Organic Farmers Advocated for Organic at FAFO 2020
More than 80 farmers' leaders from around the world gathered at the 7th Global Meeting of the Farmers’ Forum. INOFO’s delegates didn’t miss the chance to advocate for organic.
The Intercontinental Network of Organic Farmers Organisations (INOFO) recently participated at the 7th Global Meeting of the Farmers’ Forum (FAFO 2020) in the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) headquarters in Rome. From February 6 to 11, INOFO together with IFOAM – Organics International’s representatives emphasized the need to increase efforts to promote organic practices in IFAD’s programs and projects.
FAFO 2020 aimed to strengthen effective partnerships and collaboration between IFAD and farmer organizations in country programs and investment projects. With more than 80 farmers' leaders from around the world gathered at the event, INOFO’s delegates didn’t miss the chance to advocate for organic.
During the opening session, Shamika Mone (OFAI), INOFO President, and member of the FAFO Steering Committee, highlighted the need to recognize the role of “organic farmers as think tanks of traditional indigenous knowledge” and support them to mainstream indigenous seed varieties rather than spending loads of funds in creating genetic modified crops. Thales Mendonça (Ecovida), INOFO Latin America Convener, tackled the need to prioritize the inclusion of agroecology/organic practices and youth in the IFAD programs and projects. Rowena Buena (MASIPAG), INOFO Convener for Asia and member of the IFOAM PGS Committee, represented the voice of organic farmers at the Farmers Forum drafting committee.
The delegation advocated for IFAD and the governments to shift their approaches to strengthening agroecology and organic agriculture as the current industrialized farming system, using chemical and GMOs at large scale, is not the right strategy to move towards a transformative pathway addressing the effects of the current climate crisis. As a result, the FAFO 2020 statement urged IFAD and the Governments of IFAD Member States to strengthen their support to small-scale food producer’s initiatives based on agroecological, organic and other sustainable food production systems which impact on lands, waters and forests. FAFO also called for promoting the use of traditional genetic resources (seeds and livestock) and recommended the acknowledgement of agroecology, organic, and other climate-resilient sustainable food production models as key approaches for both adaptation to and mitigation of climate change.
New Generations and the Future of Agriculture
INOFO organized a side event on February 10. The “Youth in Agriculture – An Organic Perspective” forum gave voice to organic farmers’ leaders who proposed solutions for the continuity, with sovereignty and empowerment, of youth in farms and the countryside.
During the event, Thales Mendonça highlighted the responsibility of new generations to change the agriculture model in the world, “we take the lead as organic farmers to farm in a holistic way together with all ecosystems components”, he affirmed. Rowena Buena encouraged young farmers to embrace sustainable farming systems as “organic agriculture breaks the chains of continuous dependence to harmful inputs, indebtedness and low productivity in the long run, young farmers should realize that to achieve these requires their involvement, energy and technology know-how”.
Senior organic farmers, as Charles Mubanga (Mpongwe Bulima Co-op, Zambia), also participated. He underlined the role of Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) on the future of local markets “PGS are farmer friendly tools which enable farmers to develop their markets at affordable cost with the participation of consumers”.
Do you want to meet our farmers? Come to the INOFO General Assembly at the OWC
Every three years, the INOFO General Assembly is held in conjunction with the IFOAM General Assembly and the Organic World Congress (OWC) involving organic farmers, producers, researchers, advocates and policy experts from around the world. This year, INOFO’s GA will be hosted at the farmers fair called “La terre est notre métier” in Rennes,France, on September 22, 2020. Save the date and confirm your participation with an email to: contact@inofo.org