When the farmer is the star of the dinner

René Castro is IFAD's Country Director for the Dominican Republic and El Salvador.

When we go to a restaurant, our attention is usually focused on the food, the atmosphere and the service. Occasionally, customers may get to know the chef and the team preparing the dishes. But it is rare to have the opportunity to meet and support the small-scale farmers who produced the food enjoyed at dinner.

This is the innovative idea behind Agricultoras en Superación (Women Farmers on the Rise), a project taking place in the Dominican Republic as part of the Supérate government programme. Last September, the stars of the dinner were Yessy Almonte and Martha Torres, who take part in the IFAD-funded project Prorural Inclusivo y Resiliente. They supplied the ingredients prepared by the renowned chef Saverio Stassi in the capital city of Santo Domingo.

Yessy, a farmer from the province of Montecristi, comes from a family that has been raising goats for generations. She supplied the goat meat for the Agricultoras en Superación dinner. Martha, hailing from Santiago Rodríguez Province, provided casabe, a bread made from cassava using the ancestral knowledge of the indigenous Taíno community.

The farmers say they are excited to be part of the Agricultoras en Superación initiative, an opportunity to showcase their products, connect with new people and learn how to create new dishes. It’s also a way to strengthen their businesses, as they receive a portion of the funds raised from the dinner.

This initiative empowers women in agriculture and makes them true protagonists in the food supply chain. They are role models for other small-scale farmers and young people, demonstrating that “those who fight for what they want and have a clear direction can achieve their goals,” as Martha says.

In the field, one of the objectives of Prorural Inclusivo y Resiliente is to integrate farmers into value chains. Yessy and Martha recognize the support they have received from a network of organizations, such as IFAD, the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development and Supérate, so they can connect “with the value chains to market the products,” says Yessy.

“They are providing us with the opportunities to produce our goods and reach markets we hadn’t been able to access before,” adds Martha.

In rural development, we can find solutions to the significant challenges facing the planet, such as food insecurity. The latest data reveal that the world is far from achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger. Between 713 and 757 million people may have experienced hunger in 2023, and an estimated 2.33 billion people were moderately or severely food insecure. Meanwhile, 2.83 billion people are unable to afford a healthy diet. This is no longer acceptable.

In Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole, there are promising signs of reducing hunger and food insecurity. But the Caribbean alone shows more discouraging results, with the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity (58.8 per cent) more than double that of Central America (28.2 per cent) and South America (25.1 per cent).

To counter this reality, we need innovative, inclusive and equitable solutions to scale up financing for food security and nutrition, especially those that bridge the gap between rural farmers and the private sector.

At IFAD, we are firmly committed to supporting the development of small-scale farmers. The growth of their businesses translates into a better quality of life in rural communities and greater food production to nourish populations. We believe in the Yessys and Marthas of the world because without them – without their work – there would be no food to bring to the table.