Session 5 Presentation 2: About the FAO

Session 5: Policy Framework and Opportunities to Make Markets Work for Small Farmers

About the FAO
by David Hitchcock, Agribusiness & Infrastructure Officer

The FAO funds technical cooperation projects (TCPs), which are determined by each country. It would like to be a responsive organization and it sees itself as a source of technical assistance in 1) information and analysis of both national and regional strategies; 2) enabling policies, institutions and services; and 3) supporting specific agro-industries and value chains (i.e. determining the drivers of certain value chains, looking at opportunities and innovative arrangements, etc). At this point, the FAO cannot support infrastructure projects; however it can help determine what kind of infrastructure is needed (soft process)

The FAO can also help emerging NGOs. This is especially relevant given that the role of NGOs has been changing dramatically and there are now many models in the regions that we can learn from. There are also many “failures” in the sense that farmers did not enter the markets for some reason(s), and these are just as important to study and learn from.

As a regional organization, FAO can also help give a voice to small farmers for specific policies and advocacies. For example, the group can come up with a set of recommendations that can be brought to the upcoming regional forum on trade. FAO would be willing to fund a consultant to look at specific issues and facilitate dialogues on what we can do and how we can leverage in order to come up with an action plan.


Download the About FAO.ppt