Our goals
Empowered farmer organisations defending the right of everyone to safe and nourishing food, in accordance with the right to a balanced diet and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger.
Empowered partner organisations defending the right of all people to a safe and healthy environment in ecological balance, today and for future generations.
What we do
We Effect supports smallholder farmers and their organisations. Our support is integral and includes organisational, business and production development, always with a gender perspective. We also support the political advocacy that the farmer organisations conduct in order to influence policy-makers so that the interests of the smallholder farmers are taken into account in the legal frameworks.
We advocate sustainable and climate-adapted agriculture. By conducting organic farming, farmers contribute to the protection of the ecosystems, they protect their own health and most of the time they get higher incomes. By diversifying their agriculture, the soil is protected from impoverishment and the farmers get a wider range of products to sell and thus a more secure income.
To us, contributing to rural development is about contributing to the economically, environmentally and socially sustainable development of rural areas.
Facts about rural poverty
Most people in poverty live and work in rural areas. Many are smallholder farmers who lack land and investment capacity, cultivate impoverished soils, have low productivity and poor access to the market; all of these are factors that result in low standards of living.
Agriculture is of vital importance to ensure the production of food, to generate incomes and to increase economic growth in rural areas. Consequently, smallholder farmers need greater knowledge along with better access to land, technical advice, affordable financial services, insurance and markets, in order to increase productivity.
Smallholder agriculture is largely dependent on rain and climate change is a major and growing problem as water supplies decrease and the rains become more erratic.
