Joint Capacity Building Programme for the Implementation of Farmers' Rights under the International Treaty

This concept note is about the Joint Capacity Building Programme on the Implementation of Farmers’ Rights. This programme, launched by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture,  starts from the local level, recognizing the value of smallholder farmers around the world in the conservation, use and improvement of food crops as the basis of local, national and global food security.  The Programme responds to the many requests from national governments and
relevant stakeholders, including farmers and farmers’ organizations for capacity and understanding of what Farmers’ Rights mean in practice. It aims to achieve impacts through
collective actions among different stakeholders, including decision and policy makers, increasing capacity and awareness to contribute to the implementation of Farmers’ Rights
at national and local levels. It aims also to facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue and networking, to support the role of smallholder farmers as custodians and innovators for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, and increase awareness and support the development of policies and legal measures implementing Farmers’ Rights.