Agriterra and the ZLTO have already been working together for many years with the federation APA Transilvania in Romania. With the entry of Romania into the EU in 2007, the contents of this cooperation changed, because since then Romania was no longer considered a developing country and, as a result, Agriterra no longer was allowed to finance organisations within Romania.
The entry into the EU, however, did not automatically imply improvement of the situation of the Romanian farmers. More than ever farming organisations have to stand up for the interests of their members and raise their voice, both nationally and internationally.
A Romanian farmer who fights hard for this is Claudiu Franc. Claudiu Franc, a 46-year old veterinary surgeon, studied at the Agricultural University and worked in a state cattle breeding company with 7,000 heads of cattle (dairy cows and young cattle). After three years, at the end of 1989, he returned to his mountainous native region Maramures, known for its cattle breeding and fruit culture. Since 2004 he has been a member of the cattle breeding society there, and also of the local council. Two years later he was elected chairman of the society of cattle breeders from the region of Maramures. Since then he dedicates himself to the protection of cattle breeder interests together with APA Transilvania.
His dream of arranging a modern cattle breeding company took shape in in 2007, when his project received support from the EU by means of the Sapard-programme (’Special action programme for agriculture and rural development’), an instrument which the EU applies to support candidate member states in Central and East Europe. This success gave an impulse to Franc to fight even harder for the interests of the cattle breeders in order to gain more success for the sector. This, amongst other things, led in 2007 to the foundation of the National Federation of Cattle breeders, where Claudiu Franc was elected vice-chairman.
APA Transilvania was supported by Agriterra and ZLTO in organising a training on the topics of lobby and protection of interests, and about the communal agricultural politics of the EU. This training took place in February of this year, and was organised by Frank van Oorschot of the ZLTO. During the training the member organisations of APA learned everything about lobby, EU policies, subsidy schemes, participation, and so on. This way they got to know that Romania does not have representatives in the European Economic Social Comittee (EESC) in Brussels, while the EESC has a bridging function between the European institutions and the middle social area and gives advice to the EU. Therefore the EESC is the obvious place for farmers to raise their voice.
The Federation of cattle breeders took the advice of Van Oorschot to heart and appointed Claudiu Franc representative in the Committee. He has already visited Brussels once (in april this year) to participate in conferences about the meat price of cattle. At the end of this year a new round of conferences with colleagues from other countries has been planned in Brussels. Franc’s contribution there is of major importance to APA Transilvania, their member organisations and the Romanian farmers.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
It starts with literacy
Féderation des Paysans du Fouta Djallon in Guinea has been supported since 2001 by UPA-DI. An evaluation in 2008 provides evidence of the increased capacity of farmer organisations, of changed agricultural practices, increased yields and better natural resource management. Working with organised farmers has contributed to a fast increasing outreach. Literacy and numeracy classes for members have positively contributed to their adaptation rates for new techniques. Market and climate volatility remain risk factors for farmers, despite important income and safety net improvements.
“Support was provided in the field of organisational strengthening of various levels of farmers groups and organisations.
- The evaluation has found that literacy unblocked farmers to capability to effectively apply the new agricultural techniques and increased their interest in more professional agriculture. 5.708 farmers have been trained in literacy of which 70% effectively managed to read and write after the course. Quantitative research showed that 84% of the members who took literacy courses now sow in lines, 78% respect better fertilizer use and 58% produce and use compost.
- The programme also supported farmers with introduction of new processing techniques. Important has been the drying techniques and equipment for onions of which 625 members of 43 groups have benefited.
- Also clearing and opening of new farm land has been important. In total, 76 ha have been cleared and are currently planted with rice, tomatoes, egg fruits etc.
- Environmental management has improved as 50% of the studied groups now have stone corridors in their fields, 100% of the groups use hedges, 20% of the households use wood saving stoves.
As a result, the crop yields have increased, although the results are troubled by the harsh climate. Potato yields increased from 17 tons/ha in 2003 to 23 tons/ha in 2005/2006 in the plains. Sales margins have more than doubled for potatoes at the riverside, but declined for potatoes in the plains, mainly due to high initial investment costs. The tradable volumes in onions increased by 30 to 40% in the studied groups and the total income from onions in these groups more than doubled as also the price per kg increased. The markets in Guinea are vulnerable to the extent that it is difficult to predict whether sustainable income increase will take place. An evaluation survey found that households borrow less from each other and spend more on food, housing, health care and medication, clothes, agricultural equipment and household utensils. The scale of the effects can be estimated from the total 382 groups involved and the number of members 2.841 that paid a membership fee.”
“Support was provided in the field of organisational strengthening of various levels of farmers groups and organisations.
- The evaluation has found that literacy unblocked farmers to capability to effectively apply the new agricultural techniques and increased their interest in more professional agriculture. 5.708 farmers have been trained in literacy of which 70% effectively managed to read and write after the course. Quantitative research showed that 84% of the members who took literacy courses now sow in lines, 78% respect better fertilizer use and 58% produce and use compost.
- The programme also supported farmers with introduction of new processing techniques. Important has been the drying techniques and equipment for onions of which 625 members of 43 groups have benefited.
- Also clearing and opening of new farm land has been important. In total, 76 ha have been cleared and are currently planted with rice, tomatoes, egg fruits etc.
- Environmental management has improved as 50% of the studied groups now have stone corridors in their fields, 100% of the groups use hedges, 20% of the households use wood saving stoves.
As a result, the crop yields have increased, although the results are troubled by the harsh climate. Potato yields increased from 17 tons/ha in 2003 to 23 tons/ha in 2005/2006 in the plains. Sales margins have more than doubled for potatoes at the riverside, but declined for potatoes in the plains, mainly due to high initial investment costs. The tradable volumes in onions increased by 30 to 40% in the studied groups and the total income from onions in these groups more than doubled as also the price per kg increased. The markets in Guinea are vulnerable to the extent that it is difficult to predict whether sustainable income increase will take place. An evaluation survey found that households borrow less from each other and spend more on food, housing, health care and medication, clothes, agricultural equipment and household utensils. The scale of the effects can be estimated from the total 382 groups involved and the number of members 2.841 that paid a membership fee.”
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