Opening Session

• Opening of the Forum
• Tour de Table: all participants introduce themselves (name, organization, country)
• Address of Mr. Lennart Båge, President of IFAD
• Statement by Mr. Jose Maria Sumpsi Vinas, ADG technical Cooperation Department and Acting ADG agriculture Department, FAO
• Interventions by representatives of farmers’ organizations, members of the Steering Committee: IFAP, LVC, WFFP, WFF, ROPPA, AFA, COPROFAM (5 minutes each)

Trends and developments in partnerships between IFAD and farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations (FOs)

• Report on evolving partnerships 2006-2008 (15 minutes)
• Three representatives of FOs report on their experiences working with IFAD in the context of COSOPs, project design/implementation, regional/sub-regional  policy dialogue processes (30-45 minutes)
• General discussion (75 minutes)
• Preparation of regional working group sessions (15 minutes)

Progress achieved and future goals for IFAD/FOs partnerships: regional working group sessions. These will, when relevant, draw upon the previous national and regional consultations

• West and Central Africa
• East and Southern Africa
• Asia
• Latin America and the Caribbean
• Near East and North Africa

Plenary session: general discussion on assessment of, and way forward in, the partnerships between IFAD and FOs. This discussion will take into account the following:

• Concluding Statement of the Workshop “Towards a Farmers’ Forum” at IFAD’s Governing Council (Rome, Febraury 2005)
• Synthesis of Deliberations of the first global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum in conjunction with IFAD’s Governing Council (Rome, February 2006)
• Conclusions and recommendations of previous regional consultations
• Partnerships with Farmers’ and Rural Producers’ Organizations: Draft Corporate Policy, February 2008

Thematic working group sessions

A. Access to land: trends, challenges and opportunities. Role and perspectives of FOs

• National Policy articulation and implementation
• Follow-up to ICARRD
• African Union/ECA/ADB initiative on a pan-African land policy framework
• IFAD’s Draft Policy on Access to Land and Land Tenure Security
• IFAD/FOs partnerships in promoting pro-poor policies on land and tenure security

B. FO experiences with, and lessons learned from, engagement with, and influence over, policy processes regarding smallholder, family agriculture

• Examples of successful experiences at national/regional level
• Role of FOs in advocating for, and shaping, pro-poor agriculture policies
• Role of IFAD in support of FO engagement with policy processes

C. Climate change and smallholder agriculture: Perspectives of FOs

• Priorities of FOs in relation to adaptation and mitigation
• Payment for environmental services
• Role of FOs in policy and strategy development to address climate change
• IFAD’s role in opening up institutional and policy space for FOs and in supporting their engagement in policy processes dealing with climate change

Lunch

• Preparation of the Synthesis of Deliberations (Steering Committee and IFAD)

• Parallel meetings of Forum participants with IFAD staff

Concluding Plenary Session

• Presentation, discussion and approval by FO representatives of the Synthesis of Deliberations to be delivered to the Governing Council
• Reactions of IFAD management
• General discussion
• Closure of Forum by Mr. Kanayo Nwanze, Vice President of IFAD