Farmers are vital link in CAADP process, says IFSN coordinator

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A farmer at a road side market in Nigeria

The important role that farmers play in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) cannot be denigrated into the background. Speaking on the role of farmer’s organization in the CAADP process, Ms Marie Adam Njie, coordinator of the International Food Security Network in West Africa said farmer organizations play increasingly important role in articulating the interests of farmers by acting as their voice as it campaigns for favorable agricultural policies, support for technological improvements and access to resources needed the development of farming activities.

According to Ms Njie, who is also the coordinator of the National Farmer’s Platform, the voice of sector stakeholders such as the farmers and agribusinesses should enhance the quality of decision-making in the policy dialogue and planning, adding that the representatives of farmer organizations are expected to be members of the CAADP country team, participate in the roundtable, sign the concept, and make inputs to the development and technical review of the investment plan.

Farmer organizations need to establish a more coordinated, and organized platform of learning and sharing to articulate their interests, make consolations and take joint positions on the CAADP, she said, noting that in this way, participation would be legitimate and represent interests of a wide spectrum of farmer organizations.

According to her, farmer organizations lack the financial resources to participate in CAADP effectively, especially those who represent the interests of poor or less powerful constituencies. They thus require finance for staff time, travel expenses to attend meetings, awareness campaigns for their constituencies, policy research so they can present evidence-based positions during policy dialogue and consultation exercises. “Their participation had been inconsistent, reactive, lacking in confidence and not based on meaningful consultation,” she said.

While berating the fact that governments and farmer organizations have historically distanced themselves from each other, and while governments focused on policy development and farmer organizations focused on policy implementation, there is a need to come together as neither side has all the skills and experience needed to make significant changes.

Speaking further, she said there is also the need to build the capacity of farmer organizations and the government representatives, which she identified as two key groups of change agents for CAADP. Farmer’s organizations representatives, she said, require capacity development in knowledge of the CAADP process, communication and sensitization and advocacy.

She said there is as well a need for a standing pool of policy experts that are accessible to farmer organizations in need of policy research and evidence-based position papers. Such capacity building efforts could then focus more on process skills, rather than expecting farmer organizations to have much more than a basic knowledge of technical policy areas.

She said the CAADP process, under whatever name it operates in a country, rarely achieves a high profile beyond a relatively narrow group of stakeholders, who are generally well educated and based in the capital, adding that rural stakeholders for whom CAADP is often most significant are excluded by distance, cost of travel and lack of accessible information.

While noting that the majority of African farmers are women, she said the level and quality of participation by women in the CAADP process has yet to reach a desired level.

Source: http://today.gm/hi/news/3038.html