PIFON has undertaken a scoping study on the current status of National Farmer Organizations (NFOs) in Timor-Leste, and on the opportunities for engagement with PIFON. A local consultant was hired to carry out this work in consultation with the Timorese Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) and other relevant stakeholders. The scoping report identified that thousands of “informal” farmer groups have been established and supported to some extent by government and aid partners over the years. Of these many informal organizations, there are five larger organizations with formal registration which have been recognized for their good service delivery to members. These are: (i) ANAPROFIKO (ANA for short) – which is the National Association of Commercial Seed Producers in Timor-Leste; (ii) CCT (Cooperative Café Timor) – CCT is not an NFO but is the largest coffee producers’ cooperative in Timor-Leste; (iii) Federasaun Pescas Arturo (FPA) (a network of five fishing cooperatives on Arturo Island); (iv) UNAER (a network of eight coffee cooperatives); and (v) CSALT, which is the marketing arm of 30 cooperatives.
A simple scoring system was used to evaluate each NFO’s need and preparedness for PIFON support. ANAPROFIKO is the best prepared (and the most “deserving”) NFO in Timor-Leste. This NFO: (i) is registered; (ii) has a functional Board; (iii) has good current support (from SoL), but this will end in June 2016; (iv) has a national scope; and (v) is charging a membership fee. ANAPROFIKO’s subjective score was 31, compared with scores of 26 for CCT and FPA.
ANAPROFIKO became a member of the Pacifc Island Farmers Organization Network in May 2016. Following a series of consultation meetings and a scoping mission by the PIFON Manager, Kyle Stice, it was agreed that PIFON would request for Timor-Leste to be an expansion country under the IFAD/SDC Medium-term Cooperation Program Phase II (MTCP II), with ANAPROFIKO as the National Implementing Agency (NIA). This proposal was agreed by the MTCP II Regional Steering Committee (RSC) meeting in Laos (June 2016). The signing of the LOA between ANAPROFIKO-TL and PIFON was completed on 1 August 2016. A total of FJD$15,000 (US$7,159.50) was transferred from PIFON to Timor-Leste on 30 August 2016 based on an agreed workplan and budget to be implemented from September to December 2016.
By the spring of 2017, ANAPROFIKO had successfully conducted a number of important activities to start off its engagement, including:
- Training for farmer groups in proposal writing;
- Training for farmers in seed quality control;
- Participation in seed learning exchange and open pollinated seed round table;
- Consultation meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries on seed quota and pricing; and
- Capacity-building for the ANAPROFIKO secretariat.
Over 220 farmers were directly involved in these activities – 151 men and 71 women. PIFON aims to expand the number of farmers’ organizations that could benefit from MTCP2 and is gradually working to integrate these farmers’ organizations into other ongoing development projects. (IFAD)
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