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IFAD Farmers’ Forum: Progress, But More to Do

(ROME) -- The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) held its Farmers’ Forum meeting in Rome February 11-12. The Forum was to be the culmination of an extensive world-wide process.“The good of the Forum was to have consultations at the national and regional level and when in Rome, analyze the effectiveness of IFAD’s programs which are mainly national in scope,” said Jack Wilkinson, President of IFAP. “We are pleased with the progress that has been made in some regions, but the goal for all is to have effective consultations in every country and region.”

The Forum triggered three concerns for IFAP. “First,” said Wilkinson, “consultations were not done in every country and therefore, IFAD country directors have not gained the insight that the consultations would have contributed to the effectiveness of IFAD’s programs.” The need to build consensus, trust and capacity at the national level of farm and civil society organizations is critical if long-term gains are to be made in agricultural and fishery policies.

“IFAD has also increased grants to build capacity at the national level,” added Wilkinson. “This needs to be done in a way that builds national consensus amongst organizations. If this criteria is not respected, we will fracture civil society and it will, in fact, be a step backwards.”  

In addition, “the Farmers’ Forum must discipline itself to be self-critical of its operations and their effectiveness and leave policy to policy organizations,” continued Wilkinson. “There are numerous national, regional, and international farm, fish and civil society organizations.”

“Top-down operations seldom work, so IFAD must take responsibility for its operational actions from the start. We are pleased progress has been made. The next steps will be critical,” concluded Wilkinson.