On 28–31 May, Russia will host the 7th General Assembly of the World Farmers’ Organisation for the first time.
The event, which will be held on the premises of the Government of Moscow, will be attended by Dmitry Patrushev, Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation; Theo De Jager, President of the World Farmers’ Organisation; Vladimir Plotnikov, President of the Association of Rural and Farm Enterprises and Agricultural Cooperatives of Russia, as well as international agribusiness experts, farmers and heads of agricultural cooperatives.
The high-profile participants include Danielle Nierenberg, Founder and President of Food Tank and an expert on sustainable agriculture and food issues, Hannelore Beerlandt, Chief Executive Officer of AgriCord, Peter Button, Vice Secretary-General of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), Michael Keller, Secretary General of the International Seed Federation and Pekka Pesonen, Secretary General of COPA-COGECA (General Committee for Agricultural Cooperation in the European Union).
The annual General Assembly is a top agrarian event reminding the international community of the decisive role played by farmers in the global agenda of ensuring sustainable development of agriculture.
Around 600 people are expected to participate in the Assembly, including official foreign delegations, representatives of farming enterprises and cooperatives from 54 countries, heads of international organisations and financial institutions, the world’s leading scholars and analysts.
The programme includes high-level meetings with heads of foreign delegations, representatives of Russian and foreign farming enterprises and cooperatives.
On the first day, 28 May, the Opening Ceremony will be held, as well as four parallel workshops on the following subjects: traditional knowledge and innovative technology, advancing climate-smart agriculture along the food value chain, innovative risk management tools and organic farming.
On the second day, 29 May, the plenary session of the WFO General Assembly will begin.
A broad agenda is covered by the programme for 30 May, including the high-level session ‘Towards a farmer driven climate change agenda’ with Danielle Nierenberg, Founder and President of Food Tank and an expert on sustainable agriculture and food issues, as the speaker. The meeting will consider innovative solutions for a sustainable agricultural sector, as well as best practices from Asia, North America and Oceania.
The high level panel of experts will feature Vladimir Plotnikov, President of the Association of Rural and Farm Enterprises and Agricultural Cooperatives of Russia, Joachim Rukwied, President of the German Farmers’ Association, Mark Watne, Representative of the United States National Farmers Union, Hiroyuki Kinoshita, Special Advisor at JA Zenchu (Japan), Margarita Astralaga, Director of the Environment and Climate Division of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Yvonne Harz-Pitre, Director for Communications and Public Affairs at the International Fertilizer Association, and Toussaint N'Guessan, President of UREVI (Cote D’Ivoire).
On 30 May, the participants will attend the debate ‘Viable and climate-resilient food chain for a sustainable agricultural sector’ and look at the best practices from Africa, Latin America and Europe.
For the last day of the General Assembly, the hosts have prepared a rich business programme, including visits to the best farming enterprises of Russia.
For reference: The World Farmers Organisation is an international organisation for bringing together all the national producers and farming cooperative organisations with the objective of developing policies that favour and support farmers' causes in developed and developing countries around the world. The WFO's work covers all agriculture-related thematic areas, including forestry, aquaculture and fisheries, the environment, trade, extension, research and education.