News

How can small holder farmers be involved in Carbon Farming sustainably?

Green gas emissions are more than 50% higher than it was in 1990(UNDP). Agriculture has been cited as one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emission that cause climate change, contributing about 17% directly through agricultural activities and an additional 7%-14% through land use management(OECD,2016). The net effect is a long-lasting change to our climate system and the warming of our planet could have an irreversible impact if we do not act. On the bright side, Agriculture is the only ONE of the sectors that has the ability to transform from a Net Emitter to a Net Sequestrator of CO2  beneficially(Climate beneficial, Carbon Cycle institute). 

Promoting sustainable forestry employment and empowering small-scale forest producers

Negros Occidental, Philippines - In March 2021, sustainable forest management company Citicore Candlewick Bioenergy, Inc. (CCBI) formally joined the consortium of Local Resource Organizations (LROs) under the Generating Rural Opportunities by Working with Cooperatives (GROW Coop) Project funded by the USAID and implemented by Agriterra. The partnership aims to strengthen the organizational capacities of small-scale forest producers and cooperatives that CCBI works with in its biomass plantation operations in the municipalities of Isabela, Binalbagan and Himamaylan. The capacity development support for the cooperatives is aimed to result in their increased representation, participation in value chain processes, and household income. 

Cees van Rij steps down as manager agri-advice in Agriterra

After working for Agriterra for 19 years, Cees van Rij decided to end his work for Agriterra at the end of June. He would have liked to have been entrusted with the responsibility of leading Agriterra in scaling up and further embedding our approach in Dutch international development cooperation efforts. At the end of May, the Agriterra board will announce the name of the person it has chosen to succeed Kees Blokland, the current Agriterra CEO. 

First steps taken in changing union governance structure in Ethiopia

Adding external board members to a union board is an innovative way of thinking for many Ethiopian board members and government officials. Are the external experts able to truly act in the farmers’ interest? How do you ensure member-control when we include external experts in the union’s governance structure? These and other issues were all discussed during the first lively awareness trainings in August and mid-December. An implementation pilot with 4 unions has just started.  

The Tipping Point of Farmer Corporations in Indonesia

On 23 February 2021, KAN Jabung, a client of Agriterra Indonesia with dairy as their core business, received a national award from the Indonesia Minister of Cooperatives & SME for being the agricultural cooperative with the highest total of assets and the best IT system. This award is a significant milestone in the project of Agriterra and KAN Jabung, aiming to modernise the cooperative and to increase the members’ income.

Private sector-led strengthening of agricultural cooperative partners key to sustainable value chains

PHILIPPINES - The agriculture sector contributed 23% of the national labor force in 2020. Majority of the farmers within this sector are smallholders, with farm holdings under one hectare. 

Additionally, farmers remain as one of the poorest labor forces in the country. They are often food insecure, and living in rural communities with limited access to markets and services. They also engage in other livelihoods in the informal economy to add to their income from farming. Despite these, smallholder farmers produce food for a substantial proportion of the population. They try to help themselves by participating in and organising through cooperatives, but they also encounter problems in running these cooperatives properly. This becomes problematic for large cooperative enterprises and agribusiness companies that need reliable agricoop partners as suppliers in their value chains.

Agridigitalización project seeks digital solutions

Agriterra announces membership at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines

Philippines - Agriterra Philippines strengthens ties to its Dutch partners as it officially becomes a member of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (DCCP). As an agri-agency founded by the Dutch agricultural sector in 1997, Agriterra has grown its organisation to spread the mission of strengthening farmers’ organisations worldwide with the end in view of reducing poverty through structural transformation in the countryside. Headquartered in Arnhem, The Netherlands, Agriterra operates globally and has representative offices in 19 countries like Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam, Peru, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Philippines.