Panel on the secrets of successful partnerships. ©IFAD/Amedeo Paglione
ROME, Italy - If a single thread has run through the discussions at the 36th Session of the IFAD Governing Council, which wraps up in Rome today, it's this: Effective partnerships between private-sector companies and small-scale farmers and fishers are not social programmes. They are business relationships based on mutual interests and shared benefits.
That point was especially evident at yesterday's panel on secrets of successful partnerships. Participants in the panel recounted their direct experiences with smallholder producers who have organized themselves into cooperatives, thereby expanding their operations and increasing market access.
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