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IFAP Asian farmers

Asian Farmers to celebrate International

Year of Rice 2004 their way


Paris, July 18, 2003 - In Asia, ‘rice is life’, and so the rice farmer is the ‘giver of life’. This is the conviction of the farmers’ organisations of Asia, members of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), that met in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7-12 July 2003.

“Asia is a continent of small farmers”, said the IFAP Asian Farmers’ Chairman Raul Montemayor of the Philippines. “Our main challenge is how to sustain small farm agriculture in a context of globalisation”. For the exporting countries of Asia, there is no guarantee that the benefits of globalisation go to the farmer, and for the importing countries of Asia small farmers are often the victims of globalisation.

Mr. Montemayor said that the farm movements in Asia would take the opportunity of the International Year of Rice (IYR) in 2004 to draw attention to the contribution of rice farmers to achieving food security, rural livelihoods and rural heritage. “FAO seems included to draw attention to rice production during IYR”, he said, “but IFAP will draw attention to rice producers”.

Small farmers in Asian must work together if they are to survive. Thus the IFAP Asian Farmers’ Committee will strengthen is networking among farmer cooperatives for marketing and value added, strengthen its advocacy work for better prices for rice farmers and more investment in water infrastructure and irrigation technology. The Committee will also strengthen its links with FAO’s Special Program for Food Security, and links with the Dialogue on Water, Food and Environment.

IFAP Asian Farmers’ Committee: This regional committee is a permanent forum where farmers of the region can work together on a permanent basis. Farmers’ organisations from the following countries participated in this meeting: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
Brochure

Julie Emond

Communications Coordinator


E-mail: julie.emond@ifap.org 

Phone:+33 1 45 26 05 53            Fax: +33 1 48 74 72 12

Vision and Mission

IFAP is the world farmers’ organisation representing over 500 million farm families grouped in 100 national organisations in 70 countries. 

It is a global network in which farmers from industrialised and developing countries exchange concerns and set common priorities.

IFAP advocates farmers’ interests at the international level since 1946 and has General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.