25 November 2014, Quezon City, Philippines — AsiaDHRRA together with the Government of the Philippines (GoP)—through the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)—the International Fund for Agriculture and Organization (IFAD), the Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO),PhilDHRRA, PAKISAMA, ANGOC, and, Philippines Agri-agency Synergy recently hosted the national celebration of the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF), dubbed as IYFF Philippines Knowledge and Learning Market – Policy Engagement (IYFF Ph KLM-PE) on 24-25 November 2014.

This activity aimed to provide venue for sharing innovative and successful cases on family farming and for affirming policies and program towards continued promotion of and support to family farming in the country.
During the said event, 10 select family farmers were recognized as “Outstanding Family Farmers.” A book, published by AsiaDHRRA, on “Harvesting from Family Farms: Stories of Feeding the Nation and Caring for the Earth” featuring stories of awardees was also launched in the said event. AsiaDHRRA, with support from Fondation de France, mobilized the participation of the CSO family farmer awardees and its partner FOs from the post Yolanda areas to the said event in Manila.

Lessons from the success stories served as inputs to the event’s policy dialogue on five themes: asset reform, enterprise development, governance, climate resilient agricultural systems, and young farmers. Policy recommendations were then presented to the panel of reactors from the decision and policy makers for their consideration and appropriate actions.
The event was culminated with a presentation of the joint FO and CSO policy declaration, dubbed as: “The Quezon City Declaration.” The declaration was received by the engaging government agencies, represented by the DAR Usec. Rosalina Bistoyon, who called for a creation of joint CSO/FO and government technical working group (TWG) to see through follow-up actions on the declaration.

photos courtesy of IFAD Philippines