FO4A aims to increase income and to improve livelihood, food and nutrition security and safety of smallholders and family farmers in the target areas within the Asia region.
The Program’s primary stakeholders and beneficiaries are the Farmers Organizations (FOs) and the smallholder and family farmer members of these FOs in the Asia region (South-East, South and Central Asia). The Project’s specific target groups are smallholder men and women farmers/ producers who are members – or interested to become members – of the local and national FOs in the proposed 15 countries in Southeast, East, Central and South Asia sub-regions. Amongst the target group of smallholder farmer/ producers, a sub-group includes those smallholder farmers with the potential to become active economic players in a wide array of emerging value chains, supported by various quality services provided by their FOs.
IFAD is the implementing partner of the programme. AFA serves as the regional implementing agency (RIA), assuming overall Project management and coordination functions on behalf of the AFA/ La Via Campesina consortium; pre-selected FOs at national and sub-national level serve as the national implementing agencies (NIA).
The Asian Farmers Association (AFA) is a regional alliance of 19 national farmers organization composed of around 20 million small-scale farmers from 15 countries in Asia. A Consortium involving AFA and La Via Campesina (LVC) served as Regional Implementing Agency (RIA) for the EU and IFAD supported program called ASEAN Farmers’ Organization Support Program (AFOSP) particularly the Medium Term Cooperation Program Phase 2 (MTCP2), with AFA as the formal recipient. AFA has since, successfully managed and coordinated the implementation in 25 countries across Asia and the Pacific; AFA has as well leveraged aAFOSP and MTCP2 to strengthen and complement its leadership and guidance to FOs (supporting and fostering national FOs to become better organized and governed), with aspects of agri-sector value chain development.
FO4A: goal and objectives
The overall objective is to increase income and to improve livelihood, food and nutrition security and safety of smallholders and family farmers in the target areas within the Asia region.
FOA activities
The Project is governed by the emerging needs and priorities of beneficiary FOs and their members, and as such activities are demand-driven; priority activities are articulated through FO consultation processes, and which is a living process that is continually evolving.
The Project comprises three major components around which activities will be organized; visibility and communication are mainstreamed within all components.
Component 1. Delivery of economic services along priority value chains
Component 2. Enabling the business environment
Component 3. Institutional strengthening