June 13, 2024 (Rome, Italy)— The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and AgMission™ partners awarded a $342,710 grant to the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) to build on last year’s successful Global Producers’ Consultation resulting from the development and implementation of a novel farmer-driven methodology. The goal was to accelerate adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) by consulting producers on a global scale and collecting information about their needs and expectations. This new award expands on last year’s research to support a new iteration, the Global Youth Consultation, which focuses specifically on young farmers.
The WFO farmer-driven consultation methodology combine in-person and virtual dialogues with global producers to gather data that informs research implementation projects to support on-farm resiliency. WFO hosted the first original in-person global producer consultation on CSA at the WFO 2023 Annual Meeting. The key findings of the consultation and strategic priorities identified by farmers globally as they shift towards CSA resulted in the “Climate-Smart Agriculture: First Global Producers’ Consultation” report, released by WFO in December 2023 at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28).
The Global Youth Consultation will build on the initial Global Producers’ Consultation by collecting feedback from farmers under the age of 40. Next week, 35 promising young farmer leaders selected from around the world will gather at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters during the WFO 2024 Annual Meeting to take part in a consultative process about challenges and opportunities related to CSA adoption.
“Involving producers in the co-creation of CSA research is crucial to successful adoption,” said FFAR Scientific Program Director Allison Thomson. “The Global Youth Consultation is a valuable opportunity to engage with young farmers so we can better understand how we can continue to engage and support farmers now and in the future. We are also eager to understand the unique perspectives that young farmers can provide in this important discussion.”
This AgMission-funded project, the Global Producers’ Consultation, engages farmers and ranchers comprehensively, allowing producers and scientists to co-create a research agenda that produces actionable insights.
“There is a generation of passionate and energetic future leaders willing and committed to boosting the entire agricultural sector towards a sustainable future for all: our farmers, people and planet. Their insights and perspectives are indispensable as we navigate the challenges of climate change,” said WFO President Arnold Puech d’Alissac. “This initiative not only empowers the next generation of agricultural leaders but also ensures that their voices and experiences shape the future of research agenda on climate-smart agriculture.
This new project will explore focus areas that include young farmers’ awareness of and willingness to adopt existing solutions and the systemic barriers to adoption. The results of the consultation will be published in a publicly available report and will inform the AgMission research agenda. This research can also benefit other organizations and companies who are interested in working with farmers to better support CSA adoption.
AgMission is an initiative co-created by FFAR and the World Farmers’ Organisation to unlock agriculture’s potential to address climate change
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AgMission
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) established AgMission, a global collaboration of farmers, ranchers and scientists mobilizing data and partnering together to accelerate collaboration, develop science-based solutions and expand innovation and research that powers adaptation and adoption of climate-smart solutions. AgMission is empowering the agriculture sector to become net-zero for greenhouse gas emissions.
To learn more visit: agmission.org