By CHARITY MOONGA –
THE United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Swedish-based development cooperation organisation ‘We Effect’, have agreed to work together with to strengthen small-scale forest and farm producers in eight developing countries including Zambia.
The assistance will go towards assisting small-scale farmers in the eight countries so that they can access land and markets to improve their livelihoods.
A partnership agreement signed early this month will initially involve eight countries: Bolivia, Guatemala, Kenya, Malawi, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Vietnam and Zambia for a period of three years.
The forestry sector provides employment to over 50 million people, many of them banded together in community groups or producer organisations.
However, they along with many other small-holder family farmers in different sectors face a number of hurdles, including weak tenure rights to land and forests, and often lack of key skills that would help them make the most of their activities.
“Family farmers and their producer organisations have a central role to play in investing and revitalising rural economies. When well-organised, they can make themselves heard and contribute directly to the policy debate and to decision-making,” FAO director general José Graziano da Silva said.
“As the majority of the poor live in rural areas and are dependent on agriculture and nearly 800 million people go to bed hungry every day, it’s crucial to improve the conditions of farmer families in poor countries to fight poverty and hunger.”
The agreement with FAO is a step along the way, hundreds of thousands of farmers will be able to increase their income, have better contacts with decision-makers and greater possibilities to influence their lives,” We Effect chief executive officer Anneli Rogeman said.