On February 21, 2022, farmers’ representatives whose organisations are partnering in the Transitional Agriculture project met in a digital Advisory Board meeting for a forward-looking and constructive exchange about 2021 achievements and the 2022 planned activities of the project.
The World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) was represented by President Theo de Jager and Secretary General Arianna Giuliodori, while other participants included: Vladimir Plotnikov, President, Russian Association of rural and farm enterprises and agricultural cooperatives (AKKOR); Clara Malikula, Board Chairperson, National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi (NASFAM); Nsiah Ebenezer, President, and Benjamin Obeng, Vice President at the Coalition of Farmers Ghana (COFAG); Oswald Tuyisenge, Executive Secretary, Rwandan Farmers’ Union (INGABO); Joachim Rukwied, President, German Farmers’ Association (DBV).
Andreas Quiring and Nicole Bolomey from the Andreas Hermes Akademie (AHA) and Falk Kullen and Julia Fendel from AgrarKontakte International (AKI) curated and moderated the meeting in their role of project implementers.
All the participants shared their opinions and feedback on the work already done within the 3-year exchange programme and expressed their views for months to come, reiterating that the most effective exchange on agricultural issues is direct communication among farmers.
Farmers learn more from other farmers than from anybody else
President De Jager, invited to deliver the opening remarks, didn’t miss to highlight the most outstanding achievement of the project: the powerful opportunity for farmers’ organisations from different countries to learn from each other, discuss common challenges and share their knowledge and experience on the issues that matter most the farmers’ community.
Echoing President De Jager, WFO Secretary General took the floor to underline the capacity of this project to innovate the farmer-to-farmer exchange, connecting farmers even in these challenging times when the COVID-19 pandemic zeroed the occasions to meet in person.
Closing her speech and looking forward to the future, she wished that more farmers’ organisations across the globe could have the occasion to experience this farmer-to-farmer learning process.