Seeds of Change: Producer Groups Share Knowledge, Empower Farmers and Create Better Food Systems

Producer organizations (POs) are key economic players in agriculture, harnessing their collective power to strengthen value chains, cut costs, and improve livelihoods for smallholder farmers. GAFSP puts POs at the heart of its mission—because they create these opportunities for members and increase access to investment support, markets, and technology. POs from three continents that have received funding from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) met in Rome at the World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters (Feb 25-27) for a peer to peer knowledge exchange to improve the conditions and wellbeing of their smallholder farmers member and build stronger food systems. They offered their views on their everyday challenges and offered recommendations in how GAFSP can improve support.

Mirzalim Asrankulov, chair of the agricultural cooperative Mol-Tushum within the mountainous Batken region of Kyrgyzstan, said that after the COVID crisis, the cooperative was on the brink of collapse. This remote and arid area is the least developed and poorest in the country and has faced the most pressing challenges, including the highest inflation in the European Economic Union.

“Fortunately, we started to cooperate with GAFSP,” he said. “The program financed the purchase of more than three hundred tons of mineral fertilizers, which were distributed among our farmers, who increased their yields by 30-40 percent. Soon after, our farmers began to trust and believe in the cooperative again,” Asrankulov added. “Since then, they have purchased improved seeds, established organic compost, and are constructing greenhouses with drip irrigation systems.”

The cooperative was one of more than 15 producer organizations represented at the GAFSP Producer Organizations Stocktaking Event at WFP and IFAD in Rome. Participants shared their challenges with capacity building, access to markets, women’s participation and lack of knowledge of sustainable practices. Solutions were developed over the course of the workshop and the main takeaways included:

• Boosting women’s participation and leadership in POs
• Strengthening capacity and organizational development
• Improving food security and nutrition through storage processing and facilities
• Increase access to markets through transport and storage

Fifteen projects with measurable results were examined for replication, from organic rice certification in Cambodia to supporting rural poultry farming in Senegal. Some projects described how they acquired tractors, built greenhouses, opened warehouses and dry storage facilities.

Annick Sezibera heads the Confederation of Smallholder Farmers for Development (CAPAD) in Bujumbura, Burundi, where bananas are a critical crop. Sezibera has been called one of Burundi’s “female food heroes.” Women do much of the farming traditionally in Burundi but often cannot access the resources they need. “Two hundred sixty thousand households of small family farmers have benefited from the support of the GAFSP project,” she said, speaking at IFAD headquarters. “This allows us to provide services to the poorest smallholders to access organic seeds, and fortified bean seeds, but

also to access seedlings and bananas. The banana sector is of paramount importance in terms of nutrition at the household level, and it’s great for us to see its revival.”

Farmers empowering farmers to feed the world

Building a sustainable food system that can feed everyone nutritiously begins with smallholder farmers. A key obstacle for farmers and POs with solutions and innovations has been a lack of access to financial support and capacity building. Eight years ago, GAFSP introduced the Missing Middle Initiative (MMI) pilot, to address this problem. After the success of this pilot, the MMI was mainstreamed into the PO-led track in 2019.

“Financing directly to producer organizations has really come a long way from 5 MMI projects,” said Esther Penunia, secretary general of the Asian Farmers Association. “GAFSP has taken advocacy from civil society organizations to really provide access to financing for farmers’ organizations.” Some of the successes discussed included accessing local banks or revolving funds for capital, credit and extension services.

There were also common themes in the difficulties that hampered activities, such as increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, high interest rates, and the inability to negotiate grace periods with lenders. Disbursement of funds for farmers must follow the trajectory of the seasons, participants stressed, and more women need mentoring for leadership positions.

Women represent most of the agricultural workforce in many Sub-Saharan African countries. In Burundi, women are greatly benefiting from, as well as guiding the project, according to Sezibara. “Our project also allows us to strengthen the demand capacities of farmers and of our organization,” Sezibera said. “We feel more empowered, and we have strengthened our visibility at the national, regional and even international levels.”

We are still amid a global food crisis in 2025, fueled by climate change, weather unpredictability, and conflict. Evidence shows that POs act quickly and decisively in a crisis to support their members. By funding them directly, GAFSP is in a unique position to help POs uplift communities and improve the livelihoods and conditions of smallholder farmers in the long term.