Representatives of five national farmer organization (FO) leaders meet in Wisma Stroberry, Ciwedey, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia to review the achievements of the MTCP2-AFOSP program in Indonesia, discuss updates from the recent SRSC/RSC meeting in Jogjakarta, and formulate a strategic partner/engagement with IFAD country and government in promoting agriculture development and rural economic growth.

During the meeting, FOs discussed several topics and issues relevant to the national policy promoted by FOs, namely implementation of agrarian reform program and rural flagship program for agriculture, farmer protection and empowerment, food price stability, farmer welfare, and fishermen protection and empowerment.

The opinions and conclusion of the meeting will be used for policy advocacy including policy dialogue and lobbying and then these will be delivered to national FO members to organize and oversee the implementation of the policies in each province and district including in the village level.

The Medium Term Cooperation Program Phase 2 (MTCP2), a five-year capacity building program supported by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and European Union (EU), has been implemented in 19 countries across 3 sub-regions—Southeast Asia, South Asia, Pacific—engaging 1,544 sub-national farmer organizations with total membership of around 22 million women and men farmers. The funding support (total budget of $ 5 Million for whole duration of project across 19 countries) serves as a catalytic fund that will allow FOs to enhance their capacity to be effective channels of economic services to farmers. The program thus far have contributed to the formation of strong national platform of Farmers’ Organization with improved capacity to engage in policy processes and mobilize resources from mainstream agricultural development programs like extension services, credit and pre and post harvest facilities. the program also helped in transforming farmers association into commodity-based cooperatives to strengthen the role of the small-scale farmers within an inclusive and sustainable value-chain. The program is being implemented by the consortium Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC).

Source: API

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