Rome, Italy, December 14th, 2018 – The World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have joined their forces to support, enhance and promote the central role that farmers are called to play to implement the global agenda on sustainable development.

The new FAO-WFO agreement signed today by Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General for Climate and Natural Resources, and the WFO’s President Theo De Jager will focus on strengthening farmers’ position within the decision-making process on policies affecting agriculture at local, national and international level. The agreement will also foster FAO and WFO collaboration on critical issues including climate change and the responsible management of natural resources, food and nutrition security, as well as sustainable livestock production and the safe and effective use of antimicrobials.

“We, as farmers, rely very much on the support of FAO for the creation of a global political environment in agriculture, which is favourable to our farming systems, our families and our communities.  As economic actors, our expectation is to increase productivity, tackling climate change and contribute to global sustainable development.  We are ready to do our part, and we are deeply grateful to organizations like FAO that support us in this ambitious agenda.”, said Theo De Jager in his capacity of WFO’s President.

“Farmers, as providers of the food we all eat and preservers and sustainers of our natural resources, bring a range of solutions to addressing complex challenges faced by the world today. With its global membership of farmers, WFO is an important partner for FAO in our joint endeavour towards Zero Hunger and sustainable agriculture worldwide,” as Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General for Climate and Natural Resources, affirmed during the signing ceremony.

Under the agreement, WFO and FAO will jointly work on:

  1. enhancing the capacities of farmers’ organizations that are inclusive of women and youth to deliver quality services to their members;
  2. increasing farmers’ technical capacity and knowledge sharing based on practical experiences;
  3. enhancing awareness-raising and advocacy capacity of farmers;
  4. improving farmers’ organizations advocacy impact on the global political dialogue on agriculture, to make effective contributions to rural poverty reduction, food and nutrition security and sustainable agricultural development.

This event is a milestone of the strong history of collaboration between WFO and FAO to support sustainable agricultural development, the farmers driven climate change agenda, and food and nutrition security, including also the preparation and implementation of the UN Decade of Family Farming (2019-2028).

The new agreement represents the beginning of a new joint path towards the achievement of lots of results for the farmers and with the farmers.