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6th AFA GA: “Seizing the Momentum to Get Concrete Gains forSmall Scale Farmers this IYFF”

The Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA) held its 6th General Assembly (GA) last May 6­9, 2014 at HotelSantika, Bali, Indonesia with the theme “Seizing the Momentum to Get Concrete Gains for Small Scale Farmersthis IYFF.”

The GA was hosted by Aliansi Petani Indonesia (API), with support from Agriterra, Global Agriculture andFood Security Program (GAFSP), and the International Land Coalition (ILC). It was attended by 30 men and 10women, from 17 national farmer organizations in 13 countries, as well as partners and supporters fromAgriterra, Collectif Stratégies Alimentaires (CSA), AsiaDHRRA, World Rural Forum (WRF), Food andAgriculture Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAORAP), Asia Pacific Association ofAgricultural Research Institutes (APAARI), Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), InternationalLand Coalition (ILC) Asia and Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria (KPA).

Among the highlights of the event were the election of a new AFA Chairperson from Japan, confirmation offive new member organizations in three new covered countries, approval of major thrusts for 2014­2016, andknowledge sharing on attracting youth in agriculture, on tools for sustainable and inclusive agri­basedenterprises and gender responsive land laws, and on opportunities for more farmer­directed public programs onagriculture and food security (such as the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program) and research fordevelopment. It was capped by a dialogue with partners, who gave solidarity statements indicating areas for

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further cooperation with AFA, and a solidarity night among AFA members and partners.

For the International Year of Family Farming, AFA is working on six priority agenda, such as: (1) recognitionof family farmers; (2) land rights; (3) investments in sustainable agroecological approaches; (4) increasedmarket power of farmers; (5) farmers’ representation in key consultative and decision making bodies; and, (6)attracting the youth to agriculture.

The GA was preceded by a lessons learned workshop and training of trainers on Farmers AdvocacyConsultation Tool (FACT) on May 3­5 organized by Agriterra together with AFA, and was attended by selectedparticipants from AFA member organizations. FACT is a method of lobby and advocacy for farmers’organizations that is based on four pillars of consultation to members, participatory research, writing SMARTproposals, and lobby mapping and stakeholder analysis.

Recognition of the role of farmer organizations

The GA officially opened with a traditional Balinese dance followed by welcome remarks of AFA ChairpersonMr. Sophal Uon and API Chairperson Mr. Muhamad Mudzakir. A display of farmers’ innovative products fromdifferent countries was also opened during the ceremony.

In his opening speech, delivered by FAORAP Deputy Regional Representative Mr. Vili Fuavo, FAORAPRegional Representative Mr. Hiroyuki Konuma acknowledged the important work done by farmer associationslike AFA towards the objective of ensuring nutritious and safe food for all and prosperity for farmingcommunities and their critical role in voicing the opinions and needs of men and women farmers and fisherfolkand ensuring that their issues are heard in international and regional fora, “especially when these (fora) arediscussing critical future directions of global programmes and investments.”

“All kinds of evidence shows that deprived family farmers can quickly deploy their productivity potential whenthe appropriate policy environment is effectively put in place. In this region, it is surely essential that FAO andAFA collaborate to promote these policies and turn policies into tangible and real benefits,” said Konuma.

Confirmation of new AFA regular members

During the business meeting of the General Assembly, five new regular AFA members were confirmed —Farmer and Water Net (FWN) in Cambodia, National Association of Mongolian Agricultural Cooperatives(NAMAC), Union of Water Users Association (UWUA) in Kyrgyztan, Central Tea Cooperatives Foundation(CTCF) in Nepal, and the Association of Farmers Federations in Myanmar (AFFM), increasing the totalnumber of AFA members from 12 to 17.

In their acceptance speeches, representatives from the four organizations expressed thanks for the approval oftheir membership and pledged to cooperate closely with AFA in strengthening farmer organizations andbringing the voices of farmers to decision makers at the national and international levels.

Election of new chairperson and other Execom officers

Shimpei Murakami, an organic farmer from Japan and Board Member of AFA member AINOUKAI, waselected as the new Chairperson of AFA and will serve a two­year term in 2014­2016. In his acceptance speech,Murakami emphasized the important tasks of AFA in the region as small farmers are facing huge challengesfrom all fronts.

The following are the complete set of Officers and Members of AFA’s Executive Committee:

Chairperson – Shimpei Murakami, Vice Chairperson, AINOUKAI (Japan)Vice­Chairperson – Som Prasad Bhandari, President, National Land Rights Forum (NLRF), Nepal

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Treasurer – Muhamad Rifa’I, Board Member, Aliansi Petani Indonesia (API)

Members:– U Than Swe, President, Association of Farmers Federations in Myanmar (AFFM)– Mudzakir, President, Aliansi Petani Indonesia (API)– Rabin Rai, Secretary General, Central Tea Cooperatives Foundation (CTCF), Nepal– Seu Rany, President, Farmer and Nature Net (FNN), Cambodia– Kim Boy, President, Farmer Water Net (FWN), Cambodia– Jun Bong Kim, Vice­President, Korean Advanced Farmers’ Federation (KAFF), South Korea– Alauddin Sekder, Secretary General, Kendrio Krishok Moitree (KKM), Bangladesh– N. Bayartsaikhan, President, National Association of Mongolian Agricultural Cooperatives (NAMAC)– Ireneo Cerilla, President, Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka (PAKISAMA), Philippines– Niran Buasiri,Chairperson, Farmer’s Federations Association for Development Thailand (Sor Kor Por),Thailand– Daniel Huang, Board Member, Taiwan Dairy Farmers’ Association (TDFA)– Shun Te Tsai, Board Member, Taiwan Wax Apple Development Association (TWADA)– Erkinbek Kozhoev, President, Union of Water Users Association (UWUA), Kyrgyztan– Hong Mee Hee, President, Women Advanced Farmers’ Federation (WAFF), South Korea

Attracting the youth to agriculture

On May 6, a session on the theme “Attracting the Youth to agriculture” was held, where AFA members sharedtheir experiences and results in piloting the Farmers’ Advocacy Consultation Tool (FACT) in theirorganizations.

Among the issues highlighted was the migration of youth to cities due to lack of opportunities in rural areas andthe low income from farming due to lack of access to basic means of production, and effective governmentpolicies in support of agriculture. While there were some initiatives like training and support on varioussustainable agriculture technologies that help reduce the cost of input, and programs to support youth who wantto go into agriculture and training programs through cooperatives, several recommendations were identifiedpertaining to capacity building, organizational development, policy advocacy and partnership with variousactors.

Some of the needed support to attract the youth to agriculture that were identified include: (1) capacity building– e.g. training on constructive engagement, youth education, scholarship programs, etc.; (2) research – e.g.comparative study of the use of organic and non­organic fertilizer, policy research on incentives for youngfarmers, research on impacts of climate change, etc.; (3) technical support on seeds, production techniques, etc.;(4) policy advocacy promoting agriculture – e.g. soft loan for young farmers, ASEAN agricultural bank, right toseeds, campaign on land, etc.; and, (5) regional exchange program – e.g. youth farmers’ gatherings, farmerexchange, etc.

Land, production, marketing and governance issues

On May 8, several sessions were held on the theme “AFA Initiatives on IYFF Priority Agenda: Land,Production, Marketing and Governance Issues.”

Sustainable and inclusive enterprises

One session was on “Sustainable and Inclusive Enterprises,” where three topics were covered.

AFA members API, PAKISAMA and FNN shared their experiences in promoting sustainable and inclusiveagriculture enterprises through the development and application of AFA’s enterprise assessment and planningtool in a project supported by CSA. The tool uses criteria such as organizational capacity, profitability, stability,sustainability and inclusivity in assessing how enterprises are doing and planning for interventions for furtherimprovement. Other AFA members found the tool useful and relevant and agreed to help further refine and use

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it in their own enterprises. They recommended strengthening cooperatives through various trainings, developingstrong partnerships with different actors, advocacy for an ASEAN agricultural bank and ASEAN farmers’advisory council at the regional level, and regional learning exchanges on sustainable enterprises.

AFA member VNFU also presented its study on the experience of farmers with the World Economic Forum’s(WEFF) New Vision for Agriculture project (NVA) project. Other AFA members observed that the publicprivate partnership (PPP) approach in the project has not yet shown its benefit for small­scale farmers. Theyrecommended strengthening farmers’ cooperatives and federations for doing collective marketing, providinglegal and technical support to farmer organizations especially in negotiating contracts with companies, FOaccess to information, and strong government regulations, among others in order to make the approach reallybeneficial to farmers.

Still another topic was the WEF’s East Asia Grow Campaign. AFA members listened to a brief presentation onthe WEF’s East Asia Grow campaign and agreed to get more information and see how the interest of farmerscan be promoted in this campaign.

Promoting land rights with a gender lens

Three topics were discussed in the session on “Promoting Land Rights with a Gender Lens.”

AFA members AFFM, NLRF and PAKISAMA shared their experiences in using the Gender EvaluationCriteria (GEC) in assessing land tools through a project supported by ILC. The GEC uses 6 criteria and 22questions to assess if a land law promotes right for both women and men. Other AFA members found the GECuseful, relevant and timely. They recommended making it more farmer­friendly and adapted to country context,training for use by AFA members, translation into local language and documenting good practices on its use.

The AFA secretariat presented the project proposal on popularizing the Voluntary Guidelines on theResponsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security(VGGT) in selected Asian countries. AFA members found the project timely as it can serve as follow up to theirprevious initiatives on the issue. They recommended maximizing the mandate from FAO to initiate the nationalIYFF committees to complement the initiative on VGGT popularization.

The AFA secretariat also presented the project proposal on becoming the Asia regional partner for the LandMatrix, an open access global database on large scale land acquisitions. AFA members found it useful andrelevant, despite some possible political sensitivity with some governments, and will look at how they can beinvolved.

Initiatives in engaging agriculture development programs

In the session on “Initiatives in Engaging Agriculture Development Programs,” AFA members shared updateson their involvement in the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and the Medium TermCooperation Programme with Farmers’ Organisations in Asia and the Pacific, Phase II (MTCP2) in theircountries.

MTCP2 aims to strengthen the capacities of farmers organizations in Asia and the Pacific to deliver better,improved and inclusive services to their members and to engage in effective dialogues with governments.GAFSP, on the other hand, is is a multilateral mechanism to assist in the implementation of pledges made byG20 countries with the aim of improving the incomes and food and nutrition security in low­income countriesby boosting agricultural productivity.

One of the gains in GAFSP is the inclusion of CSO representatives in the steering committee. The challenge ishow to help FOs catch up with the program. There are also problems and difficulties in FO participation in theprogram.

In MTCP, the major gain is that the FOs are taking the lead in the implementation of the project. AFA members

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are actively taking part in the project and are reaching out to more FOs to be involved.

Among the recommendations made is that there should be a more open dialogue between FOs and governmentpartners in each country on GAFSP and MTCP2. Moreover, field visits should be conducted to disseminatemore widely the information about GAFSP and MTCP2.

AFA members also identified support needed to build capacity to engage in agriculture development programslike joint meetings at country level with implementing organizations, institutional capacity building for FOs andcapacity building for advocacy.

AFA initiatives in agriculture research and innovations for development

Four topics were discussed in the session on “AFA Initiatives in Agriculture Research and Innovations forDevelopment.”

FNN shared its experience with the learning network PROLINNOVA (which stands for Promoting LocalInnovation in ecologically­oriented agriculture and NRM) in promoting local innovation as a way of doingagriculture research for farmers. FNN farmers were chosen and their experimentation in the field on growing oforganic rice was documented.

Dr. Bhag Mal presented APAARI’s initiatives such as different projects in AR4D and various fora supported byGFAR. As a reciprocal member of APAARI, AFA can influence their directions and activities and maximizethe space provided for farmers. AFA members will look at possible cooperation with APAARI.

Thomas Price of GFAR shared the global processes on agriculture research and development and the efforts tomake agriculture research and development more farmer­directed and to bring in more ideas from farmers. AFAmembers would like the research community to know about the work of farmers as researchers such as that onmaking the soil more fertile without the use of chemicals. They would also like GFAR to help recognize andspread farmers’ research through documentation. AFA would also like to influence the reform process at GFARby influencing governments to involve more farmers in decision making at national and regional levels.

Auxtin Ortiz of WRF gave a presentation situating AFA’s work in the global IYFF campaign, while givingexamples of various national IYFF initiatives in different continents. AFA members also resolved to take part innational committees in their respective countries. PAKISAMA, for example, is part of the IYFF committee inthe Philippines, and has chosen the recovery of the 71 billion peso coco levy fund as their priority issue. Theyhave also done a national consultation among their youth members and have come out with a policy proposal onthe magna carta for young farmers.

Field visit to API members in Bali

On May 7, a field visit to three sites of API Bali was held. A program was held in the community, where localgovernment officials as well as local API farmer leaders welcomed the 6th AFA GA participants and engagedwith them in a dialogue. They also displayed and talked about their organic cacao production project.

The second site was a coconut sugar production project, where participants listened to a farming couple whoshared their experience in producing and marketing coconut sugar and coconut wine. After tasting the productsand the sales pitch of the farmer leader from Taiwan, the participants bought all the supplies available.

The third site featured the economic projects of the youth group, which included collective production andselling of items from recycled materials, organic compost, and livestock.

Click here for the Proceedings of the 6th AFA GA regional consultations.

Click here and here for photos of the 6th AFA GA.

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Click here and here for photos of the 2nd FACT workshop and ToT.

June 23rd, 2014 in AFA Events, AFA News |

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