Young Farmers Open Letter Contest

BACKGROUND

In 2020, the consortium Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC) through the ASEAN Farmers’ Organisation Support Programme (AFOSP) – Asia-Pacific Farmers’ Program (APFP) platform conducted the “Young Farmers Dance Challenge” with the following objectives: 1) to attract young people to join Farmers Organizations; 2) to build friendship and cooperation among young farmers; and, 3) to raise awareness about young farmers contribution in preventing the spread of COVID19 as well as their contribution in the recovery from the pandemic. The contest was participated by 15 young farmers groups from Central Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Visit this page for more information: https://asiapacificfarmersforum.net/young-farmers-dance-challenge/

As a continuation of the efforts to promote agriculture to the youth, AFA-LVC will hold another activity aimed at young farmers: the “Young Farmers Open Letter Contest”. This activity will be a platform for young farmers to express to policymakers their story and the challenges they face in farming, and at the same to communicate these issues to a bigger audience via social media.

OBJECTIVES

The Young Farmers Open Letter Competition aims to:

1. Raise awareness about young farmers’ challenges in engaging in agriculture
2. Bridge the communication between young farmers and policymakers
3. Identify key policy recommendations supportive of young farmers
4. Promote the role and contributions of young farmers in building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic
5. Boost the visibility of APFP on social media

WHO CAN JOIN

• Young farmers who are 15 to 35 years old (farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples, forest users, herders, pastoralists, etc.)
• Must be a member of any of the farmers’ groups within the AFOSP-APFP partners (as certified by NFO and NIA)

HOW TO JOIN

1. Write a letter narrating your story as a young farmer—include the challenges you face in engaging in agriculture, addressed to a policymaker or an official of the Ministry of Agriculture in your country.

2. The letter must clearly and creatively include any of the following themes:

• Climate Change and Agriculture
• Access to Finance
• Access to Land / Land Rights
• Information, Communication, and Technology for Agriculture
• Impact of COVID-19 on Agriculture
• Gender and Agriculture Concern
• Other agriculture-related concerns or issues

3. Follow this outline / letter structure:

• Short personal bio or profile
• Challenges in agriculture
• What is your policy recommendation to address these challenges?
• If your policy recommendation is granted, what will you do?

4. The letter must be written either in your native language or in the English language.
5. The letter must contain a minimum of 100 words and a maximum of 200 words.
6. The letter must be addressed to a policymaker or an official of the Ministry of Agriculture in your country.
7. Include 3 to 5 photos of yourself doing agricultural work. Your face must be clear and visible in the photos. Action photos doing agriculture work are preferred. High-quality photos are preferred, but not required.
8. Include a 30-second voice recording of the main message of your letter in your native language or in English (mp3, mp4, m4a, or other audio formats). Do not record the entire content of the letter, just the main message.
9. E-mail your entry to afairish@asianfarmers.org cc afahana@asianfarmers.org:
   • Typewritten letter in your native language and the letter translated in English (word format). If you prefer to write your letter in English, there is no need to submit a letter written in your native language.
   • 3 to 5 photos of yourself doing agricultural work
   • 30-second voice recording of the main message of the letter in your native language and in English (mp3, mp4, m4a, or other audio formats). If you prefer to write your letter in English, there is no need to send a voice recording in your native language.
10. The deadline for submission of entries is on 24 May 2021 11:59 PM (GMT +8).

To the Young Farmers

• Send an entry as an individual participant, not as a group.
• There is no limit to the number of entries from each organization or country.
• Letters depicting racism, violence, or other inappropriate content or messaging deemed to advocate curtailment of the rights of others will be disqualified.

To sponsoring organizations (NFOs) or national implementing agencies (NIAs)

• Provide assistance in translating the letter into English, if needed.
• Provide assistance in recording the main message in the participant’s native language and recording it in English if needed.
• Provide assistance in sending the participant’s entry consisting of the following materials:
  • Original letter and letter translated in English
  • 3 to 5 good quality photos of the young farmer
  • 30-seconds voice recording of the participant’s main message

HOW WINNERS WILL BE SELECTED

The winners will be judged according to the following criteria:

1. Relevance of content – 50%

• Followed the required content for the letter
• Strictly followed the mechanics
• To be decided by a jury consisting of international partners

2. Popularity – 50%

• Number of Facebook and YouTube likes, views, and shares
• Each Facebook vote will be counted as 1 vote
• Each YouTube vote will be counted as 2 votes (double value)
• To be decided by the public

AWARDS

1. Three (3) letter senders

• Will be given an opportunity to interact with policymakers—an official of Ministry of Agriculture in their country, or the United Nations Decade of Family Farming International Steering Committee Chairperson, of the IFAD President. Due to the pandemic restrictions, the meeting will be organized virtually/online.
• Will win USD 500 each
• Winners can claim their award after submitting a farm or agribusiness plan. They will also receive coaching for their farm plan from the Business Development Unit of APFP. Click this link for a sample farm plan format: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/72cdqmdvmnvlhj7/AADgoq-ptx2mJUJtSU9ZrXQHa?dl=0

2. Special Awards

• In celebration of the International Women’s Day this year (March 8), one young female letter sender will be given a special award of USD 500
• Winner can claim her award after submitting a farm or agribusiness plan. She will also receive coaching for her farm plan from the Business Development Unit of APFP.
• Other special awards will be given to participants

3. The NIA or NFO with the most number of entries will receive

• USD 1000
• The prize can be claimed upon submission of a proposal for strengthening young farmers which will be reviewed by the BDU. The proposal does not need to be income-generating e.g. it can be skills training or workshop for young farmers.

VOTING IS NOW OPEN! Support your favorite young farmer by reacting to their letter or sharing their letter via these channels:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=AsiaPacificFarmers&set=a.1639214969617305
Instagram: @asiapacificfarmers
Twitter: @asiapacfarmers
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AsiaPacificFarmers

TO PARTICIPANTS, please read and acknowledge:

Information Sharing Consent & Copyright

By entering the competition, I acknowledge and guarantee that the submitted letter is an original work created solely by the entrant and that it does not infringe on copyrights; trademarks; and the rights of privacy, publicity, or intellectual property rights of any person or entity.

I hereby agree to the AFA photographing and/or recording me and give permission to the AFA to use any material in the photographs and/or recordings where the copyright or any other rights are owned by me; confirm that the AFA shall be entitled to use, free of charge, the photographs and/or recordings made of me (without having to identify me by name), in their original format or edited, adapted or altered, for the purposes of the AFA internal and external promotional and publicity materials and for any programmes, publications, websites, regular electronic publications, and social media services and agree that the AFA shall be entitled to pass the photographs and/or recordings of me, and my name, to external press and media agencies, publishers and broadcasters, and to partners and other third parties with which the AFA works, anywhere in the world, for the purposes set out in this consent.