Scaling-up Investments for the Forest and Farm Facility

The Resource Partners Thematic Consultation “Scaling-up Investments for the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF)” took place on 30 April 2019 at FAO headquarters. The meeting represents the first of its kind since the inception of the first phase of FFF back in 2012.

It was well attended by over 80 participants including 30 Member states, resource partners, representatives of the private sector, and representatives of Forest and Farm Producer Organisations (FFPO) and colleagues from across FAO departments and SP teams.

The meeting succeeded in opening a dialogue on future prospectives for collaboration and support to the second phase of FFF (2018-2022) by joining its multidonor trust fund, to date supported by the governments of Sweden, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands and IKEA.  Additional support has been received from the European Union through the EU- FAO-FLEGT programme. 

Representatives of producer organizations which are provided funds directly by the FFF, elaborated on the vital role of FFPOs in developing climate resilient landscapes and improved rural livelihoods.  Their presentations showcased important results achieved so far and the effectiveness of the FFF in empowerment forest and farm producers, both women and men and integrated resources management. Representatives from the Asociación de Organizaciones de Productores Ecológicos de Bolivia (AOPEB) and the African Women's Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF) brought the voices of the producers organizations into the dialogue, showing how getting organized improved:  the leadership, the negotiation skills and advocacy capacities of their members; their access to markets to sell their products, and social and cultural services contributing to create a better life of millions of peoples.

FFF, which is featured in FAO’s Business Development Portfolio, was acknowledged as one of the best example of FAO’s direct support to producer organizations to increase their contribution to reduce poverty and implement the SDGs. Discussions  identified FFF as a sustainable option for investors that returns tremendous benefit and leverages other resources, taking an institutional approach that ensure sustainability with a long term perspective.

Resources

• Pictures of the event on the Flickr gallery of the FAO Forestry Department.
• Presentation of Jeffrey Campbell, FFF Manager.
• Concept Note and agenda of the event.
• FFF Brochure 2018-2022.
• Video of FFF impact 2012-2017.