NIGER

Founded during the constitutive forum of 27 and 28 April 1998, the Platform of Niger (PFPN) , committed with determination to defending family farming, in order to guarantee better livelihoods of rural farmers.
PFPN has as mission the defense of material and moral interests of members at the national, sub-regional and international level through actions of development, consultation, lobbying and advocacy. The global objective of PFPN is to improve livelihoods of rural farmers.
PFPN bodies are: general assembly, national coordination bureau and control committee. There is also a technical unit to support the national coordination. This device is completed by regional, departmental, local coordinations as well as spaces of dialogue and exchanges of which women and youth colleges.
PFPN is member of the Network of Farmers’ Organizations and Agricultural Producers in West Africa (ROPPA), Via Campesina. It is also member of many steering committees and topical groups at the national and international level. PFPN is accredited to UNCCD, FAO and ENDA. ..
PFPN partners are lot in view of their nature and supports that they bring. There are mostly, State (through its line ministries), CSA-Brussels, COSPE, Swiss Cooperation, VECO, European Union Delegation, CECI , Italy Cooperation, AGRHYMET (body specialized in agro-meteorology),…
Since its inception, PFPN multiplied its efforts in order to set up various strategies helping optimize effects of its actions. To date, many actions conducted by PFPN, mostly are: representing in all the regions of Niger allowing a better follow-up of grassroots FOs; relevance of its interventions and positions on problems dealing with the rural world; improvement of its capacity of accompanying member FOs: drawing up of projects, technical itineraries of production, promotion of sectors; marketing, processing and storage of crops, relations with research and institution research, etc; organization of a farmer day creating therefore a framework of dialogue between farmers and State officials , with a possibility of calling upon on major concerns and many experiences regarding advocacy and lobbying on agricultural policies in Niger, as the participation in the drawing up of Rural Development Strategies.
Those various actions conducted by PFPN have enabled the latter to establish its credibility, improve its image, and to be considered as a reference consultation framework in Niger.
Despite those various achievements, an external evaluation had been conducted in 2011 and mentioned a certain number of roles and responsibilities between the various bodies, in terms of internal and external communication, modes of execution, monitoring and evaluation of activities, etc. Even, at several times and various ways, the Farmer Platform examined its weaknesses and sought solutions.
Then, PFPN is a consultation framework capable of influencing political decisions for a netter taking into account of the farmer organization concerns, institutional and organizational reforms are necessary.
Besides, in February 2013, the Farmer Platform in Niger held its General Assembly, during which it was about, among others, restructuring the Platform. So far, it comprises members (29 in total) of various levels from grassroots small FOs (cooperatives, and groups) to large national federations covering a large number of regions. Those various types of FOs were ensuring various types of functions vis-à-vis their members, and had therefore various expectations from their national platform.
After the restructuring of the month of February 2013, the Farmer Platform accounts for eleven (11) member Farmer Organizations, that are all federations comprising many grassroots FOs, covering all, at least 3 of the 8 regions across the country and that are update in terms of payment of contributions that amount to 200,000 CFA francs annually. Those 11 member FOs intervene in all the areas of the rural sector and represent about 500,000 heads of family farmers.
It was also agreed that the functions of the Platform should be complementary to those of member organizations, and mostly focus on: advocacy and lobbying on issues that member organizations identified as priority, on the strengthening of member organizations on cross-cutting aspects, through workshops of training and reflection, exchange visits, through the dissemination of information. In the same way, the Farmer Platform is animating two specialized Colleges within it. It is about this of farmer women and, this of young farmers.
Following this re-organization, the strategic plan (2013-2017) of which the Platform was equipped in 2012, is to specify for it was partly based on small-scale organizations’ needs that are no longer members today. Besides, the Strategic Plan was not sufficiently deepened so that all the parties concerned: member organizations, partners, executive team, and managers are able to well understand the impact, priorities and modes of actions to conduct, in order to monitor.
Therefore, it is proved to be necessary to reformulate the Strategic Plan depending on new functions of the Farmer Platform and priority expectations from member FOs. It is the same for the annual plan 2013, and for the two colleges’ plans.
That’s why, PFPN, with the support of CSA and Bureau of Swiss cooperation in Niger, has been inscribed in a process aiming at finalizing its strategic plan 2014-2017. A consultant is assisting the executive team of the Platform and delegates of the 11 member FOs to reformulate the strategic plan 2014-2017.
Contacts of the Farmer Platform managers
Mr BAGNA Djibo
President of the Farmer Platform
Phone: +227 96 01 95 49
+227 90 05 00 42
Email : bagna_djibo@yahoo.fr
Mister Issaka Abdoulaye
Coordinator of the Technical Unit
+227 96 49 43 09
+227 90 45 37 70
List of member farmer organizations
1. Association for the Revitalization of Livestock in Niger (AREN) :Livestock
2. Federation of Niger Vegetable Cooperatives (FCMN Niya): Vegetable farming
3. Federation of Farmer Groups’ Unions (FUGPN – MOORIBEN): Agriculture
4. Federation of rice farmers Cooperative Unions (FUCOPRI) : Rice Farmers
5. National Federation of Niger Fishermen groups (FNGPN) :Fisheries
6. Democratic Association of Niger Women (RDFN) :Women promotion
7. National Federation of Agro-pastors (FENAP) Agro-pastoral system
8. FNEN-DADDO : Livestock
9. Association for the preservation and Promotion of Livestock in Niger (ASPEN) :Livestock
10. DAOUD Association: Agro-pastor
11. Group for Cultural Association and Development of Young breeders: Livestock