Kanayo F. Nwanze President of the International Fund on Agricultural Development said that working with farmers has proven time again that cooperatives are critical to reach IFAD’ objectives.
“From tea growers in Rwanda to livestock resource centres in Nepal, there are many examples of how cooperatives better support smallholder farmers to not only organize themselves, but to collectively increase their opportunities and resources”, he said.
The note was addressed to participants in the celebration of World Food Day at FAO Headquarter-Rome, on 16th October 2012, and the theme for this year, 2012 is “Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world”.
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva emphasized the need to work for the total eradication of hunger, adding that many countries, in South America, Africa and Asia, are proving that it is possible.
In line with improving agricultural productivity Rwanda has been working closely with small farmers and grouped them into cooperatives which resulted in reducing the trend of speculation in essential food commodities intended for human consumption.
This also reduce large-scale acquisition of arable lands that in many regions forces farmers off their land because by themselves they are too weak to make it productive.
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