Forest and Farm Facility

Regional and Global Programmes

The Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) regularly launches calls for proposals to support global and regional apex forest and farm producers’ organizations. FFF focuses on ways organizations can improve service delivery to their members.

In 2023, as a result of the call for proposals launched early in the year, eleven organizations (four in Africa, two in Asia-Pacific, two in Latin America) and three global networks were chosen for collaboration and awarded FFF grants by demonstrating that they:  

  • Enhance gender mainstreaming and/or support as well as youth engagement;
  • Promote or influence more inclusive governance and cross-sectorial processes;
  • Improve capacity for increased entrepreneurship, access to markets and finance, and business development services;
  • Improve delivery of landscape scale mitigation, adaptation and resilience for climate change; and/or
  • Enhance capacity for improved and equitable access to social and cultural services.

Africa

Eastern Africa Farmers Federation

Founded in 2001, Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF) was founded based on the need to strengthen mechanisms for regional collective action. The resurgence of the East African Community (EAC) and the emphasis on enhancing the Regional Economic Communities by the African Union presented a chance for farmer organizations to actively engage at regional level. EAFF members include apex farmer associations; co-operatives and commodity associations in 10 countries in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti, DR Congo, South Sudan and Eritrea).

In collaboration with FFF, EAFF is working to empower small-holder farmers in East Africa to bring their climate change concerns at (inter)national level and to support them to become more climate change resilient at local level.

The Panafrican Farmers Organisation

The Panafrican Farmers Organisation (PAFO)’s mandate is to be the voice of African farmers and undertake a coordinated approach to its interventions for sustainable food and agriculture, which meet the needs and expectations of Farmer’s Organizations (FOs) and the agriculture sector in Africa. The five regional networks of farmers' organizations of PAFO include the Eastern Africa (EAFF), Central Africa (PROPAC), Western Africa (ROPPA), Southern Africa (SACAU) and Northern Africa (UMNAGRI). Currently, PAFO has a membership strength of more than 80 million African farmers integrated into over 70 national organizations, unions, federations, cooperatives, associations, etc, present in more than 50 countries on the continent and united in its five regional networks operating in the heart of African agriculture.

With FFF support, PAFO aims to improve the capacity of farmers organisations to deliver landscape mitigation, adaptation and climate change resilience services to facilitate good agricultural practices.

Network of Farmers Organizations and Agricultural Producers of West Africa

The Network of Farmers Organizations and Agricultural Producers of West Africa (ROPPA in French) brings  brings together 147 grassroots producer organizations in 15 countries, each with its own national platform (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and two associated member farmer organizations- Cap Verde, Nigeria). Since its inception in June 2000 in Cotonou, Benin, ROPPA has emerged as a vital force for advocating and advancing family farming, the predominant production system in West Africa. With over 20,000,000 producers organized within the 13 national platforms, ROPPA encompasses representatives from diverse agricultural value chains, including crop production, livestock breeding, agro-pastoralism, agro-forestry, agri-food processing, fishing, and aquaculture.

In collaboration with FFF, ROPPA strengthens the knowledge of farmers’ organizations in sustainable forest management by recording innovative ideas and practices of selected family farms. Another of ROPPA’s objectives is to directly influence agro-sylvo-pastoral and fisheries policies through developing position papers and organizing discussions on the protection of forest areas in legislative arenas. The last component focuses on the promotion of usable or marketable forest products, which supports the protection of community forest areas. Activities around this component are organized to promote the participation of women and youth in trade fairs, and encourage exchange visits between West Africans and those in similar positions in other regions of Africa.

The Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions

The Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) is a regional membership-based farmers’ organisation, representing the common interests of farmers in southern African countries, through their respective national farmers’ associations, at regional and global levels. SACAU’s core membership consists of 19 national apex farmers’ organisations in 12 southern African countries (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawai, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe).

With FFF Support, SACAU works to strengthen the capacities of farmers’ organisations (FOs) in the Southern African region for effective and inclusive engagement in multi-stakeholder climate change negotiation processes at national, regional and global levels as well as to achieve specifically FFF Outcome 1 on enhancing FFPOs’ advocacy and leadership capacities to enable climate and nature/biodiversity policy and legal frameworks.

Asia

Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development

Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) is an alliance of 22 national FFPOs in 16 countries with individual members of around 13 million in East, Southeast, South and Central Asia. AFA has been a partner of the Forest and Farm Facility since 2015 and its goal is to strengthen the capacity of the leaders and technical staff from national farmer organizations to aid in eradicating poverty and hunger, increasing resilience, and bringing about a sense of well-being for family farmers. AFA advocates for sustainable, resilient, gender and youth sensitive agroforestry-based livelihoods within the framework of the UN Decade on Family Farming. AFA strengthens cross-sectoral, multi-stakeholder policy with better representation from young farmers’ committees by organizing regional exchanges and supporting the development of communication campaigns to inform policy makers about recommendations to promote entrepreneurship among youth.

With FFF support, AFA strengthens a platform of regional and global small scale family farmers who will work together to influence regional and global climate change policy processes- such as UNFCCC COP28- such that these recognize and support the role of small-scale family farmers as stewards of adaptive resilience..

The Pacific Island Farmers Organisation

The Pacific Island Farmers’ Organization (PIFO) is a network of farmers’ organizations that has been operating since 2008 and is an umbrella organization for national farmer organizations in 12 countries of the Pacific region, to coordinate capacity building, share success stories and the lessons learnt and support regional exchanges of expertise between farmer organizations and their associated private sector partners. Formally registered as a not-for-profit in 2013, they represent a vibrant and growing network of national farmer organizations, with 30 farmers organizations and 62 local farmers organizations that are increasingly changing the face of agriculture in the region. The secretariat is based in Nadi, Fiji with a satellite office in Honolulu, Hawaii.

With FFF support, PIFO will work on strengthening adaptation capacity for farmers’ organizations in the Pacific, through building a concerted voice of Pacific Farmers is present in regional and international forums; organizing events with farmers’ leaders focused on a detailed design of a climate change adaptation project, and creating Climate Change Adaptation Policy Toolkit.

Latin America

Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests

The Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB in Spanish) is a space for coordination and exchange among ten territorial authorities that manage or influence the main forest areas of Mesoamerica. Indigenous governments and community forestry organizations in the Alliance seek to strengthen their own dialogues – focused on community management of natural resources – jointly seeking to influence governments and international cooperation so that strategies for biodiversity conservation and climate balance appropriately integrate the rights and benefits of indigenous peoples and forest communities.

In collaboration with FFF, AMPB’s Women Coordinating Body, working in the most relevant advocacy spaces in the region, promotes policies that provide positive business environments for grassroots companies. This includes creation of financial programs and products according to the needs of local groups without discriminatory elements based on ethnicity and gender. Globally, AMPB women leaders advocate at key policy events such as UNFCCC COPs and related platforms.

Confederación de Organizaciones de Productores Familiares del Mercosur Ampliado (COPROFAM)

The Confederación de Organizaciones de Productores Familiares del Mercosur Ampliado (COPROFAM) was created in 1994 and is made up of ten national organizations from seven countries. In addition to these, it comprises ninety-seven other affiliates, including federations and confederations, and four thousand seven hundred and fifty grassroots organizations (unions, associations and other trade unions). COPROFAM represents about 4 million family farmers and indigenous people, who are members of first, second and third degree organizations.

Among its objectives is to represent the interests of its members, organize and support actions that generate better living and working conditions in rural areas; to participate in the preparation and implementation of sustainable rural development projects for the countries of the member organizations and, particularly, to strengthen the capacity of the organization and its members to intervene in the processes of dialogue with governments through participation, with capacity for analysis and proposals, clarity in definitions and political strategy and information.

Supported by the FFF, COPROFAM is working on FFF Outcome 1, including policy advocacy on sustainable and climate-resilient food systems for family farming in MERCOSUR, training farmers’ leaders of the 10 COPROFAM in sustainable agro-ecological-organic production systems appropriate for family farming, and enhancing multi-functionality of family farming through the use of ICTs as a tool to access and develop innovations in the promoted sustainable commercial-production systems.

Global programmes

Global Alliance of Territorial Communities

The Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), is an alliance between the Alliance of Indigenous Communities of the Indonesian Archipelago (AMAN), the Mesoamerican Alliance of Forest Peoples (AMPB), the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), the Network for Sustainable Management of Forests in Central Africa (REPALEAC), and the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB). In total, the Global Alliance represents indigenous peoples and local communities in 24 countries.

These alliances work together on five key messages:

  • The rights of indigenous peoples and local communities over the lands they occupy must be recognized
  • Any intervention in these territories must go through a process of free and informed prior consent
  • Direct access of their organizations to climate funds for the protection and management of these territories
  • Their leaders should not continue to be criminalized or killed
  • All policies developed in their territories must take into account their traditional knowledge

An example of the Global Alliance’s work is the Shandia initiative, which involves setting up financing mechanisms, such as the Mesoamerican Territorial Fund (FTM) to strengthen or create local capacity to absorb climate finance, such as the $1.7 billion in financing that was pledged to reach local communities directly at COP26.

Inter-Continental Network of Organic Farmer Organisations

The Inter-Continental Network of Organic Farmer Organisations (INOFO) is a global leading organic farmers’ network. INOFO fosters a new connection among established associations of Organic farmers, harnessing the potential of a bottom-up, farmer-led approach. INOFO aspires to excel FFPOs as the key change agents in delivering climate resilience landscape and improve the livelihoods.

INOFO organic member FFPOs are present in 6 countries in Asia, 15 in Africa, 24 in the Asian Pacific, 3 in Latin America, 2 from North America and 27 in Europe. With the worldwide diversity of organic farmers growing a variety of crops, INOFO already contributing to one of the major solutions needed for climate-friendly, sustainable food systems. Harnessing the diverse skills, knowledge and connections of its members, INOFO devises strategies to ensure food security for present and future generations. Through advocacy, it champions shared objectives related to food sovereignty, including concerns like public policy, farmers' land rights, climate resilience, production standards, marketing negotiations, research, training, and education. INOFO also focuses on engaging youth in professional platforms to preserve social and environmental well-being in communities. Lastly, the organization aims to raise awareness about the challenges faced by small-scale organic farming by openly addressing the global realities farmers encounter.

With FFF support, INOFO works on facilitating and promoting peer to peer knowledge exchange among INOFO’s organic farmers organisations’ value chain in member regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia.

World Rural Forum

The World Rural Forum (WRF) is made up of family farming federations and organizations and promotes family farming and sustainable rural development. Its work focuses on the fact that women represent an average of 43% of the agricultural labour force in developing countries but constitute less than 20% of landholders, and that almost 80% of the world’s extreme poor live in rural areas and work in agriculture. WRF groups entities that represent over 35 million family farmers.

WRF works with 10 member farmers’ organisations in five continents:

  • Northern Africa (UMNAGRI, Union Maghrébine et Nord Africaine des Agriculteurs)
  • Central Africa (PROPAC, Plateforme Régionale des Organisations Paysannes d'Afrique Centrale),
  • South and East Africa (ESAFF, Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers’ Forum and REFACOF, Réseau des Femmes Africaines pour la gestion Communautaire des Forêts)
  • West Africa (CRU-BN, Coordinación Regional de usuarios y usuarias de los recursos naturales de la Cuenca del Níger)
  • Central America (PDRR, Programa de Diálogo Regional Rural; AACARI, Agriculture Alliance of the Carribean)
  • South America (COPROFAM, Confederación de Organizaciones de Productores Familiares del MERCOSUR), and
  • Asia-Pacific (AFA, Asian Farmers Association, and PIFO, Pacific Island Farmers’ Organization).

With FFF support, WRF strengthens the capacities of FFPOs to promote policy and legal frameworks conducive to the economic empowerment and livelihood resilience of rural women, seizing the opportunity of the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028 (UNDFF). WRF also works to put smallholder FFPOs at the centre of climate and nature/biodiversity policy processes by strengthening advocacy capacities and FFPOs’ participation in local, national, regional, and global political dialogue spaces.