The WFO strategy is the result of a bottom-up process, in which members decide about the mission of the organization and how to get there.
At the moment, the strategic plan 2018-2028 is the framework for any strategic decision.
In 2019, in Luxembourg, the General Assembly also adopted the Farmers Route declaration, to further indicate the path for the farmers’ voice to be heard.
Following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations and the entry into force of the Paris Agreement, WFO equipped itself with the 2018-2028 Strategic Framework. It was adopted by the 2017 WFO General Assembly, in Helsinki, Finland, and establishes the overall direction that the Organisation will take to foster the farming sector at global level.
The 2018-2028 Agenda is based on five pillars:
- Improving the existing membership retention rate as well as developing membership, in terms of organizations and countries represented (Representation);
- Strengthening and developing effective networks to foster dialogue and exchange experiences and best practices for an inclusive, multi-stakeholder and forward-looking policy formulation (Networking and Partnerships);
- Strengthening the member-driven bottom-up decision-making process debates (Policy development);
- Enhancing farmers’ position in the relevant international debates by supporting their values and propositions (Advocacy);
- Enabling all farmers of the world to have a voice through their farmer organisations and so strengthen their influence through the WFO (Capacity building).
World hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition are on the rise, as well as extreme climate events and the farming sector worldwide is still coping with issues like farmers’ access to resources, gender equality, youth empowerment, access to market among others.
Farmers are the first ones to be impacted by such challenges and those who work to overcome them every day, while at the same time trying to be resilient and produce more and sustainably with less.
Given the central role farmers are called to play for the implementation of the global agenda of sustainable development, they deserve to be at the centre of the decision-making process on agriculture at local, national and international levels.
In May 2019, in Luxembourg, the General Assembly of the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO), approved the Farmers’ Route Declaration, a statement that looks to promote a real “farmers driven approach” to tackle the global challenges humankind faces, highlighting the path that the farmers of the world are already building and following to achieve a more sustainable future for all humankind.
The “Farmers’ Route Declaration” reaffirms the principle of the “Farmers Driven Climate Change Agenda”, adopted by the WFO General Assembly 2018, in Moscow, Russia, to enhance the position of the farmers in the global political dialogue on agriculture, starting from the climate negotiations.