A strong case for investing in farmers
If we want to transform our agri-food systems, we need to transform the people behind them. Farmers increasingly face disruptive changes – from a rapid rise in digital technologies, rigorous food safety requirements and changing diets to climate change and global pandemics like COVID-19, to name a few. Keeping pace requires farmers to have stronger capacity to analyse, innovate and respond while also managing their farm businesses. But over the last decade or so, scant attention has been paid to investing in agricultural human capital.
The Centre made a strong case for investing in farmers, especially small-scale farmers, women and youth, in a global study conducted with IFPRI and the CGIAR PIM in 2020. The study identified a good range of formal and informal training programmes across all regions – from traditional vocational schools, agricultural certification programmes and apprenticeships to farmer field schools, informal farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing and social media groups.
In Peru, for example, the team looked at how local promoters who had been intensively trained on agricultural topics are sharing their practical knowledge with low-income rural farming households on improving production and accessing markets. Rwanda’s Twigire Muhinzi National Extension System has institutionalized the farmer field school approach to improve rural livelihoods. And in India, certified master trainers are training rural women farmers to improve the productivity, sustainability and quality of the milk and cheese they produce.
FAO, IFPRI and the PIM team hosted two webinars – one to launch the study and deepen the conversation around the topic and another to share its key findings and recommendations. The study was enriched by broad-based contributions from partners including the Global Forum on Rural Advisory Services and FAO’s Research and Extension Unit and Strategic Programme 3.
Investing in education breaks the cycle of poverty. Understanding what farmers need by way of training is crucial. A small technical FAO team is using cost-benefit analyses, economic financial analyses and indicators to measure investment in agricultural human capital in order to shed greater light on what works and why, and the costs involved.
FAO is now widely rolling out the study’s recommendations, promising initiatives and technical notes to help public and private investors – governments, IFIs, regional development banks, producer organizations, among others – enhance agricultural human capital in developing countries.