Forest and Farm Facility

The Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) focuses on forest and farm producer organisations as the primary actors within the ‘largest rural private sector’. It engages in practical approaches to working within a global agenda encompassing: the growing global interest in forests within landscapes, the role of forests in food security, the emphasis on a ‘green economy’, the role of the small and medium scale private sector, and a new sustainable development framework.

Engage the Real Change Makers

An interactive story map: The case for investing in Forest and Farm Producer Organisations as powerful partners in inclusive and effective landscape restoration.

In 2012, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and IUCN launched the FFF partnership to fund collaborative agreements and small grants at local, national, regional and international levels. The intention is to promote cross-sectorial coordination and enhance the capacity of local people for forest and farm community advocacy, livelihoods, and sustainable landscape management. It is based on the following pillars:

Strengthen smallholder, women, community and Indigenous Peoples’ producer organisations for business/livelihoods and policy engagement;
Catalyse multi-sectorial stakeholder policy platforms with governments at the local and national levels; and
Link local voices and learning to a global arena through genuine participatory processes/communication and information sharing.

IUCN is leading the regional and global component of FFF work by supporting four dynamic organisations:

The African Women's Network for Community Management of Forests (also known as REFACOF) is a network active in 17 countries and created to support women to address social challenges, and political, legal and economic issues related to forest management in Africa.

The Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) is a regional alliance of 17 national federations and organisations of small scale farmers and producers from 13 countries in Asia that is working to strengthen evidence-based advocacy on social forestry, agroforestry and sustainable livelihoods at the national, regional and internationals levels.

The International Family Forestry Alliance (IFFA) is an informal network of national forest owners' organisations working together to promote the development of family forestry and advocate for supportive policies. IFFA provides recommendations to international forest policy processes and provides a forum for the exchange of experiences, ideas and information.

La Alianza Mesoamericana de Pueblos y Bosques (AMPB) is an alliance of 10 Indigenous Peoples' organisations in Central America influencing policy at all levels; especially for community forest management and territorial rights. AMPB also serves as a coordination and exchange platform for territorial authorities, local indigenous communities, community forest organisations and local government.

In addition to these organisations, the IUCN Vietnam office provides technical support to FFF activities in Myanmar and Vietnam, and the IUCN Nepal office serves as the facilitator for the FFF programme in Nepal.

PHASE II

From 2018, FFF will significantly increase the scale and range of its impacts by building on its past support to FFPOs and governments. This will strengthen the capacity of forest and farm producers and their organizations, deepen engagement in innovative cross-sectoral processes in government, and increase the delivery of landscape-scale climate responses. All this will be underpinned by more inclusive and sustainable economic opportunities, increasing returns to FFPOs, while opening opportunities for improved social and cultural services for the rural poor.