Farmers Dialogue 2004

The inaugural "Farmers' Dialogue" was held during the Stakeholders' session of the 2004 Annual General Meeting of the CGIAR providing an opportunity for CGIAR stakeholders to engage in dialogue with farmers and producer organizations. The Dialogue attracted participation from farmers from three continents who currently work directly with CGIAR Centers or the products of their research.

This first attempt to place the end users of our research, center stage of the annual meetings was welcomed by many participants. The farmers were able to communicate their perspectives and provided a unique and much needed voice in the midst of the research debate.

The dialogue prompted much discussion among participants on the most appropriate ways in which to include farmer and producer perspectives and a very healthy debate continues on these issues around the CGIAR which will inform future similar dialogues.

The six farmers who participated in the dialogue were:

• Delphine Koudou Ahuissi, a rice farmer from Côte d'Ivoire told the audience about how she has been closely observing the different varieties of rice being cultivated in her country, and the advantages offered by the New Rices for Africa (NERICAs) developed by the Africa Rice Center and its partners. She is currently working with other Ivorian farmers to promote NERICAs in the region.
• Arun Kumar Bhakoo is a rice and wheat farmer from Kahsipur, Uttaranchal Pradesh, India. He noted that new agricultural technologies from the Rice-Wheat Consortium for Indo-Gangetic Plains (RWC) were being enthusiastically adopted by farmers, and that he and his fellow farmers now routinely participate in RWC traveling seminars, interacting with other scientists, extension workers, and machinery manufacturers.
• Yulbek Kushmanov has a 25-acre farm in Uzbekistan where he grows corn, cotton, and sunflowers. Mr. Kushmanov acknowledged ICARDA's Central Asia and Caucasus program and local farmers for support in helping him improve his farm's productivity.
• Pedro Lopez Ignacio from San Pablo Huitzo in Oaxaca, Mexico, spoke about his experiences in growing different maize varieties and compared the benefits of planting one type of maize versus another. He underlined the importance of forages for the area's milk producers and explained how his work with CIMMYT scientists helped him to protect his maize crop from different pests. However, he was concerned by two counter effects of maize improvement. First maize improvement might change its flavor, and this is detrimental for farmers' production and commercialization. Second, hybrid forage is harder and over mature not allowing its consumption by the livestock. He asked researchers to look at these issues.
• Rodrigo Aveldaño Salazar , a producer from Mexico and promoter of technology spoke about the importance of maize in Mexico, its nutritional aspects and the CIMMYT technologies that led to the development of Quality Protein Maize (QPM).
• Alejandro Delfino a producer from Argentina and member of the CGIAR's Private Sector Committee spoke about agriculture in his homeland, and the importance of adopting new technologies including 'zero-plow' agriculture to boost farm productivity while sustaining the natural resource base.
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Farmers' Exchange Lunch

This event was an opportunity for farmers and producer organizations to interact with Innovation Marketplace-an exhibition and competition that acknowledges CSOs partnerships with CGIAR Centers-participants, CGIAR Members and CGIAR Centers to exchange views and experiences of agricultural research in a more informal setting.

Innovation Marketplace participants, farmers, and the general public were invited to participate in the Exchange Lunch. Jonathan Wadsworth, DfID-UK and Monica Kapiriri, Vice Chair, Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) opened the session with an overview of the Innovation Marketplace exhibition. The three winners of Innovation Marketplace 2004 gave brief presentations about their programs. Nyine Samson Bitahwa, Director of the Rukararwe Partnership Workshop for Rural Development, Uganda, and former winner of the Innovation Marketplace 2003 spoke about the recent developments in his organization. A dialogue among the different participants followed the presentations.