ECOWAS Heads of State Summit: FAO and ECOWAS promote initiative toward achieving Zero Hunger Challenge

Agricultural growth and transformation must fully benefit and empower women

Bukar Tijani, FAO Assistant Director-General

16 December 2016, Accra - FAO and ECOWAS have demonstrated strong commitment towards meeting the Zero Hunger Challenge in the West Africa region by implementing a joint project on gender-responsive regional and National Agricultural Investment Plans (NAIPs) for meeting the Zero Hunger Challenge in the ECOWAS region. 

The project responds in concrete terms to women’s constraints, needs and priorities in agricultural production, value chain development, food security and nutrition.

The fifth global meeting of the Farmers' Forum

What is the Farmers’ Forum?

It is an on-going, bottom-up process of consultation and dialogue between small farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations (FOs), IFAD and governments, focused on agricultural and rural development and poverty reduction. The Forum is rooted in concrete partnerships and collaborations at the country and regional levels. The Farmers’ Forum was born in 2005 and it meets every two years for a global consultation, in conjunction with the Governing Council of IFAD.

Who will be attending?

 Farmers’ representatives attending the global meeting of the Forum are nominated by its Steering Committee. On 17 - 18 February 2014, over 90 farmers’ leaders, representing millions of smallholders and rural producers from all over the world, will come together to celebrate the International Year of Family Farming, to interact with IFAD staff and selected partners, including FAO, AgriCord, the European Commission (EC), Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation (BMGF),  research institutes and NGOs. The Forum will be opened by the President of IFAD, Kanayo Nwanze.  Its closing session, in the afternoon of Tuesday, 18 February, will be open to the representatives of IFAD's Governing Bodies.  

Fishers in the spotlight
During the global meeting of the Farmers' Forum in 2012, a working group was organized to discuss how fishers’ organizations and collective actions can contribute to sustainable management of marine resources. One of the recommendations that came out of this working group was to "hold a special session on small-scale fisheries during the next global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum to promote understanding of their role in food security and increase the recognition and visibility of their sector before policy makers." Therefore, a special session was held on 8 February 2014 to better define the process for the development of more structured operational partnerships between IFAD and fishers’ organizations on small-scale fishery development and support to the implementation of the Small-scale Fisheries Guidelines.