Rural development - A Farmer Driven Development Agenda?

“The future belongs to the organised” is the slogan of the National Association of Smallholders in Malawi. It reflects the historical experience of farmers worldwide and the current situation in African farming communities – an independent smallholder is at the mercy of the market forces.

Only a small percentage of African smallholders is organised after the government led cooperatives and farmers associations disappeared in most countries. So how can farmers ensure that they influence national policies for rural development and face up to the globalised markets? 

• More on the topic: Food security

Program

13:00 Opening

• Civil society as a key building block in Norwegian development cooperation. Svein Bæra, Head of department for civil society, Norad

13:10 Presentations 

• African farmers – priorities and challenges? with Ishmael Sunga CEO, SACAU
• The African Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture – reaching the AU/NEPAD goal of 25 million farmers with Knut Andreas Lid, CARITAS
• A Norwegian partnership for farmer support - GROW*. The Development Fund.
• Civil society in the agricultural sector in Africa with Ms. Bongiwe N Njobe representing New Partnership for Africa’s development (NEPAD)

14:50 Panel

• Ishmael Sunga (SACAU)
• Kristin Iansen (Norwegian Farmer’s Union)
• GROW*
• representative from Norad/MFA
• Summing up with Svein Bæra, Director, Department for Civil Society, Norad

*GROW is a collaboration between Care, Caritas, the Norwegian Mission Society, the Royal Norwegian Society for Development, Norwegian People's Aid and The Development Fund. GROW aims to improve food security for two million African smallholders by 2025 using climate smart agriculture, increased market access and investment in nutrition.