified organisms, 

let us take a precautionary stand. We do not want it 

until we have found out more about it. There is 

nothing to lose in that, but if you look for the shortterm 

money and lose the future patrimony from 

agriculture, you have done nothing other than 

destroy your own countries.” 

M.O. Arigbede, National Coordinator, USMEFAN 

Many participants are aware of the linkages between 

climate change, biofuel production, natural 

resources management – land and water in particular 

– and increasing food prices. What they required from 

IFAD is support to increase their knowledge and 

capacity to be able to discuss them at policy level. 

43

Section 5: ‘Synthesis of 

Deliberations’ and IFAD’s response 

In the afternoon of the second day of the meeting, a draft version of the Synthesis of 

Deliberations was presented to the Forum participants for comments and endorsement. 

The draft was jointly prepared by the members of the Steering Committee on the basis 

of the discussions held during the two days. 

The participants endorsed the draft synthesis of deliberations and mandated the 

Steering Committee to finalize it. The final version of the Synthesis was read by E. 

Penunia on behalf of the Forum at the Thirty-first Session of IFAD’s Governing Council, 

and is presented in the section that follows. 

“This Forum of dialogue and constructive discussion is something moving and very 

special. We are building something new within the United Nations structure and 

there is real hope that IFAD can become a powerful instrument through which we 

can really change the situation of thousands, millions of farmers and peasants and 

poor people in this world.” 

Alberto Broch, Executive Director, COPROFAM 

5.1 Synthesis of deliberations of the global meeting of the Farmers’ 

Forum 2008 

Hunger is increasing and poverty persists in the rural world. Inequality is rising together 

with risk and vulnerability. Extraordinarily complex challenges are emerging, from 

global warming; to erosion of biodiversity; to the depletion of natural resources and 

growing demand on agriculture for food and energy. A radically different approach is 

needed towards agricultural development – an approach that restores the regenerative 

capacity of nature and agriculture itself. 

International prices of food and feed are rising sharply, at least partly due to 

expansion of bio-fuel production on industrial scale, the impact of climate change and 

the exclusion of farming communities from access to land, water, the seas and seeds. At 

the same time, hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers, landless workers, 

pastoralists, fishers and indigenous people – the majority amongst them women – are 

struggling to feed their families and better their lives. Young people are given no other 

viable alternative than to abandon the land and agriculture. 

In this context, IFAD’s mandate and goal to enable poor rural women and men to 

overcome poverty, through their economic, social and political empowerment, is more 

important and relevant than ever. 

We the participants in the Farmers’ Forum in conjunction with the Governing 

Council of IFAD, call upon the governments of the Fund’s member states to urgently 

direct their policy attention and their investments towards smallholder agriculture and 

45

ural livelihoods. We also urge the members of IFAD to increase their contributions to the 

Fund so that it can increase its impact, on the ground, in favour of poor rural people. 

In addition, we want to stress that the Fund’s empowerment agenda and 

commitment to poor rural people can be best pursued in partnership with farmers’ and 

rural peoples’ organizations and with governments. 

Looking back at the last two years, since the first global meeting of the Farmers’ 

Forum, we recognize that IFAD has made tangible efforts and achieved significant 

progress in responding to the recommendations that we, the participants in the Farmers’ 

Forum at IFAD, presented to you in February 2006. 

We see that IFAD is actually changing the way it works at country level in order to 

allow for a stronger engagement of our farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations in 

the development of its country strategies and projects with its member governments. 

Indeed there is a growing trend that we want to see continue and accelerate. 

We also acknowledge the efforts IFAD is making to help us strengthen the capacity 

of our producers’ organizations through direct and demand-driven financial support to 

our members and through support to policy dialogue platforms at regional levels, such 

as the REAF-MERCOSUR in Latin America and the review of the Economic Partnership 

Agreement between EU and ACP countries. 

We furthermore acknowledge IFAD’s response to our call to increase its engagement 

with the land issues facing poor rural producers. In this regard, we appreciate the draft 

policy on “Promoting Equitable Access to Land and Tenure Security for Rural Poverty 

Reduction” and we urge its approval and implementation by IFAD’s management and 

Executive Board. 

Additionally, we appreciate the report IFAD presented to us on its partnerships 

with us, rural producers’ organizations, and its spirit of transparency and accountability, 

which has strengthened further the trust among us and has broadened opportunities 

for collaboration. 

As we know each other better we are also becoming more demanding. 

Indeed we, the participants in the Farmers’ Forum, believe that much more can be done 

in a more systematic way and that the progress achieved so far is partial and uneven 

among countries. Our collaboration needs to be institutionalized so that we can more 

effectively achieve our common agenda to fight rural poverty and promote family 

agriculture and other rural livelihoods, most importantly livestock and fishing. 

The Farmers’ Forum process will always be guided by the principles agreed upon 

three years ago: mutual respect, pluralism, openness, inclusiveness, transparency, and 

promotion of mutual recognition of the autonomy and independence of farmers’ 

organizations. These principles should also guide the producers’ organizations in their 

relation with their members, assuring their accountability to them. 

Principles of engagement. On the basis of the ongoing collaboration, we believe 

that the time is ripe for the development of shared and agreed-upon principles of 

engagement to guide our interaction. These principles should be developed in 2008. 

We the Farmers’ Forum participants recommend that these principles of engagement 

be discussed and approved by the Executive Board of IFAD and be followed by the 

preparation of clear operational guidelines focused on compliance with these principles 

at the country and regional levels. 

46

Engagement with IFAD country programmes. The Farmers’ Forum recommends 

that IFAD staff receive clear direction for systematic involvement of farmers’ 

organizations in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of country strategies 

and programmes. The way of promoting this is by providing time for interaction, 

relevant information, and specific resources to enable FOs to participate effectively in 

IFAD country programmes and to know what IFAD does in any given country. IFAD 

should increase its own knowledge of farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations (FOs) 

in each country to further promote an inclusive policy dialogue among people’s 

organizations, the governments and itself. In relation to IFAD programmes and projects, 

the participants at the Farmers’ Forum are convinced that FOs have the capacity to 

manage directly and to assume the responsibility of projects. 

The point is not only partnership between IFAD and FOs but also the promotion of 

an environment conducive to strengthening the dialogue between FOs and governments 

and bring it closer to an equal footing. 

Focus on results and building a shared monitoring and evaluation system. One 

important principle to guide our collaboration will be attention to results in the field 

and to strengthened monitoring and evaluation systems which will involve FOs. Such 

systems will also enhance mutual accountability between IFAD and farmers’ 

organizations for the shared goal to fight poverty and hunger in rural areas. 

Direct financing to FOs. The participants in the Farmers’ Forum are asking IFAD to 

provide over the long term, and in a sustained way, direct financial support, in particular 

through our apex organizations at national and regional levels. These resources should 

enable FOs to strengthen their organizations, structure them on higher levels, and 

increase their knowledge and information and their capacity to engage with policy 

making and implementation processes effectively and in a flexible manner. 

On their side, the producers’ organizations, participants in the Forum, commit 

themselves to a sound management of these resources and on reporting back to IFAD in 

a rigorous and timely manner on the use of the funds and on the impact on the ground. 

Support the involvement of the young in agriculture and rural development. In 

its partnership with farmers’ organizations, IFAD needs to pay greater attention to young 

people. In this regard, partnerships must focus on their access to, and control of, land 

and other productive resources, capacity-building and the provision of targeted support 

and the necessary incentives for them to engage in agriculture and rural livelihoods. 

Support the involvement of women in agriculture and rural development. We the 

participants of the Farmers’ Forum want to stress the importance of the presence and 

role of women both in terms of numbers and contributions. Women farmers are rarely 

recognized as producers in their own distinct economic and social right. They often face 

difficulties in gaining access to training, credit and natural resources, especially land and 

water. Moreover, women farmers are under-represented at all levels of farmers’ 

organizations and, thus, they cannot voice their own specific needs. As a result, women 

farmers are even more impoverished than their male counterparts. 

Therefore, we ask IFAD to support farmers’ organizations to engage their women 

members in the management and decision-making processes of their organizations, 

with a minimum quota in leadership positions of 30 per cent. We also ask IFAD to 

apply a significant quota of women farmers (at least 30 per cent) in all IFAD 

programmes, events and initiatives. 

47

We also recommend that, in the context of the next global meeting of the Farmers’ 

Forum, a preparatory meeting be organized with a specially set up group to focus on the 

specific issues of women, which will then be brought to the Forum. 

Fishers. We, participants in the Farmers’ Forum, call on IFAD to support the 

organizations of fisherfolk and their efforts to improve the livelihoods of their members. 

More specifically, we call on IFAD to: 

- strengthen the capacity of fishing communities and their organizations to engage 

in sustainable exploitation and use of fishery resources and to engage in policy 

dialogue with governments and inter-governmental organizations at national, 

regional and international levels; 

- invest more resources in maintaining the biodiversity of coastal zones; 

- promote artisanal aquaculture; and 

- promote post-harvest practices and access to national and international markets. 

Pastoralists. IFAD policies, programmes and projects should take into account the 

specific issues of pastoralists and other mobile indigenous peoples, such as their 

seasonal mobility, their use of multiple territories, and their community-based tenure 

systems. It should also take into consideration their special and unique capacities for 

sustainable natural resource management and their ability to cope with climate change 

through seasonal spatial and temporal mobility. 

We, the participants of the Farmers Forum 2008, urge IFAD to continue and increase 

its collaboration with FAO, particularly in the following three areas: providing support 

to farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations; the follow-up to the International 

Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development; and the organization of the 

conference on climate change, food security and agriculture and of the conference on 

fisheries. We also urge IFAD to support the mobilization of civil society around these 

two international events. 

The Farmers’ Forum included three thematic working groups on three specific 

challenges confronting poor rural producers: 

- Access to Land: trends, challenges and opportunities. Role and perspectives of 

farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations; 

- Climate change and smallholder agriculture: perspective of FOs; and 

- Access to policy making processes: opportunities for farmers’ and rural producers’ 

organizations to exert power in favour of family agriculture. 

Given the wealth of the discussions and the diversified positions and recommendations 

of these groups, the reports on them are annexed to the present document. 

5.2 Response by IFAD senior management 

IFAD Senior Management participated in the last plenary session of the Farmers’ Forum 

global meeting and followed discussions on the finalisation of the Synthesis of 

Deliberations. They were given the opportunity to respond to the Synthesis and to 

provide their view on the Farmers’ Forum process as a whole. Commitments were made 

therefore in relation to IFAD-FO partnerships. These statements are summarized below. 

Kevin Cleaver, Assistant President, Programme Management Department: “We are all 

concerned about several of the changes that are affecting the globe right now. Several of 

48

you have mentioned climate change and environmental degradation. 

The very rapidly rising commodity prices, which benefit some of you 

and hurt others, we are concerned about that. We want to know what is 

going on and whether we can take more charge of this situation. We are 

interested in biofuels. We are interested in social issues, conflicts – 

within and between countries – water. […] we are concerned about 

donor institutions […] So what is our interest? We want to work with 

farmers’ organizations. One of the big shifts in paradigms for donors 

like IFAD is no longer working exclusively with governments. […] That 

paradigm is dying. Increasingly in the future what is going to happen is 

that there will be projects that are submitted to institutions like ours 

from people like you – in collaboration with your governments, civil 

society organizations, the private sector – that we will evaluate just like 

a bank and finance. 

“I see a confluence of interest here. What I hear you saying is that 

you want to have a bigger role. That day is coming, even if it has come 

too slowly, […] there was a promise from IFAD that we would involve 

you, farmers’ organizations, in country programmes, and this is 

happening, I hear from some of you that it is happening too slowly in 

some places. So I think it is a legitimate demand on your part to insist. 

We will do it primarily with governments – remember we are a UN 

organization, we are owned by governments. […] in every country 

programme management team there should be representatives from 

farmers’ organizations. It makes sense. It will strengthen the quality of 

the projects. 

“Grants – We are doing a lot more grants directly to you. […] we 

have a mutual interest in it. And we are going to have more money. 

Project design: I think your interest is to have more components that 

directly affect you and perhaps are managed by you. […] And I think 

that that should be an outcome of your participation in country 

programmes and project designs. […] this will be determined by your 

interaction with your governments, with your members and with our 

teams on a country by country basis. Project implementation: I am 

happy to report to you a very important reform in IFAD. IFAD 

traditionally contracted out its project supervision. We have decided to 

do this ourselves, and this is going to be the revolution in IFAD because 

our staff will be out in the field much more frequently doing and 

supporting the thing that counts, which is the implementation of the 

project. And that will be the point of interaction on substantive things. 

“A final thing, there has not been a lot of discussion on policy 

dialogue although the policy environment is sitting on top of us. […] IFAD has not 

gotten involved in that very heavily in the past; but these are concerns that you hear 

around this table and one of the issues for us will be on a country by country basis to 

talk to partners other than donors and the government about these issues, if only to 

educate ourselves about the way you see these issues evolving. 

“I come away from the Farmers’ Forum quite satisfied and content. Imagine this 

happening ten years ago. It would never have happened.” 

Olaseinde Arigdebe, USEMFAN, Nigeria, 

Ndigou Fall, ROPPA, Kevin Cleaver, 

Kanayo Nwanze, Sappho Haralambous, 

Jean-Philippe Audinet, Matthew Wyatt, 

Gunilla Olsson, IFAD 

“What I hear you saying is that you 

want to have a bigger role. That 

day is coming, even if it has come 

too slowly, […] there was a 

promise from IFAD that we would 

involve you, farmers’ organizations, 

in country programmes, and this is 

happening, I hear from some of 

you that it is happening too slowly 

in some places. So I think it is a 

legitimate demand on your part 

to insist.” 

Kevin Cleaver, Assistant President, 

Programme Management Department, IFAD 

Olaseinde Arigbede, USMEFAN, Nigeria, 

Ndiogou Fall, ROPPA, and 

Kevin Cleaver, IFAD 

49

“The stronger our roots are and the 

stronger our relationships with you, 

then I think the more helpful we can be 

and the better partners that we will be 

able to be with you in that process.” 

Matthew Wyatt, Assistant President, External Affairs Department: 

Matthew Wyatt, Assistant President, External 

Affairs Department, IFAD 

“Over the next couple of days I look forward to reading the conclusions 

that you have come up with and learning more about your discussions 

and having further chances to discuss with you. But one message that 

has come very clearly to me is: first of all, that since that first meeting 

two years ago there is much more involvement, there has been a lot of 

progress in the ways in which many of you –not yet all of you –are being 

able to work with our programmes, with our projects, and influence 

what we do, and that is clearly a very positive development. But the 

other thing I am conscious of is that for many of you it is not happening 

fast enough. […] we are trying to do quite a lot of work to make sure 

Sappho Haralambous, Jean-Philippe Audinet, that we do that and that we do it in a very systematic way. I think that 

Matthew Wyatt and Gunilla Olsson, IFAD you can see that the senior management of IFAD really is very much 

together in this, in wanting to be responsive where we can. 

“About policy influence. We, as a United Nations body and as an international 

financial institution, we do have a certain amount of access to international policy making 

processes and our mission of course is to use any access that we have on behalf of poor 

rural people, poor rural farmers, fishers, forest dwellers, indigenous people and so on. Our 

influence is of course limited but one of the reasons that we have any influence at all is 

because we have a certain legitimacy in these bodies because of the work that we are doing 

on the ground generally with poor rural people and with organizations such as yours, so 

the stronger our roots are and the stronger our relationships with you, then I think the 

more helpful we can be and the better partners that we will be able to be with you in that 

process. So that is another reason that I think it is very important for all of us to try and 

ensure that we do strengthen those partnerships. Because at the end, what unites us is so 

much more than what divides us. And I am sure that through carrying on working 

together we will be able to achieve very much more.” 

Gunilla Olsson, Executive Director of IFAD’s Action Plan: “I find that your 

recommendations are absolutely and perfectly consistent with everything that we have 

done in IFAD under our reform agenda in order to make us more effective in the future; 

I was very pleased with that. 

A view coming from a delegate from Canada Member State 

to the Governing Council 

“I think this occasion, with such a great representation of farmers’ organizations from 

around the world is extremely important. We think that the dialogue that is taking place 

right now is, if I can borrow the word from the Assistant President of IFAD, revolutionary. 

We feel that this kind of dialogue will result in not only a better collaboration but 

something that is exceedingly important in the debate these days – results on the ground. 

It is the farmers’ organizations that are the actors on the ground, and if we do not 

collaborate with the actors on the ground we are not going to get results on the ground. 

“I think it is extremely important that you have taken the time to come and exchange 

with us. I think the delegations during the Governing Council will be giving the 

statements that you are putting together a great deal of importance, so we do hope 

that there will be time to review them carefully. I think it is also extremely important that 

the management of IFAD has taken the time to deliberate on the items that you have 

raised. As somebody said in the room, all this is being recorded so we are all 

accountable – all of us, IFAD management, yourselves and ourselves, the members.” 

50

“The Strategic Framework has in the strategic objectives and priorities the same 

issues as you are dealing with and that you wanted to highlight – partnerships and 

empowerment being two of the six principles in the strategic framework. Our COSOPs, 

the country strategies, and all our country-level engagement – all are designed in such a 

way that we can actually have a closer partnership in the future. 

“So we have all the ground work done in terms of the internal reform process of 

IFAD. Now we are moving from the ground work in the organization to actually 

implementing it and systematizing it. The principles of engagement and the guidelines 

that you have recommended that should be produced in 2008 can further these 

deliverables or these plans that we already have in the organization.” 

5.3 Closing of the Farmers’ Forum meeting 

The Farmers’ Forum global meeting was closed by K. Nwanze, 

“I noted in particular the efforts 

Vice President of IFAD. Following are his closing remarks. 

undertaken with you to bring about 

“The last two days we have discussed and deliberated on a wide change. The recommendations you 

range of important issues. We spoke about partnerships, rural people, have made have been noted, and 

farmers and governments. You also underlined the progress that we at they shall be discussed by IFAD 

IFAD have made, and you called on us to strengthen rural organizations. management. I want to assure you 

You do see a growing trust and better collaboration between yourself that this is not just a process for 

and us, but also that this is an indication that there will be greater the record. It is a process to ensure 

demand from you on us. You ask us to stand to that challenge. You a better engagement of the Fund in 

requested that we look into the institutionalization of our efforts, its development effectiveness.” 

particularly with respect to our country presence. You identified key Kanayo Nwanze, Vice-President, IFAD 

elements – plurality, mutual respect, independence of FOs. You asked 

us to develop in 2008 principles of engagement to be discussed with our governing 

bodies. There is a call for attention to results in the field, monitoring and evaluation, 

and you asked us to look into the possibility of direct funding. 

“These have been a very gratifying two days. These are very high-reaching 

recommendations. The depth of discussions is indicative of your depth of engagement. 

I noted in particular the efforts undertaken with you to bring about change. The 

recommendations you have made have been noted, and they shall be discussed by IFAD 

management. I want to assure you that this is not just a process for the record. It is a 

process to ensure a better engagement of the Fund in its development effectiveness. We 

shall look into principles of engagement that will continue to guide our partnerships 

with transparency, mutual respect and accountability as centrepieces. 

“There are certainly opportunities on which we should capitalise to strengthen our 

working together. There are challenges that are old and new. Certainly there are concerns 

over issues of access to land and climate change. We are committed to mainstreaming 

climate change into all our programmes at country, regional and global levels. As you 

are aware, on Friday we shall begin the session for our 8th replenishment. We will be 

asking an increase in commitments to IFAD. But when we do so, we want to see to what 

extent what we are doing is evidenced by the testimony of those on the ground – 

yourselves, for whom we work, farmers, herders, women, pastoralists, fishers, indigenous 

peoples – the rural poor. It is the way our work impacts on your lives that will 

demonstrate our engagement and the use of the funds that are invested in IFAD.” 

51

ANNEX 1 

Agenda 

The Farmers’ Forum Global Meeting 

In conjunction with the Thirty-First Session of IFAD’s Governing Council 

Palazzo dei Congressi, Rome 

11-12 February 2008 

Monday, 11 February 2008 

9:00-10:15 Opening Session 

• Opening of the Forum 

• Tour de Table: all participants introduce themselves (name, organization, 

country) 

• Address of Mr. L. Bage, President of IFAD 

• Statement by Mr. José Maria Sumpsi Vinas, Assistant Director General, 

Technical Cooperation Dept. and Acting Director General, Agriculture 

Dept., FAO 

• Interventions by representatives of farmers’ organizations, members of the 

Steering Committee: IFAP, LVC, WFFP, WFF, ROPPA, AFA, COPROFAM 

10:15-10:30 Coffee break 

10:30-13:00 Trends and developments in partnerships between IFAD and farmers’ 

and rural producers’ organizations (FOs) 

• Report on evolving partnerships 2006-2008 

• Three representatives of FOs report on their experiences working with 

IFAD in the context of COSOPs, project design/implementation, 

regional/sub-regional policy dialogue processes 

• General discussion 

• Preparation of regional working group sessions 

13:00-14:00 Lunch 

14:00-16:00 Progress achieved and future goals for IFAD/FOs partnerships: 

regional working group sessions 

• West and Central Africa 

• East and Southern Africa 

• Asia 

• Latin America and the Caribbean 

• Near East and North Africa 

16:00-16:15 Coffee break 

16:15-17:15 Plenary session: feedback from the regional working groups on general 

directions and scope of partnerships between IFAD and FOs 

17:15-18:45 Plenary session: general discussion on assessment of, and way forward 

in, the partnerships between IFAD and FOs 

18:45 Cocktail 

20:00 Evening working session of the Steering Committee on 

recommendations on evolution of IFAD/FOs partnerships 

52

Tuesday, 12 February 

8:30-9:00 Plenary session: Preparation of thematic working group sessions 

9:00-11:30 Thematic working group sessions 

A. Access to land: trends, challenges and opportunities. Role 

and perspectives of FOs 

• National Policy articulation and implementation 

• Follow-up to ICARRD 

• African Union/ECA/ADB initiative on a pan-African land policy framework 

• IFAD’s Draft Policy on Access to Land and Land Tenure Security 

• IFAD/FOs partnerships in promoting pro-poor policies on land and 

tenure security 

B. FO experiences with, and lessons learned from, engagement with, and 

influence over, policy processes regarding smallholder, family agriculture 

• Examples of successful experiences at national/regional level 

• Role of FOs in advocating for, and shaping, pro-poor agriculture policies 

• Role of IFAD in support of FO engagement with policy processes 

C. Climate change and smallholder agriculture: Perspectives of FOs 

• Priorities of FOs in relation to adaptation and mitigation 

• Payment for environmental services 

• Role of FOs in policy and strategy development to address climate change 

• IFAD’s role in opening up institutional and policy space for FOs and in 

supporting their engagement in policy processes dealing with climate 

change 

11:30-13:00 Plenary Session: Reports of Thematic Working Groups and general 

discussion 

13:00-15:30 Lunch 

Preparation of the Synthesis of Deliberations (Steering Committee 

and IFAD) 

Parallel meetings of Forum participants with IFAD staff 

15:30-18:00 Concluding Plenary Session 

• Presentation, discussion and approval by FO representatives of the 

Synthesis of Deliberations to be delivered to the Governing Council 

• Reactions of IFAD management 

• General discussion 

• Closure of Forum by Mr. Kanayo Nwanze, Vice President of IFAD 

13-14 February 2008, 31st Governing Council of IFAD 

The participants in the Farmers’ Forum are all invited to the Governing Council with 

observer’s status. They will have the opportunity to participate in the three round tables on 

14 February, which are organized on the topics of: biofuels; climate change and commodity 

prices. 

The Farmers’ Forum Synthesis of Deliberations will be delivered to the Council during 

its plenary sessions on 14 February. 

During the two days of the Council, parallel meetings will be organized among 

representatives of farmers’ organizations and IFAD staff about particular initiatives and 

experiences. Finally, any side events that might be organized during the two days of the 

Council will be open to all participants of the Farmers’ Forum. 

53

ANNEX 2 

List of participants 

FARMERS’ AND RURAL PRODUCERS’ ORGANIZATIONS 

East and Southern Africa 

Mr Andrew Charles Hepelwa, Secretary General, MVIWATA. P.O. Box 3220 Morogoro, 

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Mobile +255 754 33 92 77; Fax +255 23 261 4184; 

mviwata@africaonline.co.tz; hepelwa@yahoo.com 

Mr Renaldo Chingore João, President, Uniao Nacional de Camponeses (UNAC). 

Maputo, Mozambique. Tel +258 21 306738 +258 21 311828; 

diamantino@unac.org.mz; diamantino.n@gmail.com; contacto@unac.org.mz; 

http://www.unac.org.mz 

Mr Leonard Nduati Kariuki, National Chairman, Kenya National Federation of 

Agricultural Producers (KENFAP). Family Health Plaza, Mbagathi Way, 

Off Langata Road, P. O. Box 43148 00100 Nairobi, Kenya. Tel +254 20 608324; 

Direct: +254 20 444 7458; Fax +254 20 4447459; producers@kenfap.org; 

nduati@nelleon.co.ke; nelleon@nbi.ispkenya.com; leonduati@yahoo.com; 

http://www.kenpaf.org 

Mr Philip Kiriro, President, East Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF). Rhapta Road, 

Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Fax +254 204451691; Mobile +254 728 405067; 

+254 7228 09320; philipkiriro@yahoo.com; info@eaffu.org; http://www.eaffu.org 

Ms Elizabeth Mpofu, Chairperson, Eastern and Southern Small Scale Farmers (ESAFF). 

Matova P. School Bag 9213 Masvingo, Harare, Zimbabwe; Mobile +263 912 443716; 

ezimmpofu@cooltoad.com; pelumzim@yahoo.com 

Mr Juvenal Musine, Secretary General, IMBARAGA. B.P. 1462 Kigali, Rwanda. 

Tel +250 58 6407/58 4584; umassinne@yahoo.fr; 

http://www.syndicat-imbaraga.org.rw 

Mr Jean Berthin Rabefeno, Secretary General, Firaisankinan’ny Tantsaha eto 

Madagasikara ou Coalition Paysanne de Madagascar (FTM/CPM). Atananarivo, 

Madagascar. Tel +261 2022 32561; Fax +261 2022 65867; Mobile +261 320401562; 

cpm@moov.mg; rabefeno@netclub.mg 

Mr Paulo Uime, President, Angola Farmers Federation and Cooperatives (UNACA). 

Rua Major Kanhangulo, N° 146 – 1° Caixa postal 2465 – Luanda, Angola. 

Tel/Fax +244 222 39 3087; unaca2@netcabo.co.ao 

Mr Ajaykumar Manubhai Vashee, President, Southern African Confederation of 

Agricultural Unions (SACAU); Vice President, IFAP. Botano Centre, 8 cnr Lenchen 

Avenue North & Embankment Road Centurion, Pretoria, South Africa. 

Fax +260 2617 767; vashee@coppernet.zm; http://www.sacau.org 

54

West and Central Africa 

Mr King David Amoah, Farmers’ Organisations Network in Ghana (FONG). Accra, 

Ghana. Tel +233 21 315894; +233 2430863567; kdkamoah@yahoo.com; 

ecasardghana@yahoo.com 

Mr Makanjuola Olaseinde Arigbede, National Coordinator, United Small & Medium 

Scale Farmers Associations of Nigeria (USMEFAN), Member of the Steering 

Committee of the Farmers’ Forum. IBADAN Oyo State, Nigeria. Tel +234 2 8107367; 

Fax +234 2 8107367; Tel/fax +234 2 8103720; Mobile +234 8034647797; 

olaseindearigbede@yahoo.com 

Ms Elisabeth Atangana, President, Plateforme Régionale des Organisations de 

Producteurs d’Afrique Centrale (PROPAC). Cameroun. Tel/Fax +237 998 25940, 

+237 222 341 90; cnop_cam2001@yahoo.fr 

Mr Jacques Bonou, Secretary General, Fédération des Unions de Producteurs du Bénin 

(FUPRO), Chaiman of IFAP African Committee. B.P 372 Bohicon RNIE 2 SACLO, 

Cotonou, Benin. Tel +229 510700; Fax +229 510946; jacbonou@yahoolfr; 

http://www.fuproben.org 

Mr Nathanaël Buka Mupungu, Porte Parole National, Confédération Paysanne du Congo 

(COPACOPRP). Kinshasa, Congo. Tel +243 811 648430; nb.copacoprp@yahoo.fr; 

copacoprp@yahoo.fr 

Mr Ibrahima Coulibaly, President, Coordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes 

du Mali (CNOP). B.P. E216. Bamako, Mali. Tel c/o AOPP +223 228 6781/ 

223 6761126; Mob. +223 6761126 i_ibracoul@yahoo.fr; cnopmali@yahoo.fr 

Mr Bassiaka Dao, President, Confédération Paysanne du Faso (CPF). 01 BP 2978 

Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso. Tel +226 5030 1844; tressapoulou@yahoo.fr; 

http://www.cpf.bf 

Mr Boureima Dodo, Coordination Nationale de la Plateforme Paysanne du Niger 

(CNPFP/N). c/o Association pour la Redynamisation de l’Élevage au Niger (AREN), 

Niamey, Niger. Tel +227 20 73 66 22; Fax +227 20 736621; goroubanda@yahoo.fr; 

Mr NDiogou Fall, President, Network of Farmers’ and Agricultural Producers’ 

Organisations of West Africa (ROPPA), Member of the Steering Committee 

of the Farmers’ Forum; s/c FONGS, Thiès, Sénégal. Tel +221 339395858; 

Mobile +221 776141724; fongs@orange.sn; Ousseini.Ouedraogo@roppa ao.org; 

Mohamadou.magha@roppa-ao.org; http://www.roppa.info/ 

Ms Korotoumou Gariko Sanogo, President, Membre du collège de Femmes du Le Réseau 

des Organisations Paysannes et des Producteurs Agricoles de l’Afrique de l’Ouest 

(ROPPA). Burkina Faso. Tel +226 5030 1844; potaljama@yahoo.fr 

Mr Sid Ahmed Ould Abeid, President, Federation Nationale de Pêche (FNP) de 

Mauritania. B.P. 43, Nouadhibou, Mauritania. Tel +222 574 62 88; Fax +222 5745430; 

Mobile +222 63600 877/ 6793431, fnprim@yahoo.fr; pecheartisanale@yahoo.fr 

55

Near East and North Africa 

Mr Ahmad Al Faour, President, Jordan Farmers’ Union (JFU). Jordan. 

P.O. Box 921025 Amman 1192 Jordan. Tel +962 777419474 +962 6 5655835/7; 

Fax +962 795 244 103; jfu@accessme.com.jo 

Mr Mohamed Mohamed Bashir, President, Agriculture Cooperative Union (ACU). 

Alhoria St., Sana'a Republic of Yemen. Tel +9671 233992/238255/234649/560179; 

Fax +967 1 256688; acu_ye@yahoo.com; http://www.acu.org.ye/index_en.php 

Mr Adam Elhag Musa Darousa, Chairman, Pastoralist Union. Khartoum, Sudan. 

Mobile +249 91235 0928; dradamdarosa@yahoo.com 

Mr Ben M’Barek Fenniri, President, Association Nationale Ovine et Caprine (ANOC). 

Rabat, Morocco. Tel +212 3723 1371; anocdg@gmail.com 

Mr Khaled Khazaal, Chief of the Public Relation Office, General Farmers' Union (GFU). 

Syria. Tel +96311 2451365; Fax +96311 2244795; kazal@mail.sy; 

Mr Abdelmajid Labidi, Member of the Executive Board, Union Tunisienne de 

l’Agriculture et de la Pêche (UTAP). Tunis, Tunisie. Tel +216 71806800, 

+216 98538040; Fax +216 71809 181; majlabidi@yahoo.fr; http://www.utap.org.tn 

Asia 

Mr Crispino T. Aguelo, President, Head of the National Executive Committee. 

PAKISAMA. Rm 207, 2nd Floor, Partnership Center, 59 C. Salvador Street, 

Loyola Heights, 1108, Quezon City, the Philippines. Tel +632 434 2079; 

Tel/Fax +632 436 347; pakisama_pilipinas@yahoo.com; 

http://www2.mozcom.com/~pakisama 

Mr Badrul Alam, President, Bangladesh Krishok Federation (BKF). Dhaka, Bangladesh. 

Tel/Fax +880 2 9559980; gip@dhaka.net, badrul_a@hotmail.com 

Mr Prem Prasad Dangal, President, All Nepal Peasants' Federation (ANPFA). 

P.B. 273 Lalitpur, Nepal; Tel +977 1 4288404/428 8403; Mobile +977 985 108 7771; 

prem@anpfa.org.np; balram@anpfa.org.np; http://www.anpfa.org.np 

Mr Thudugala Mudalige Justin Sarath Fernando, President, Movement for National 

and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR). Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka. Tel/Fax +94 3722 59893; 

+94 11 2865534/4407663; Mobile +94 777 899233; sarafdo@sltnet.lk; 

monlar@sltnet.lk 

Mr Zainal Arifin Fuat, Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI). Jakarta, Indonesia. 

Tel +62 21 7991890; Fax +62 21 7993426/7991890; 

viacampesina@viacampesina.org; fspi@fspi.or.id; http://www.spi.or.id 

Mr Armando Jarilla, National Coordinator, Task Force Mapalad (TFM). 

Address No. 18 C Marunong Street, Barangay Central, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, 

the Philippines. Tel/Fax +63 2 433 1383; tfmnational@yahoo.com 

Mr Raul Q. Montemayor, National Manager, Federation of Free Farmers Cooperatives, 

Inc. (FFFC), Vice President. IFAP 41, Highland Drive, Quezon City, the Philippines. 

Tel +63 2 6471093; Fax +63 2 6471451; freefarm@mozcom.com 

Mr Nuruddin Muhammad Uddin, Secretary General, Aliansi Petani Indonesia. Jakarta, 

Indonesia. Tel +6221 85 000 52; bir_syaiba@yahoo.com; pi_bumie@yahoo.co.id 

Mr Hung Nguyen Manh, Viet Nam Farmers Union (VNFU). Hanoi, Viet Nam. 

Tel +844 7346643; Fax +844 7334031; Mobile 0912817668; 

hunghndvn@yahoo.com 

56

Ms Estrella Penunia Banzuela, Secretary General, Asian Farmers’ Association for 

Sustainable Rural Development (AFA). Member of the Farmers’ Forum Steering 

Committee. Quezon City, the Philippines. Tel +63 2 4364706; Fax +63 2 4264640; 

afa@asianfarmers.org, afaesther@asianfarmers.org, http://www.asianfarmers.org 

Mr Jung Eui Seo, Chairperson, Asian Farmers' Association for Sustainable Rural 

Development (AFA). 205 1505 Geekdong Apartment, Korea. Tel +63 2 3401 6549; 

Fax +63 2 4266739; kwk121@chol.com; gbkim93@hanmail.net; 

http://www.asianfarmers.org 

Mr Kushal Pal Singh, Chairman, Asian Regional Committee, International Federation 

of Agricultural Producers (IFAP). Meerut, India. Tel +9111 2688 9002 

kpsingh.india@gmail.com; jainvam@gmail.com; http://www.ifap.org 

Mr Sotha Sok, Executive Director of the Cambodian Farmers' Association Federation for 

Agricultural Development (CAMFAD). National road nr 1, Rop Ko village, Prey 

Chhlak commune, Svay Rieng district, Svay Rieng Town, Kingdom of Cambodia. 

Tel/Fax +855 44 945 553; H/P: (855) 16 948 553; soksotha@camintel.com; 

soksotha@camfad.org; camfad@camfad.org; http://www.camfad.org 

Central America 

Mr Pedro Rafael Alegria Moncada, Coordinator, Global Campaign on Agrarian Reform 

and Member of the International Coordination Commission. La Via Campesina 

(LVC). Honduras; viacampesina@amnettgu.com; 

Mr Olegario Carrillo Meza, Coordinador Ejecutivo Nacional, Unión Nacional De 

Organizaciones Regionales Campesinas Autónomas, (UNORCA) de Mexico. 

Juan de Dios Arias No. 48, Col. Vista Alegre, Deleg. Cuauhtemoc, C.P. 06860, 

Mexico D.F. Tel +52 55 57415065; Fax 57400486; +52 55 57415065; 

comisionejecutiva@unorca.org.mx, comisionejecutivaunorca@yahoo.com.mx; 

Contact c/o Ms Maricruz Neto; comisionejecutiva@unorca.org.mx; 

http://www.unorca.org.mx/ 

Ms Maritza Montero Ferreras, Confederación Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas 

(CONAMUCA). Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Tel +809 682 0075; 

Fax +809 686 7517; conamuca@yahoo.es 

Mr Renwick Rose, Coordinator, Windward Islands Farmers Association (WINFA). 

Prospect Highway, Kingstown, St. Vincent And The Grenadines. 

Tel +1 784 456 1383; rozesvg@hotmail.com; winfairtrade@vincysurf.com; 

winfa@caribsurf.com; 

Mr Faustino Torrez Arauz, Asociación Trabajadores del Campo (ATC). Nicaragua. 

Tel/Fax +505 2784575; faustino.torrez@gmail.com; f_atc@yahoo.com; 

atcnic@ibw.com.ni 

Mr Felix Vásquez López, Consejo Coordinador de Organizaciones Campesinas de 

Honduras (COCOCH). Tegucigalpa MDC, Honduras. Tel/Fax +504 23 59915/ 

23 59879; Mobile +504 9868 2558; cococh@multivisionhn.net; 

cococh@amnettgu.com; viacampesina@multivisionhn.net; 

viacampesina@amnettgu.com; viacampesina_cgra@amnettgu.com 

57

South America 

Ms Nemesia Achacollo, President, Federación de Mujeres Campesinas de Bolivia 

‘Bartolina Sisa’ (FNMCB), Member, International Coordinating Committee, 

La Via Campesina. Member of the Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee. La Paz, 

Bolivia. Tel +591 2 71368531/77034367/70580790; Tel/Fax 591 2 2311037; 

Secretaria Ejecutiva Nacional; Tel +591 71368531; Secretaria de Relaciones, B. Villca. 

Tel +591 71884425; lulabar_yuramihuilai@yahoo.es; 

viacampesina@viacampesina.org; 

Mr Alberto Ercilio Broch, Executive Secretary, Confederación de productores familiares 

del MERCOSUR (COPROFAM), Member of the Steering Committee of the Farmers’ 

Forum, c/o Confereraçao Nacional dos Trabalhadores na Agricoltura (CONTAG) 

Brasilia, Brazil. Or CONTAG – SMPW Conf. 2 Lote 2, Núcleo Bandeirante – Distrito 

Federal, Brazil. Tel +5561 2102 2288/8134 0389; Fax +5561 2102 2299; 

alberto@contag.org.br; facco@contag.org.br; agenciacontag@contag.org.br; 

http://www.contag.org.br 

Mr Eduardo Buzzi, President, Federación Agraria Argentina (FAA). Rosario Pia 

de Santa Fe, Argentina; Tel +54 341 5122001; faa@faa.com.ar; drural@faa.com.ar; 

pperetti@faa.com.ar; secretaria@faa.com.ar; http://www.faa.com.ar 

Mr Alvaro Delatorre, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST). Sao Paulo, 

Brazil. Tel +55 11 33613866; Fax +55 51 3221 9022; torre_alvaro@yahoo.com.br; 

srimst@uol.com.br; c/o Ms Dulcinéia Pavan, MST/Secretaría de Relaciones 

Internacionales; http://www.mst.org.br/mst/home.php 

Mr Luiz Vicente Facco, Secretary, Confederação Nacional Dos Trabalhadores Na 

Agricultura (CONTAG). SMPW Conf. 2 Lote 2 Núcleo Bandeirante – Distrito 

Federal, Brazil. Tel +55 61 21022288; Fax +55 61 21022299; facco@contag.org.br; 

contag@contag.org.br; agenciacontag@contag.org.br; http://www.contag.org.br 

Mr Fernando Ariel López Rodríguez, Secretario General, Comisión Nacional de 

Fomento Rural (CNFR), Vice Chairman of the IFAP Latin American Committee. 

Montevideo, Uruguay. Tel +598 2 2003519/2040133; Fax +598 2 2089526; 

cnfr@chasque.apc.org; cnfr@chasque.net; felopezcnfr@yahoo.com; 

http://www.geocities.com/cnfruruguay 

Ms Mirna Concepción Mochet Fernández, Director, Organización Nacional Campesina 

(ONAC) de Paraguay. Tel +595 2 492 154/498 889; Mob +595 981881442; 

mirna_onac@yahoo.com.ar 

Mr Pedro Peretti, Secretary, COPROFAM c/o Federación Agraria Argentina (FAA). 

Rosario, Pcia. de Santa Fe, Argentina. Tel +54 341 512 2000, +54 114 343 5478; 

Mobile +54 0341155884863; Fax +54 341 512 2001; pperetti@faa.com.ar; 

faa@faa.com.ar; http://www.faa.com.ar 

Mr Marcos Rochinski, Secretário General, Federaçao dos Trabalhadores Agricoltura 

Familiar (FETRAF SUL CUT). Chapecó SC, Brazil. Tel/Fax +55 49 33293340; 

marcos@fetrafsul.org.br; http://www.fetrafsul.org.br/ 

Mr Carlos Simancas, Chairman, Latin America Committee of the International 

Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP). Transversal 28B 37 20 Bogotá, 

Colombia. Tel + 57 1 2695 018 / +57 1 2695 008; kasimancas@gmail.com 

Mr Eugenio Rigoberto Turra Paredes, President, Movimento Unitario Campesino 

y Etnia de Chile (MUCECH). Avenida Portugal Ni 623 Santiago, Chile. 

Tel +562 635 1518/681 96 63; rigoturra@yahoo.es/mucech@mucech.tie.cl; 

mucech@yahoo.es; http://mucech.portalciudadano.cl 

58

OECD Countries 

Ms Elizabeth Gauffin, President, Federation of Swedish Farmers & President of the 

Development Committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers 

(IFAP). Stockholm, Sweden. Tel +467 053 60361; elisabeth.gauffin@lrf.se; 

ann.lagergren@lrf.se; http://www.lrf.se/ 

Ms Claude Girod, International Commission, Confédération Paysanne. 104 rue 

Robespierre - 93170 Bagnolet, Frangy en Bresse, France. Tel +33 385747189; 

Fax +33 1 43 62 80 03; girodclaude@caramail.com; 

http://www.confederationpaysanne.org 

Mr Marco Foschini, Responsabile Relazioni Internazionali presso Area Azione 

Economica COLDIRETTI. Via XXIV Maggio, 43 00187 Rome, Italy. 

Tel +39 06.4682462, Fax +39 06.4819949; foschini@coldiretti.it; 

http://www.coldiretti.it 

Mr Paul Nicholson, Union de Ganaderos y Agricultores Vascos (EHNE/UGAV). Spain. 

Tel + 34 9 46842381, Fax +34 9 46252641; pnicholson@ehne.org; 

laukote@euskalnet.net 

Mr Laurent Pellerin, President, Union Producteurs Agricoles Développement 

International (UPADI)/AGRICORD. 14500 rue Héon, Bécancour, Québec, Canada; 

G9H 1N6; Minderbroedersstraat 8 B 3000 Leuven, Belgium. Tel +32 1624 27 50; 

Fax +32 1624 2755; info@agricord.org; upadi@upa.qc.ca; 

laurent.pellerin@tlb.sympatico.ca; http://www.upa.qc.ca/ 

Ms Karen Serres, President, Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles 

(FNSEA) and International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) Committee 

Women in Agriculture. 11 rue de La Baume 75008 Lauzes, Paris, France. 

Tel +33 (0)1 53 83 47 47; +33 (1)6219 37136; Fax +33 (0)1 53 83 48 48; 

serresal@wanadoo.fr 

International Federations/Networks 

Mr Pedro Avendaño Garcès, Executive Secretary, World Forum of Fish Harvesters and 

Fishworkers (WFF), Member of the Steering Committee of the Farmers’ Forum. 

Subida El Encanto Nº 15688, Reñaca, Viña del Mar, Chile. Tel +56 32 283 7597; 

+56 32 250 1717; Mobile +56 9 745 6124; pedro.avendano@terra.cl; 

pavendano@udelmar.cl 

Mr Taghi Farvar, Executive Secretary, World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples 

(WAMIP); c/o CENESTA,142 Azerbijan Avenue, 13169, Teheran, Iran; 

Tel +98 2166972 973; Mobile +98 9121764 908; taghi@cenesta.org 

Mr George Dixon Fernandez, President, International Movement of Catholic 

Agricultural & Rural Youth (MIJARC). 27, Place Van Meyel, 1040, Etterbeek, Brussels, 

Belgium; georgedixon72@yahoo.co.in 

Mr Christian Alejandro Gouet Enriquez, Development Programme Manager, 

International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and Member of Steering 

Committee of Farmers’ Forum. 60, rue Saint-Lazare 75009 Paris, France. 

Tel +33 1 45260553; Fax +33 1 48747212; christian.gouet@ifap.org; ifap@ifap.org; 

http://www.ifap.org 

Ms Cristina Grandi, Manager, Liaison Office to FAO, International Federation of 

Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). Rome, Italy. Tel +39 06 45437485; 

c.grandi@ifoam.org; http://www.ifoam.org/ 

59

Mr Henry Saragih, General Coordinator, La Via Campesina/ International Operative 

Secretariat (LVC/IOS). Member of the Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee. Jakarta, 

Indonesia. Tel + 62 21 7991890; Fax + 62 21 7993426; hsaragih@viacampesina.org; 

viacampesina@viacampesina.org; http://www.viacampesina.org 

Mr Herman Kumara Wijethunge, General Secretary, World Forum of Fishermen 

Peoples (WFFP); Member of the Steering Committee Farmers’ Forum. No 10, 

Malwatta Road, Negombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Tel +94 31 4870658/31 48 72692; 

Fax +94 31 2239750; fishmove@slt.lk; wffp.gs@gmail.com; 

Mr Jack Wilkinson, President, International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), 

Member of the Farmers’ Forum Steering Committee; Tel +33 1 45260553; 

Fax +33 1 48747212; Tel +1 6472907022; Fax Canada +17 05 6473623; 

President@ifap.org; http://www.ifap.org 

IFAD STAFF 

Mr Tom Mwangi Anyonge, Technical Advisor, Technical Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2519; 

t.anyonge@ifad.org 

Mr Jean-Philippe Audinet, Acting Director, Policy Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2305; 

j.audinet@ifad.org 

Mr Abdoul Barry, Country Programme Manager, Western and Central Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2060; a.barry@ifad.org 

Mr Mohamed Béavogui, Director, Western and Central Africa Division; Tel +39 06 5459 

2240; m.beavogui@ifad.org 

Ms Mona Bishay, Director, Near East and North Africa Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2321; 

m.bishay@ifad.org 

Mr Hubert Boirard, Country Portfolio Manager, Western and Central Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2298; h.boirard@ifad.org 

Mr Marco Camagni, Country Programme Manager, Latin America and Caribbean 

Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2576; m.camagni@ifad.org 

Mr Rodney Cooke, Acting Director, Latin America and Caribbean Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2450; r.cooke@ifad.org 

Ms Antonella Cordone, Coordinator for Indigenous and Tribal issues, Policy Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2065; a.cordone@ifad.org 

Mr Ulac Demirag, Associate Country Portfolio Manager, Western and Central Africa 

Division; Tel +39 5459 2616; u.demirag@ifad.org 

Mr Ides de Willebois, Director, Eastern and Southern Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2450; i.dewillebois@ifad.org 

Mr Khalid El- Harizi, Policy Coordinator and IMI Manager, Policy Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2334; k.elharizi@ifad.org 

Mr Thomas Elhaut, Director, Asia and the Pacific Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2491; 

t.elhaut@ifad.org 

Mr Tawfiq El Zabri, Country Programme Manager, Near East and North Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2242; t.elzabri@ifad.org 

Mr Vincenzo Galastro, Programme Manager, Office of the Secretary; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2609; v.galastro@ifad.org 

Mr Hamed Haidara, Country Portfolio Manager, Western and Central Africa Division; 

Tel 06 5459 2604; h.haidara@ifad.org 

60

Ms Sappho Haralambous, Policy Coordinator, Policy Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2238; 

s.haralambous@ifad.org 

Mr Edward Heinemann, Regional Economist, Office of the President; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2398; e.heinemann@ifad.org 

Mr Raul Hopkins, Regional Economist, Latin America and Caribbean Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2332; r.hopkins@ifad.org 

Mr Gary Howe, Director, Strategic Planning & Budget Unit; Tel +39 06 5459 2262; 

g.howe@ifad.org 

Mr Sana Jatta, Country Programme Manager, Asia and the Pacific Division; Tel +39 06 

5459 2446; s.jatta@ifad.org 

Mr Pierre-Justin Kouka, Advisor, Office of the Vice-President; Tel +39 06 5459 2299; 

p.kouka@ifad.org 

Mr Harold Liversage, Technical Advisor, Technical Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2237; 

h.liversage@ifad.org 

Mr Roberto Longo, Policy Coordinator, Policy Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2002; 

r.longo@ifad.org 

Ms Annina Lubbock, Technical Adviser, West and Central Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2489; a.lubbock@ifad.org 

Mr Mohamed Manssouri, Country Programme Manager, West and Central Africa 

Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2330, m.manssouri@ifad.org 

Mr Alessandro Marini, Country Programme Manager, Eastern and South Africa 

Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2115; a.marini@ifad.org 

Ms Sylvie Marzin, Country Portfolio Manager, West and Central Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2337; s.marzin@ifad.org 

Mr Norman Messer, Consultant, West and Central Africa Division; Tel 06 5459 2738; 

n.messer@ifad.org 

Ms Cheryl Morden, Director, North American Liaison Office (NALO) 1775 K Street, 

NW, Suite 410, Washington, DC 20006; Tel +202 331 9099; Fax 202 3319366; 

c.morden@ifad.org 

Mr Robson Mutandi, Country Programme Manager, Eastern and South Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2260; r.mutand@ifad.org 

Ms Fumiko Nakai, Programme Officer, Eastern and South Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2238; f.nakai@ifad.org 

Ms Miriam Okong’o, Programme Manager, Eastern and South Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2191; m.okongo@ifad.org 

Ms Gunilla Olsson, Executive Director of the Action Plan, Action Plan Secretariat; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2581; g.olsson@ifad.org 

Mr Rasha Yousef Omar, Country Programme Manager, Near East and North Africa 

Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2100; r.omar@ifad.org 

Mr Tom Pesek, North American Liaison Office (NALO). 1775 K Street, NW, Suite 410, 

Washington, DC 20006; Tel +202 331 9099; Fax 202 331 9366; t.pesek@ifad.org 

Mr Mattia Prayer Galletti, Country Programme Manager, Asia and the Pacific; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2294; m.prayer@ifad.org 

Mr Philippe Remy, Policy Coordinator, Policy Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2629; 

p.remy@ifad.org 

61

Mr Thomas Rath, Country Programme Manager, Asia and the Pacific; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2069, t.rath@ifad.org 

Mr Ladislao Rubio, Country Programme Manager, Latin America and the Caribbean 

Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2575; l.rubio@ifad.org 

Ms Roxanna Samii, Manager, Poverty Portal, Information and Communication 

Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2375; r.samii@ifad.org 

Mr Leopold Sarr, Country Portfolio Manager, West and Central Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2126; l.sarr@ifad.org 

Mr Paolo Silveri, Country Programme Manager, Latin America and the Caribbean 

Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2409; p.silveri@ifad.org 

Ms Cristiana Sparacino, Programme Manager (Gender), West and Central Africa 

Division; Tel +39 06 5459 2306; c.sparacino@ifad.org 

Mr Benoit Thierry, Country Programme Manager, Eastern and South Africa Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2234; b.thierry@ifad.org 

Mr Pietro Turilli, Country Programme Manager, Near East and North Africa; 

Tel + 39 06 5459 2303; p.turilli@ifad.org 

Ms Rosemary Vargas-Lundius, Policy Coordinator, Policy Division; 

Tel +39 06 5459 2350; r.vargaslundius@ifad.org 

Ms Xenia von Lilien, North American Liaison Office (NALO). 1775 K Street, NW, 

Suite 410, Washington, DC 20006; Tel +202 331 9099; Fax +202 331 9366; 

v.vonlilien@ifad.org 

OBSERVERS AND RESOURCE PERSONS 

Dr Ahmadu Babagana, Director, Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture 

(DREA), African Union Commission. P.O. Box 3243 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 

Tel +251 11 5517700; Fax +251 11 5516062; babaganaa@african-union.org; 

nsanyitambi@yahoo.com; jkagwanj@uneca.org 

Mr Kees Blokland, Managing Director, Agriterra. Arnhem, The Netherlands. 

Tel +31 26 75 05140; agriterra@agriterra.org; http://www.agriterra.org 

Mr Diego Colatei, Programme Officer, Resources and Strategic Partnerships Unit, 

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Rome, Italy. Tel +39 06 570 54370; 

diego.colatei@fao.org 

Mr Ignace Coussement, Director, AgriCord. Leuven, Belgium. Tel +32 16242750; 

Fax +32 162427 55; Ignace.Coussement@Boerenbond.Be (dir); 

ignace.coussement@agricord.org; info@agricord.org; http://www.agricord.org 

Ms Eve Crowley, Senior Officer, Chair, Interdepartmental Task Force Institution 

Building and Rural Development, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy. Tel +39 06 570 55325; 

Fax +39 06 570 53152; eve.crowley@fao.org 

Ms Beatriz Del Rosario, IFAP Regional Coordinator for Asia. 60 Rue St. Lasare, 

75000 Paris, France. Tel +331 4874 7212; beatriz.delrosario@ifap.org 

Mr Bader Mahaman Dioula, IFAP Regional Coordinator for Africa. 60 Rue St. Lasare, 

75000 Paris, France. Tel +331 4526 0553; mahaman.dioula@ifap.org 

Ms Hiba El Dahr, IFAP Regional Coordinator for the Mediterranean. 60 Rue St. Lasare, 

75000 Paris, France. Tel +331 4526 0553; hiba.eldahr@ifap.org 

62

Ms Jennie Dey De Pryck, Senior consultant, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 Rome, Italy 

Ms Dianne J. Forte, Managing Director, DC Office, Heifer International. 

1112 16th Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20036. Tel +202 331 2015; 

Fax +202 331 2017; dianne.forte@heifer.org; http://www.heifer.org 

Ms Susana Gaona Sáez, Consultant; Gender, Equity and Rural Employment, Food and 

Agriculture Organization (FAO). Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 Rome, Italy 

Mr Paolo Groppo, Land Tenure Systems Analysis Officer, Land Tenure Service, Rural 

Development Division, FAO. Rome, Italy. Tel +39 06 570 54741; 

paolo.groppo@fao.org 

Mr Gerardo Hita, National Director for Credit Operations with Multilateral Agencies, 

Min Econ, Argentina 

Ms Siobhan Kelly, Officer, Marketing and Finance Service, Food and Agriculture 

Organization (FAO). Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 Rome, Italy. 

Tel +39 06 570 53462; Fax +39 06 570 53152; siobhan.kelly@fao.org; 

http://www.fao.org 

Ms Magdalena A. Kropiwnicka, Food and Hunger Policy Advisor, ActionAid 

International. Via A. Volta 39 B 00154 Rome Italy; Tel +39 06 572 50150; 

Direct +39 06 571 37185; Mobile +39 340-2916734; 

Magdalena.Kropiwnicka@actionaid.org; http://www.actionaid.org; 

http://www.actionaid.it/ 

Ms Laura Lorenzo Lacalle, Desk Coordinator, WRF World Rural Forum. 

Tel +34 945 12 13 91; Fax +34 945 28 14 22; llorenzo@ruralforum.net; 

http://www.ruralforum.net 

Ms Maria Soledad Marco, Consultant, Policy Division, IFAD; m.marco@ifad.org; 

soledad_marco@hotmail.com 

Ms Alberta Mascaretti, Food Security Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 


Fax +39 06 570 53152; alberta.mascaretti@fao.org 

Mr Paul Mathieu, Senior Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 


Fax +39 06 570 53152; paul.mathieu@fao.org 

Ms Annalisa Mauro, Programme Officer, Secretariat International Land Coalition (ILC). 

Rome, Italy. Tel +39 06 54592110; l.mauro@ifad.org; http://www.landcoalition.org 

Mr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Executive Director, Plateforme Appui au Développement 

Rural en Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre, c/o UNOPS, Dakar Fann, Sénégal. 

Tel +221 8693838; Fax +221 8693815; ibrahimAssaneM@unops.org 

Ms Nora McKeon, Coordinator, Terra Nuova Centro per il Volontariato. Rome, Italy. 

Tel +39 06 78393089/78393196; Fax +39 06 78398813; Mobile +39 335 8388785; 

nora.mckeon@fastwebnet.it, info@terranuova.org; http://www.terranuova.org 

Mr Carlos Mermot, Operations Manager, FIDA REAF regional program 

Ms Sofia Monsalve Suárez, Land Programme Coordinator, FIAN International 

Coordinator of IPC's working group on agrarian reform. Willy Brant Platz 5, 

69115 Heidelberg, Germany. Tel +49 6221 6530051; +49 173 7570286; 

Fax + 49 6221 830545; monsalve@fian.org; http://www.fian.org 

63

Mr Antonio Onorati, President, Crocevia. Via Tuscolana n. 1111 - 00173 Roma, Italy. 

Tel +39 06 72902263; Fax +39 06 72907846; Tel +39 862 73211; 

Mobile +39 340 8219 456; mc25356@mclink.it; crocevia@croceviaterra.it; 

http://www.croceviaterra.it 

Ms Anne Perrin, Editor, Grain de Sel ADEPRINA. 32, rue Le Peletier 75009 Paris. 

Tel +33 (0) 1 42 46 11 57; anne.perrin@inter-reseaux.org 

Mr Marek Poznanski, Collectif Stratégies Alimentaires (CSA). Bruxelles, Belgique. 

Tel +32 02 4120660; Fax +32 02 4120666; marek.poznanski@csa-be.org; 

http://www.csa be.org/ 

Mr Thomas Price, Senior Programme Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 


thomas.price@fao.org 

Ms Gabriela Quiroga Gilardoni, IFAP Regional Coordinator for Latin America. 

60 Rue St. Lasare, 75000 Paris, France; Tel +331 4526 0553; 

gabriela.quiroga@ifap.org 

Ms Marlene Ramirez, Secretary General, Asian Partnership for the Development of 

Human Resources in Rural Asia (AsiaDHRRA). c/o Asian Farmers' Association for 

Sustainable Rural Development (AFA). Quezon City, the Philippines. 

Tel +632 436 4706/426 6739; afa@asiadhrra.org; asiadhrra@asiadhrra.org; 

http://www.asianfarmers.org 

Mr Alvaro Ramos, Executive Director, FIDA REAF regional program 

Mr Pietro Simoni, Senior Consultant, Lead design and implementation support 

specialist, IFAD 

Ms Marie Christine Talbot, Director, Planning Union des Producteurs Agricoles 

Développement International (UPA DI). 555, Boul. Roland Therrien, bureau 020, 

Longueuil (Québec), Canada J4H 4E7. Tel +1 450 679 0530; Fax +1 450 463 5202; 

upadi@upa.qc.ca; mctalbot@upa.qc.ca; http://www.upa.qc.ca 

Mr Michael Taylor, Programme Manager, Secretariat of International Land Coalition 

(ILC). Tel +39 06 54592267; m.taylor@ifad.org; http://www.landcoalition.org 

Mr Nicolaas Verhagen, La Via Campesina (LVC). Feldstegel 74, D 21039 Hamburg, 

Germany; Tel +49 40 735 06 372; Fax +49 40 735 06 374; 

nverhagen@viacampesina.org; nico.verhagen@t-online.de; 

http://www.viacampesina.org 

All photos IFAD by: 

S. Beccio, L. Dematteis, M. Millinga, D. Rose, L. Slezic, P.C. Vega 

64

Report of the 2008 global meeting - IFAD

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