The Agibusiness Market Ecosystem Alliance (AMEA) is happy to announce that the registration as a stakeholder to define professional farmer organizations in an International Workshop Agreement (IWA) process has opened!

As a key stakeholder in the field of capacity development, we believe that you can provide valuable input on how to define professional farmer organizations. Hereby, we would like to invite you to take part in the process, share your knowledge and experience, and learn from others while creating this definition. Participate by commenting online on the draft definition proposal and/or attending the IWA workshop meeting on 7-8 November 2018 in Delft (Netherlands).

Please note that commenting and participation is only possible upon registration here. The deadline for registration is 6 July 2018.

The importance of developing the global definition for professional farmer organizations

AMEA initiated the development of the global definition for professional farmer organizations through this IWA process, led by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Defining what it means to be a professional farmer organization will provide market actors, capacity builders, donors, commodity certification schemes, regulators and other stakeholders with a common language and understanding around required capacities of farmer organizations and needs for improvement.

This common language will clarify which professional development gaps must be addressed to accelerate the commercial orientation of farmer organizations, improve their access to markets and finance and in the long term enhance the resilience of supply chains and improve livelihoods. This will lead to streamlined and focused efforts within the capacity development sector and an informed and sustainable development of farmer organizations.

Explained by Alan Johnson, Chair of the AMEA Board and Senior Operations Officer at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), “Reaching an IWA on what constitutes a professional farmer organization will be a huge step forward for all stakeholders working in agribusiness in emerging markets. The IWA helps create a common language for all of us supporting the transition of smallholder farming from semi-subsistence to farming as a business”.

The participation of a diverse group of stakeholders is crucial for the success of this process. Joanne Sonenshine emphasizes that “coming together as diverse stakeholders to support the future of farming by ensuring fair and equitable access to finance, markets and investment is critical now more than ever. Developing a mutually agreed-upon and internationally recognized definition for professionalization in the agricultural sector, as is the case in many other working environments, will allow for more efficient, collaborative and impactful engagement among the populations that need investment most.”

We are very much looking forward to receiving your registration and comments and embark on this journey of defining professional farmer organizations together!

For more information, please contact  Martina Torma, Marketing and Communications Coordinator at [email protected] or visit our website.

An International Workshop Agreement (IWA) is an ISO document developed through a workshop meeting. Market players and other stakeholders directly participate in developing the agreement. During this one-year-long process, organizations from over 160 ISO-member countries are invited to comment on and inform the proposed global definition. The process is led by Joanne Sonenshine, Independent Chair of the process and facilitated by NEN, the Dutch Standardization Institute on behalf of ISO.

AMEA is collaborating with Partners to host regional engagement workshops

2 November 2017               London, UK                        hosted by Small Foundation

2 May 2018                         Kampala, Uganda              hosted by Rikolto and the Uganda Cooperative Alliance

4 May 2018                         Addis Ababa, Ethiopia       hosted by IFC

25 May 2018                       Bangkok, Thailand            hosted by Asian Farmers Association

13 June 2018                     Abidjan, Ivory Coast           hosted by IDH and IFC

More locations (among others Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Quito, Ecuador) to be confirmed.

The Agribusiness Market Ecosystem Alliance (AMEA) is a global multi-stakeholder alliance of diverse organizations sharing a belief in the collective and transformative power of increasing the professionalism of farmer organizations and farming as a business. The AMEA Framework is a collective and integrated methodology for realizing the shared benefits for all supply chain stakeholders. The Framework is developed by the alliance globally and promoted through local implementation partnerships. The alliance includes IFC, NCBA CLUSA, IDH, ACDI/VOCA, ICCO Cooperation, Rikolto, ICRA, Small Foundation, SCOPEinsight, Fairtrade Africa, Argidius, TechnoServe, Nuru International, Heifer International, CTA, CNFA and Self Help Africa.