On June 3, a delegation of the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) addressed the Special Session of the 48th Plenary of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), joining several panels and roundtables.

Dick Nuwamanya Kamuganga, President, Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE), represented WFO at the event ”Scaling-up agricultural innovation: Opportunities to deliver for people, nature and climate at COP 26”, organized by FAO, CGIAR and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. All partnerships that bring on board the small-scale holder farms are welcome and crucial to integrate, include and democratize innovation. Investments in infrastructure are fundamental to ensuring that access to innovation is made available to small scale holder farmers. We must mobilize the capacity of farmers to access innovation by increasing their digital skills. Small scale holder farmers need innovation that helps aggregate their efforts and enables them to access the market, ” he stated during his speech.

Nono Sekhoto from the African Farmers Association of South Africa, member of the WFO Women Committee, spoke at the event “Implementing CFS Guidelines for people and planet: The role of the private sector”, co-hosted by World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), CGIAR and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). She highlighted, “My goals are to increase production, make more money, employ more young people. But to do so, I need more support on my business, and I need to know how to participate in these frameworks that need to be translated into what I am doing in my everyday life. Education is key! Because you can get lost on what is important to you. It is also important to translate the right information for the right stakeholder to participate at the right level. Education and incentives are key.

It is worth mentioning that during the event “Shaping the future of food systems for the youth, with the youth”, organised by the Youth Zero Hunger Alliance, the WFO Gymnasium Alumna Diana Lenzi from the Italian farmers’ organisation Giovani di Confagricoltura – ANGA, took the floor to reiterate that young farmers are united in their urgency to speak up and the necessity to be heard. “Capacity building programs are crucial to enable them to reshape food systems,” she emphasized.