The afternoon session at the European Forum on Rural Development set the path for six breakout session (download their programmes here) that are to commence tomorrow, Wednesday morning. They will focus on
- Institutions and policies for effective governance of rural development
- Ecologically efficient agricultural systems for smallholder farmers
- Access to land and other natural resources
- Food Security and Social Protection
- Role of rural women in achieving food security and
- Linking smallholder farmers to efficient markets.
Within the area of food security and social protection, speakers highlighted that social transfers have an important role in lifting people out of poverty and to provide most basic access to food. Admittedly, many states do not see the logic of providing unemployment benefits yet, and tax systems in many countries do not allow for comprehensive, state-funded social protection. However, in some developing countries like South Africa, discussions about a basic income have been put on the agenda.
To give smallholder farmers a stronger voice, speakers stressed the need to establish production associations between farmers with a view to share information and to build a farmers’ union. ICTs are an important part in this regard, said Élodie Maître d’Hôtel from CIRAN. She established a list of challenges faced by small farmers, among them high barriers to entry into the market, high marketing cost, high transaction cost and a lack of bargaining power. Most of them can be attenuated by forming a union, but not all of them. The breakout sessions will go into further detail on the measures that can be taken.
Another important aspect of the discussions on Tuesday afternoon was the integration of women into the markets. As pointed out in the morning by Soraya Rodríguez, Secretary of State for Development Cooperation, women are often more productive than men, but they are more likely to be disowned of their land if they discontinue farming to engage in other projects. Alexandra Spieldoch from Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture & NRM (WOCAN) fully supported this view. She suggested that developing countries respect women’s interest in their policies and enable women to be better represented and involved into policy-making.
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