Connecting Farmers for Global Impact

As a worldwide movement, Initiatives of Change brings together individuals and organizations in ways that can reconcile antagonistic relationships, challenge and heal one another and convene likeminded networks to exchange stories and expand humanitarian impact. In this fashion, the Caux Inner Development Goals Forum in July 2024 stimulated an exchange between the UNDP’s Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA) and the IofC Farmers’ Dialogue International (FDI) programme. This introduction at Caux has since led to CoFSA hosting an online event on 21 November, where they invited people involved in FDI to present their activities and approaches with farmers, as a way to share stories and build community.

With an attendance of 80 people, the Zoom meeting included presentations from Claude Bourdin, FDI coordinator, and Jayashree Rao, the founder of Grampari, a rural development center based in Panchgani, India and closely tied with IofC. The meeting featured two of the farmers of the villages where Grampari has been active. Attendees also heard from George Kamau, a retired extension agent and small farmer, who shared more about the FDI programme, including background, history, quiet time and personal change as foundations of the initiative. The Zoom meeting included small group discussions, which enabled participants to share their experiences and connect with peers. 

Farmers’ dialogues are a cornerstone of FDI’s programmatic work, seeking to provide a place of learning and inspiration among farmers, thus strengthening the connection between personal change and sustainable agricultural development. As a global network, CoFSA similarly addresses issues in food, agriculture and sustainability, and they are keen to develop more contacts with the farming community. When delegates from CoFSA met with FDI at Caux, they realized the depth of the IofC programme’s teamwork among farmers, not only on technical issues but also on values-based and spiritual approaches. This led to the meeting of the 21 November, with the purpose of hearing more about FDI’s work, exploring how dialogues can be a place of personal and collective transformation and how to develop farmers’ listening circles.

The event concluded with enthusiasm for further teamwork between FDI and CoFSA, particularly regarding farmers’ circles. Stay tuned for more on this new partnership, and be sure to check out FDI’s upcoming conference from 2 to 8 March, when farmers will collaborate on the challenges they are facing in their important work of feeding the world and caring for the earth.