The three-day general assembly of World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO), held under the overall theme of “Partnership for Growth” in Livingstone, Zambia, successfully completed its program on May 6.
At the closing of the Rome-based WFO’s general assembly, participants of more than 600 representatives of farmers’ organizations throughout the world agreed it is especially necessary for farmers’ organizations to strengthen their bargaining power with governmental authorities and related corporations through encouraging farmers to form their organization.
They also confirmed the importance of reflecting farmers’ views on farm policy improvement and agricultural income growth with their strengthened bargaining power.
Choe Okuno, president of JA ZENCHU, an apex body of agricultural cooperative (JA) organizations in Japan, made reference to the latest self-reform plan of the JA group in his presentation, and stressed that he and his colleagues of the JA group need to implement the reform by returning to the starting point of the Japanese agricultural cooperative movement.
Answering a question on necessary measures for raising farmers’ income, asked from the floor by a delegate of African farmers’ group, JA ZENCHU’s president Okuno replied “Efforts would be required to organize farmers into agricultural cooperatives. A size of the cooperative does not matter. Farmers can get their power when their small cooperatives unite together.”