16 Farmers’ Organizations from the Caribbean head to Brazil on a knowledge exchange mission focused on climate change adaptation for sustainable agriculture

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with PROCASUR and The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are taking over 18 representatives from Farmers’ Organizations from across the Caribbean on a climate change adaptation knowledge exchange mission to Brazil from November 12-18 2023.

In the region, farmers’ organizations play a key role in boosting economies in rural areas, promoting the generation of better opportunities and facilitating access to key resources and services. In addition, these organizations contribute significantly to the creation of conditions to mitigate the impacts of climate change and develop solutions and strategies for better and more resilient production by facilitating access to technical assistance, financial and productive assets.

However, due to the increase in adverse climatic conditions, such as droughts, lack of infrastructure, technology, and knowledge on climate-smart practices, farmers continue to experience challenges in managing their production and implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies to ensure the sustainability and resilience of their crops.

In effort to support the farmers’ organizations to acquire additional tools to face this reality, FAO and PROCASUR, with the technical support of IFAD and financial support from the European Union, are working together to facilitate knowledge sharing and the dialogue between the different organizations. As part of the Programme Farmers’ Organizations for African, Caribbean and Pacific (FO4ACP), the representatives will visit farms and institutions in Brazil that have successfully adopted key technology in the agricultural sector and strategies for effectively developing farmer organizations to ensure production and quality while meeting the challenges of a changing climate.

They will also have the chance of exploring the characteristics and internal processes used by farmer organizations to identify, address, and adapt to climate change-related challenges and constraints faced by small-scale producers in both production and marketing, and examine how technology and climate-smart practices can help address these challenges.

Juan Moreno, President of the Procasur Corporation, considered that this Learning Route will allow the participant to acquire more tools to raise awareness in their communities about the need to prepare for climate change and share what they learn in the route, “Being better informed about climate change allows rural producers to make better decisions and adapt, becoming more resilient and sustainable”.

This Learning Route is another opportunity generated by the FO4ACP Programme in the Caribbean, which has already engaged with more than 500 representatives from Farmers’ Organizations in the different activities implemented in the region and invested more than USD 300,000 in capacity-building activities and direct investment in the farmers’ organizations.

Pedro Boareto, Coordinator of the FO4ACP Project on behalf of FAO, explained, "The work that we are doing with these farmers’ organizations focuses on their empowerment as key players for an inclusive rural transformation. For that, we are providing support to develop their business portfolios and to increase their productive capacities while expanding membership. Besides that, we are also generating opportunities like this Learning Route to connect the different organizations and promote the knowledge sharing and dialogue between them. We strongly believe that only with the collective work from these organizations we will be able to generate the conditions for a more inclusive and resilient development”.

About the FO4ACP Program

This initiative is part of the Farmers' Organizations Programme for Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (FO4ACP), funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the European Union in support of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). Its objective is to increase incomes and improve livelihoods, food and nutrition security and the security of small farmers and organized families in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries by strengthening regional, national and local farmers' organizations.