We are a regional alliance of 17 national federations and organizations of small scale women and men farmers and producers from 13 countries in Asia.
We were established in 2002 after a series of farmers’ exchange visits (FEVs) organized by our strategic NGO partner, AsiaDHRRA (Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Asia).
In these five FEVs, conducted over three years, we saw the great need to come, share, learn and act together to-wards our common desire for a better quality of life for ourselves, our families, and our farming communities.
AFA invites national farmers’ organiza-tions as members and works with NGOs in facilitating the formation of national farmers’ organizations and in continuously building their capacities.
It convenes a General Assembly every two years and an Executive Committee meeting every semester.
Our Vision
We envision our rural farming communities as:
- Self-reliant, educated, happy, healthy, peaceful, and prosperous–free from hunger and poverty.
- Having access to and control over our lands, other basic productive resources, goods and services.
- Having access to fair markets for our products.
- Nurturing our farmlands via appro-priate, integrated, and environment-friendly practices and technologies.
- Participating in development processes through politically strong, socially responsive, culturally sensitive and economically viable FOs.
Our Mission
We aim to be:
- A strong and influential voice of small- scale women and men farmers in Asia.
- A strong lobby and advocacy group for farmers’ rights and development, genuine agrarian reform, and main- streaming sustainable agriculture in regional and national policies and programs.
- A facilitator in the trading and marketing of our members’ products.
- A venue for solidarity and exchange of information on agriculture and farmers’ development for our members.
Our Peasant Agenda
Together, we work to:
- Promote sustainable agricultural policies and practices.
- Study and promote alternatives to economic globalization.
- Promote agriculture among the young.
- Promote fair and just treatment of small-scale women and men farmers.
- Promote food sovereignty measures.
- Promote farmer-to-farmer market exchanges.
- Push for provisions on access to farm resources and rural development, and protection of small-scale women and men farmers’ rights in Asian inter-governmental bodies (ASEAN, SAARC, etc)
- Support environmentally-friendly adaptation and mitigation measures for climate change.
- Strengthen AFA at the national and regional levels.
Members:
Resources
Displaying 6 - 10 of 76Review of National Policy Framework on Tenure Rights in the Context of VGGT
The Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (or VGGT) is the first global document that addresses policy, legal and organizational frameworks that regulate tenure rights. Adopted by the Committee on World Food Security1 (CFS) last May 2012, the VGGT provide guidance on responsible governance of tenure on land, fisheries and forests as a means to alleviate hunger and poverty, enhance the environment, support national and local development and reform public administration.
Challenges and Opportunities in Promoting VGGT to Secure Tenure Rights of Family Farmers
In 2014-2015, the Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) implemented a project entitled “Popularizing the VGGT Among Small Scale Farmers Organizations, Relevant National Government and Inter-governmental Organizations” with the support of the International Land Coalition (ILC).
Seeing the Forests and the Farms Together: Promoting the Rights and Livelihoods of Forest and Farm Producers in Asia
There is a very close relationship between forestry and farming. Both forests and farms are source of food (both from plants and animals), nutrition, health, and livelihoods for family farmers. Besides, forests provide sources for fuel, energy, water and medicines. Forests beautify and contribute to biodiversity in a particular landscape.
A Viable Future: Attracting the Youth to Agriculture
Youth is often the time when a person starts to dream of the future, think of the path to take and boldly and aggressively set his/her life in motion. In many rural villages, to be a farmer is not part of this dreamt future . Farming is a lowly job and does not earn, so better migrate to cities or abroad where there may be more opportunities and adventure. What will then be the future of agriculture and food without young farmers? No farmer, no food. No food, no life.
WOMEN’S LAND RIGHTS, GENDER-RESPONSIVE POLICIES AND THE WORLD BANK
This paper was prepared for presentation at the “2015 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty” in Washington DC last March 23-27, 2015 by Violeta P. Corral of the National Confederation of Small Farmers and Fishers Organizations (PAKISAMA), Philippines.
The Gender Evaluation Criteria (GEC) project was jointly implemented by PAKISAMA and Asian Farmers Association (AFA), support by the International Land Coalition (ILC).