The next generation of farmers: successes and new opportunities

Tom Arnold: Task Force Rural Africa (TFRA)
will focus on 4 key policy areas,
1. Territorial approaches: rural spaces & how they interact w cities
2. Agricultural Transformation
3. Investing in a sustainable African food industry
4. Natural Resource management.

20 November 2018. The Brussels Development Briefing n. 53 on The next generation of farmers: successes and new opportunities.

To generate growth in rural areas and new employments and investments in farms, new kills and practices will be needed for for new generations of farmers and agro-processors. To reach this, a number of changes need to happen: farming needs to be competitive to retain or access to new markets, increase its productivity, engage in diversification processes and use technology and innovation to be more efficient in use of resources.

We see societal expectations regarding food, in particular concerning food safety, food quality, food waste, environmental and animal welfare standards which farmers will need to address together with the other actors in the chain. Citizens are also increasingly valuing access to a wide variety of food that carries broader benefits for society, such as organic produce, products with geographical indications (GIs), local specialities and innovative food. The most important role for the policy is therefore to help farmers anticipate developments in dietary habits and adjust their production according to market signals and consumers' demands.

• Background Note
• Programme
• Resources

Panel 1: What is required to support the next generation of farmers?This panel provided an overview of what policies and actions are required to support the next generation of farmers to increase productivity, better access to remunerative markets and increased use of technology.

• Key challenges and opportunities for the next generation of farmers Débísí Àràbà, Director, Africa Region, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
• Successes of the CAP and lessons learned for the ACP Iman Boot, Senior Expert, Directorate for Agriculture, European Commission
• Africa’s development trajectory in the evolving global context Thang Nguyen-Quoc, Policy Analyst, Africa Unit, OECD Development Centre
• Connecting farmers to markets in Africa Jannes Maes, President of the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA)
• Update and way forward on AGRI/DEVCO Taskforce for Rural Africa Tom Arnold, Chairman,
  
  TFRA
  See also PAEPARD blogpost: Members of the Task Force Rural Africa – strengthening our partnership in food and farming

Panel 2: Lessons learned from successes in farming across ACP and EU regionsThis panel discussed best practices across the ACP on policies, markets and technologies.

Akin Sawyerr, Co-founder @afgean
"We have created farmers market initiatives
 to ensure fair and sustainable market access for farmers"

• Best practices and successes of women farmers in Europe Lotta Folkesson, Chair, Women Committee, COPA
• Connecting production to growing markets in value added agri-food chains
  Akin Sawyerr, Co-founder of Agricultural Fresh Produce Growers and Exporters Association of Nigeria (AFGEAN) (see at the bottom video @2:56:40)
• Promoting quality schemes: the case of Jamaica Jerk GI Winston Stona, Associated Manufacturers Limited, Jamaica
  
•  New opportunities for innovative agribusiness in E-commerce of added-value products Jennifer Bash, Founder and CEO, Alaska,Tanzania
• See also PAEPARD blogpost: Creating jobs in value-added agribusinesses. The company adds value to locally produced products and links its supplier-members to the supply-value chain. Main products in the market at the moment are rice, eggs and sunflower oil packed Brown Rice and Maize Flour distributed under the Alaska Tanzania brand.

The Briefing was webstreamed: https://brusselsbriefings.net