FFD is strengthening smallholder farmers’ and forest keepers’ resilience, well-being and their organizations globally. Come play games and join our campaign!
Food and Forest Development Finland – FFD is a non-profit expert organization supporting agricultural and forestry producer organizations and cooperatives in Africa, Asia and Latin America since 2013. The goal of FFD is to reduce rural poverty in developing countries, improve food security and support rural livelihoods. In all projects, we support climate work and environmentally sustainable activities. We help producer organizations to adapt to the challenges brought by climate change – we support climate resilient agriculture and forestry, which is slowing down climate change by improving carbon sequestration and reducing greenhouse gases. Gender equality and inclusion is one of FFD’s primary goals. FFD currently has 11 agriculture and forestry projects in 6 different countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Honduras, Nepal, Vietnam.
RURAL LIVELIHOODS AND STRONG PRODUCER ORGANIZATIONS
Productive family farms (agriculture, forestry, arable forestry, fisheries and beekeeping) improve food security and increase jobs for the growing population of developing countries. Individual producers can strengthen their voice in organizations and cooperatives that provide information, support and capital. According to our experience, the best way to raise the living standards of producers is to strengthen producer organizations.
Strong producer organizations play an important role in reducing poverty and increasing food security in rural areas in developing countries. Organized producers contribute to the development of a democratic community by, among other things, increasing interaction between different institutions, supporting economic growth through better and more productive services, strengthening fair and equitable livelihoods, especially for women and young people. Strong producer organizations are increasingly entrepreneurial and innovative. They defend their members more effectively and negotiate better contracts with other operators. In crisis situations, producer organizations acting equally can stabilize the community. The development of rural welfare requires that producers get their products to market. This requires functional and high-quality counseling and credit services. With joint marketing, producers gain a stronger negotiating position and are able to defend themselves against exploitation.
GET TO KNOW FFD
Get to know FFD at the World Village festival at our stand and through our program “Food of the future – how is it produced, and what does it matter?” (in Finnish, “Tulevaisuuden ruoka – miten sitä tuotetaan, ja mitä väliä?”), or at ffd.fi and support the continuity of our work.