Farmers' Forum in IFAD

In conjunction to IFAD’s Governing Council, the first Farmers’ Forum took place in Rome last February 2006 with the participation of over 50 leaders representing millions of small farmers and rural producers from Asia, Africa and Latin America as well as the Near East and Europe.

In preparation for the event, IFAD sponsored six national consultations and one regional consultation. The focus of the discussions was centred on IFAD's engagement with farmers' organisations, especially on how to institutionalize and enhance the scope of the commitment. Three thematic working groups were organized during the Forum;

• pro-poor access to land and land tenure security;
• building capacity of grass-roots rural institutions and
• regional marketing integration.

During the debates, farmers’ organizations called for support in developing their own policy positions and platforms including information resources and facilitation of dialogue with governments and regional bodies.

The next Farmer's Forum is expected to take place in two years time giving time for a series of national and regional consultations to take place. Such consultations are expected to assist IFAD in guiding their own country programmes.

For more information on FAO and IFAD's work with civil society organizations please visit

FAO http://www.fao.org/tc/NGO/index_en.asp
IFAD http://www.ifad.org/ngo/index.htm