FAO endorses plan for launch of Arab Forum for Rural Advisory Services in 2024
Cairo, Egypt – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has held a regional meeting to discuss, validate and reach consensus on the roadmap for the establishment of the Arab Forum for Rural Advisory Services (AFRAS) in 2024.
The meeting was attended by official representatives of ministries of agriculture from 14 Arab countries along with experts and practitioners representing various national stakeholders and international and regional organizations, as well as the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) and its regional networks of Africa, North America and South Asia. It was held for two days in Cairo, Egypt, on 24 and 25 July 2023.
The AFRAS roadmap was developed with the support of a voluntary advisory group of experts and practitioners facilitated by FAO. Discussions focused on the vision statement for AFRAS and explored viable institutional formats and operational and technical modalities. Participants reached consensus on the AFRAS vision, mission, priority functions, principles and values, as well as concrete steps to be taken towards the launch of AFRAS. They agreed to form a nucleus AFRAS community with each participant acting as a voluntary focal point for their respective countries and institutions, in the initial stages of AFRAS formation.
FAO, jointly with IFAD, will communicate to governments and pertinent regional organizations and stakeholders the Outcome Note endorsed by the meeting, and will solicit interest and support from stakeholders in member countries towards the official launch of AFRAS, tentatively envisaged in the first months of 2024.
The meeting discussed and agreed on the vision and mission of AFRAS, as well as on AFRAS values and principles, areas of thematic focus and priority functions. Deliberations also pointed to the importance of continuing exchanges over the coming weeks and months to identify suitable institutional mechanisms that facilitate AFRAS functioning in the early phases.
Participants praised that the establishment of AFRAS entails a gradual process requiring the engagement of a wide array of actors at the national and regional level. They also valued the space provided by the meeting to connect and exchange and wished to continue such exchange and consultative processes towards the establishment of AFRAS and beyond.
The opportunity of establishing a network like AFRAS emerged following the recommendations of a regional consultation on Transformative pathways for rural advisory services in the Near East and North Africa organized by FAO in June 2022. In that occasion, stakeholders considered the strategic importance of regional networking to advocate for and favor the modernization of RAS in the region and their central role in contributing to the broader processes of rural and agrifood system transformation.
These deliberations were informed and backed by the findings of a regional study on extension and Rural Advisory Services (RAS) conducted by FAO in 2021/2022. The study assessed RAS from the perspective of market-orientation, pluralism and responsiveness to the specific needs of the various categories of farmers, with a focus on men and women smallholders and vulnerable producers.