AsiaDHRRA and the Cambodian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (CamboDHRRA) jointly organized a round table discussion on the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF) on July 18, 2024, at Sunway Hotel, Phnom Penh. The event assessed the country’s implementation status in the context of the UNDFF Global Action Plan 2019-2028 and identified further improvements in the remaining four years of its timeframe.
Active exchanges and sharing of experiences transpired during the gathering and participation by CamboDHRRA’s partner farmers’ organizations (FO), mainly the smallholder farmers, upland farmers, fishers, rural women, and youth. Significant topics during the plenary workshops highlighted the FO’s recent activities supporting UNDFF, the challenges faced, the actions needed, and perceived accountabilities to forward the initiative, which includes volunteerism.
The UNDFF was proclaimed in December 2017 and serves as a framework for creating policies and investments, placing family farming at the center of the international agenda, and contributing to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The campaign identified an urgent need to formulate, innovate, and transform legal policies and frameworks, including interventions supporting family farming in extensive issues like gender, nutrition, digitalization, territorial development, agroecology, and youth. Furthermore, the UNDFF is strongly supported by the ASEAN, as evidenced by its commitment to the ASEAN Master Plan on Rural Development (2022-2025).