The number of poor and hungry people has been increasing, and the world now faces a major economic downturn. Climate change, growing competition for land, and price volatility for food and inputs are having a negative impact on rural women and men in developing countries and particularly on the poorer and most vulnerable households. At the same time, all over the world, family farmers, local communities, private enterprises, governments and development partners are bringing new responses to these challenges and new reasons to believe in a future without hunger and poverty.     

IFAD, in preparation for the publication of its Rural Poverty Report later in 2009, will hold three round-table discussions on the challenges and opportunities for smallholder agriculture, at its Governing Council on Wednesday, 18 February 2009. The discussions will focus on identifying policies and strategies that can be applied at national levels to ensure that the needs of smallholder agriculture are met. The research and technology needed to advance smallholder agriculture will also be discussed.

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Food price volatility how to help smallholder farmers manage risk and uncertainty 

Purpose of the round table: To share experience and knowledge about effective measures to reduce risks associated with price volatility, so as to encourage investment by smallholder farmers.

Background: Following a period of soaring prices for virtually all agricultural commodities, prices for many of them have fallen dramatically since August 2008 although they remain at relatively high levels compared with previous years. Commercial grain producers responded to the higher prices by boosting production. But the situation in many developing countries is quite different. If Brazil, China and India are excluded, cereal production in developing countries actually fell by 1.6 per cent between 2007 and 2008.

The limited capacity of resource-poor farmers to respond quickly to price incentives, combined with price volatility and higher costs for inputs, poses a great challenge to rural women and men as they struggle to feed their families and make agricultural production a more profitable enterprise.

Price volatility may continue in the future, since climate change is likely to increase the level of uncertainty regarding food production, especially in lower-latitude regions. The prospect of ongoing food price volatility is likely to discourage smallholder farmers from making essential agricultural investments, particularly since they are already squeezed by the increased cost of inputs such as fertilizers and by higher transport costs. The world population is projected to grow from 6.6 billion in 2007 to nearly 9.2 billion by 2050, with consequences that will affect demand for food and agro-fuels.

Thus it is critical to generate adequate policies to encourage investments and increase agricultural productivity, particularly among smallholder farmers.

Innovative solutions are needed at all levels to mitigate the impact of price volatility on small-scale agricultural producers and enable them to respond to the growing demand for food, feed and fuel.

Questions to guide the round-table discussion:

• How have volatile international food prices been transmitted to domestic markets and to smallholder farmers over the past two years?
• How is price volatility affecting the investment decisions of rural producers, and what is the impact on household food security?
• What successful measures have been taken by governments, farmers’ organizations and the private sector to reduce price volatility on domestic markets or to reduce its negative effects on producers and trigger investments by smallholder farmers?

Download discussion paper: Food price volatility – how to help smallholder farmers manage risk and uncertainty

Panelists

• Dr Mustafa Abubakar, Director, BULOG, Indonesia
• Ajay Vashee, President International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP)
• Gonzalo Fanjul Suárez, Head of Research, Intermón Oxfam
• David Stevenson, Director, Policy, Planning and Strategy Division, World Food Programme (WFP)

 

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The growing demand for land – risks and opportunities for smallholder farmers

Purpose of the round table: To explore the risks, opportunities and policy requirements arising from the increasing demand for land for commercial farming and the impact this may have on poor rural people, particularly smallholder farmers and pastoralists.

Background: In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in demand among foreign and domestic investors for land in rural areas of developing countries. The scale and nature of this demand is not yet fully understood. Initially, demand for land among both public and private investors was for cash crop production. With the energy crisis, large-scale plantations of agro-fuels have become attractive. Most recently, the food and financial crises have spurred an interest, on the part of rich or transition countries dependent on food imports, in investing in foreign farmland for food production to guarantee the food security of their populations. And food cultivation has increasingly been identified by food corporations and private investors as an important new area of investment.

There is a growing concern in the international community that this rapid increase in demand could threaten food security and the land and water rights of poor rural people and indigenous communities. There is also concern that the overexploitation of land could exacerbate environmental problems. At the same time, this increased investment in the rural areas of developing countries has the potential to contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. To minimize the risks, ensure the protection of poor people’s land rights and maximize opportunities, there is a need to establish guidelines and best practices and to build mutually beneficial partnerships among private sector investors, rural communities and governments.

Experience suggests that successful community-investor partnerships require policies and legislation that recognize customary and indigenous land rights. Greater support is needed for appropriate, affordable and accessible land registration systems to secure the rights of small-scale producers and indigenous communities.

These communities and producers also need support in strengthening their involvement in land management planning, and in identifying and responding to their needs so that they are better able to take advantage of business opportunities.

Questions to guide the round-table discussion:

• What are the impacts on rural communities of the growing demand for land for large-scale food and fuel production? Are poor rural people losing out in terms of their rights to land and water? Are they gaining from being engaged as outgrowers or contract farmers, or from new employment or marketing opportunities? Are there any cases in which they have benefited substantially? What lessons can we draw?

• What has characterized effective management of large-scale investments that have resulted in win-win arrangements for all parties? What has been the policy environment for such experiences? What has been the role of civil society? What has been the involvement of rural communities? What other specific features can we point to? What characterizes evolving best practices?

• What can the various stakeholders (governments, civil society and investors) do to develop transparent and inclusive mechanisms to guide and manage investments in agriculture? What role of value can an organization such as IFAD play in this regard?

Download discussion paper: The Growing Demand for Land Risks and Opportunities for Smallholder Farmers

Moderator

Tumi Makgabo, Broadcaster and Independent Producer

Panelists

• Noel De Luna, Deputy Permanent Representative to FAO and IFAD, Embassy of The Philippines in Rome
• Pär Oscarsson, Land/Agriculture Manager, SEKAB BioEnergy (T) Ltd
• Stephen A. Ruvuga, Executive Director, National Network of Farmers Groups (MVIWATA), United Republic of Tanzania
• Dr Sonja Vermeulen, Programme Director, Business and Sustainable Development, Sustainable Markets Group, International Institute for Environment and Development
• Dr. Eckart Woertz, Programme Manager Economics, Gulf Research Centre

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Research and innovation for smallholder farmers in the context of climate change

Purpose of the round table: To share experience and good practice in agricultural research that enhance the ability of smallholder farmers to cope with the challenges of climate change. To discuss how the research agenda can combine the objectives of resilience, adaptation to local changes, and higher productivity.

Background: Poor rural people in developing countries are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The negative impact on their crop yields will be severe, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and other tropical regions. Desertification and land degradation processes are being exacerbated by changes in rainfall patterns, and livelihoods of coastal communities are being negatively affected by sea-level rise. In many areas, natural resource productivity is at risk and biodiversity might be irreversibly lost.

Around the world, resource-poor farmers and pastoralists are trying to adapt to variations in temperatures and rainfall patterns, and to new plant and animal diseases. Agricultural research and innovation systems that build on the knowledge and innovation capacity of local farmers play a key role in helping people to adapt while improving their productivity and income.

Since rural people manage vast areas of land and forest, they are important players in natural resource management and carbon sequestration, but are usually without significant compensation. Policy research is required to develop systems to reward rural communities for the environmental services they provide.

Technologies that reduce exposure to shocks and enhance carbon capture and storage include reforestation, conservation tillage, soil and water conservation, agroforestry, rehabilitation of degraded land, and better livestock management practices. IFAD has invested in all of these areas over the past 30 years.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), presently under reform, and its National Agricultural Research System (NARS) partners have an important role to play in this area. They can improve the efficacy of research and capacity-building partnership programmes that involve various stakeholders (including farmers’ organizations and the private sector) and interdisciplinary engagement to address adaptation to and mitigation of climate change – building on local knowledge and blending it with the best state-of-the-art formal science.  At the same time, the effectiveness of public-private partnerships in developing and promoting new technologies needs to be enhanced to address the demand for planting material of elite varieties.        

Questions to guide the round-table discussion:

• How can investments in agricultural research be significantly increased to improve the resilience of smallholder farmers to the effects of climate change, improve their productivity in a context of risk and uncertainty, and contribute to rewarding communities for the environmental services they provide?
• What is needed to sharpen international research focus on the challenges of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, which are also the least prepared in terms of institutional capacity, and which are for the most part in Africa? How can the concerns of marginalized rural communities be voiced and influence the research agenda?

Download discussion paper: Research and innovation for smallholder farmers in the context of climate change

Panelists

• Michel Griffon, Director General, National Research Agency, France   
• Estrella A. Penunia, Secretary General, Asian Farmers'Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA)
• Eija Pehu, Senior Advisor, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, World Bank 
• Dr. Hans R. Herren, President, Millennium Institute