Yesterday, the President of the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) Theo de Jager brought the farmers’ voice into the event “Can agricultural policies deliver better value for money for people, the planet, and the economy?” co-organised by IFPRI and World Bank Group.
The session presented a summary of the new IFPRI-World Bank study findings.
Invited speakers discussed how better agricultural public policies and support could incentivise a more rapid adoption of technological solutions and foster less emissions-intensive productivity growth across developed and developing countries alike.
“Let’s take the opportunity of repurposing public support to ensure that we have one set of rules, one set of standards for all farmers” – WFO President
During his speech, President De Jager called for policies and standards harmonisation, pointing out that farmers now produce for the same markets. “Let’s take the opportunity of repurposing public support to level the playing field across the globe, share technologies across the globe and ensure that we have one set of rules, one set of standards for all farmers,” he said.
He invited the other esteemed speakers and the audience not to forget that farmers produce for the market, the only real pulling force of the food value chain. Changing production means changing what consumers want to buy. The farmers will always respond to their requests.
“Farming is a business,” stated WFO President, emphasising that repurposed public policies and support should make sense to farmers.
Moreover, he didn’t miss the opportunity to reiterate that soil health is a trigger for sustainability and should be a central topic in the debate around repurposing agricultural policies and support.