The Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA) held its 6th General Assembly in Bali, Indonesia, 5-7 May 2014. The assembly is the bi-annual gathering of Asian National Farmers’ Organizations to decide on strategy and priorities, assess outcomes, and allocate financial and human resources on collective actions. AFA represents farmers in the Steering Committee of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and is participating in preparations for the GFAR Constituent Assembly later this year as a major voice for family and smallholder farmers.
AFA members welcomed other GFAR Partners through the participation of Dr Bhag Mal for the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) at regional level and Mr Thomas Price, Senior Officer for Agricultural Innovation and Society from the GFAR Secretariat, who noted the unique value of AFA and of coherent farmer representation and coordinated regional advocacy and actions. Ms Esther Penunia, AFA Secretary General, highlighted farmers as innovators in agriculture and the need to better reflect farmer needs and interests to guide agricultural research and innovation processes at national, regional and international levels. Farmer participants stressed a range of areas of importance for Asia, including the ready availability of timely, farmer-centred information in real time, evaluation of the relative value of organic and other models of agriculture, and building genuine farmer representation into the decision making bodies and resource allocation mechanisms for agricultural research for development systems.
Special sessions were closely aligned with the themes of the GCARD Roadmap and ongoing GFAR Medium-Term Plan on: conditions for attracting and sustaining youth into agriculture, promoting women’s access to land and other resources, and scaling out ongoing initiatives for agro-entrepreneurial development of smallholders throughout the value chain, in value addition and enhanced marketing. Agriterra and Dutch farmer organizations facilitated a “FACT” training workshop to build farmer skills in advocacy to achieve their goals in local and country contexts.
With expansion of its membership to 17 farmers’ organizations from 13 countries in the region, election of a new president and renewal of its board members, AFA continues to grow in geographical coverage, scope and diversity. Given the region’s complexity and to seize the momentum of the International Year of Family Farming, AFA members called for continued engagement with other Partners in the Global Forum, to deliver change towards greater agricultural innovation in Asia, home to over 60% of farmers and the majority of the world’s population.