Background 

Last August 2019, AFA and its member organizations implemented the project, “Young Farmers for Farms in Forests, Forests in Farms” funded by the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) which aims to strengthen the voice and the advocacy capacities of young men and women farmer leaders of farmers and farmer producers’ organizations (FFPOs) in the Asian region. This includes facilitating the (1) establishment of national young farmers committees (NYFCs) within the member FFPOs; (2) development of individual farm plans and NYFC action plans to promote sustainable, resilient, and gender-sensitive agro-forestry based livelihoods; and (3) sharing and learning exchanges between and among young farmers.

To reach these objectives, the project implemented national-level advocacy trainings for young men and women farmers in each FFPO to advance participants’ understanding of the connections between sustainable agriculture/ agro-ecology/ agro-forestry, sustainable livelihoods, UNDFF and sustainable development goals (SDGs); facilitate the development of an action plan/ roadmap for promoting sustainable, resilient, gender-sensitive agro-forestry-based livelihoods; and Identify key target government agencies and donors for the needed policy, program and/or financial support for the plan’s effective implementation. In addition, representatives from each NYFC shared their experiences and action plans in a 2-day regional exchange and learning fair conducted via the online platform, Zoom. This paved the way for the establishment of the AFA regional young farmers committee (RYFC) and the development of a 5-year strategic plan which aims to attract youth to agriculture.

Reports and feedback from member FFPOs, NYFC representatives, and the FFF show the importance of continuing support to young farmers and NYFCs, especially in the area of enterprise development. This led to the development of the Phase 2 of the project in 2021, which aims to capacitate FFPOs and their

NYFCs to support and sustain sustainable, resilient, and gender-sensitive agri-forest-based enterprises led by young women and men farmers; and (2) provide a platform for family farmers, especially young women and men farmers, to engage in national and international policy processes on climate action. The project involves the:

• Conduct of a regional webinar series on agri-forest enterprise development which aims to serve as a venue for participants to learn and improve their skills and knowledge on agri-forest-based enterprise and cooperative development and management;
• Establishment of the Young Farmers’ Enterprise Challenge Fund to help young farmers/ NYFcs to establish or strengthen his/her/their agri-forest-based business enterprise; and
• Documentation of successful young farmer-led enterprises through the production of video materials.

Overview

• Each FFPO will be given an initial USD 3,000 grant to facilitate the establishment or strengthening of young farmer-led agri-forest enterprise/s that will lead to the following outcomes:
  1. Increase in income of young farmer members involved;
  2. Promote sustainable, resilient, gender-sensitive agro-forest-based livelihoods within the framework of the global action plan of the UN Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF); and
  3. Contribute to mitigating climate change in the agriculture sector and/or adapting to the impacts of climate change
• The USD 3,000 grant can be disbursed as a 0% interest loan to their NYFC/ NYFC young farmer members who will successfully submit a proposal to their host FFPO. The Challenge Fund proposals will be reviewed and approved by AFA.
• The FFPO will decide on the feasible young farmers farm plan/enterprise proposal for the loan. FFPO will decide the amount and number of loans to be submitted for final approval.
• The loan will be paid by the beneficiary/ ies to the host FFPO 6-months until a maximum of 1 year after the receipt of the said loan, depending on the agreement of the NYFC and FFPO. The FFPOs will then manage the fund for the succeeding rounds and will be responsible in ensuring that said fund will be able to sustain other young farmer-led enterprises moving forward.
• The beneficiary and FFPOs/ NYFCs will provide a report on the status of the enterprise by the 3-month mark (March 2023). The FFPOs will also assist AFA in the development of video materials to be used in its advocacy of promoting young farmer-led agri-forest enterprise, including its contribution to climate change mitigation and/or adaptation