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Moderated conference on rural advisory services for family farms: 1-18 December 2014

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Wed, 10 Dec 2014 17:03:37 +0100
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Dear Colleagues,

This conference began on Monday 1 December and the last day for receiving messages will be Thursday 18 December 2014. We have therefore just passed the half-way stage in this conference on "Tailoring rural advisory services to family farms"!!. 

At this point in time, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have already sent in messages and who have dedicated your time and effort to sharing your knowledge and experience with all the people who have subscribed to this conference. You have provided us with a fascinating and rich exchange of views and experiences regarding rural advisory services (RAS) in your different countries, covering the roles of producer organisations, the village elites, ICTs and much more and regarding RAS and the different kinds of family farms in your countries, where several messages (such as nr. 21 by Mahesh Chander) highlight that the farmers who need RAS the most are ironically the ones who have least access to them.

In the remaining 8 days of this conference, I also hope that those who have not already done so, will contribute to the conference. 

The main questions to be addressed by participants in the conference are provided in Section 4 of the conference background document (reproduced below). 

I also remind you that all of the 59 messages posted so far are available on the web, at https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa?A0=RAS-L 

With all best regards

John

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[FROM THE BACKGROUND DOCUMENT, http://www.fao.org/3/a-at652e.pdf ]

4.1 What are the unique characteristics or features of rural advisory services for different types of family farms?

As described above, three broad categories of family farms can be described i.e.
- large family farms which are essentially large business ventures;
- small or medium-sized family farms which are, or may become, market-oriented and commercial;
- subsistence or near-subsistence smallholders.

Given that the focus of this e-mail conference is on the second and third categories of family farms, what are the unique characteristics or features of rural advisory services for each of these two categories of family farms? Also, how do the characteristics differ between the two categories? Furthermore, how do they differ from the characteristics of rural advisory services needed by family farms in the first category?

 4.2 What are the current gaps in rural advisory services for smallholder family farms?

Based on your experiences, what are the kinds of rural advisory services that different types of family farms require but which are currently missing? If possible, provide specific examples of these kinds of gaps in your country or region.

4.3 What role can producer organizations play in tailoring rural advisory services for family farms?

Both FAO (2014) and GFRAS (2013) recognize the importance of effective and inclusive producer organizations in strengthening both the demand and the supply side of rural advisory services. Are there concrete examples from your country or region where producers' organizations are playing or have played a central role in providing rural advisory services to family farms and are helping or have helped them voice their requirements? If so, how are they doing this?

4.4 Are there regional specificities regarding rural advisory services for family farms?

When considering the above questions (regarding the unique characteristics, current gaps and role of producer organizations concerning rural advisory services for family farms), are there any region-specific characteristics, conditions, problems or issues that need to be considered? If so describe them?

4.5 How to improve the outreach and impact of rural advisory services?

As described in Section 2, evidence from low- and middle-income countries suggests that only a small share of family farms may access rural advisory services and that access is lower for smaller family farms and for women farmers. What different approaches may be used to improve outreach of rural advisory services to family farms? Also, what particular approaches may be used to improve outreach for smaller family farms and for women farmers? In addition, how can the quality of rural advisory services be improved so that their impact can be increased?

4.6 What strategies are needed at the national/state level to enhance rural advisory services for family farms?

As described in Section 1, results of the e-mail conference will feed into a document for policy-makers that FAO and GFRAS are planning to publish in 2015 on strategies to enhance rural advisory services for family farms. What kind of state or national level strategies would you recommend to include in this document? Are some of these recommendations region-specific? Also, do good examples of such state or national level strategies already exist?

4.7 How can family farmers be best involved in formulating policies relevant to rural advisory services for family farms?

As seen in Section 3, the vast majority of family farms are small, mostly under one hectare. In rural areas of developing countries, the possibility of family farmers to participate in many decision-making processes may be limited. For example, their access to information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as the telephone, radio, video and Internet, can be low (and is lower for women than men). When developing strategies to tailor rural advisory services relevant to their needs, how do we ensure that the voices of small men and women farmers, particularly in lower-income developing countries, are heard and considered? How important can producer organizations and other institutions be in this regard, how can they best intervene for this purpose and what support do they need in this respect?

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