The Asia-Pacific Farmers’ Program invites young farmers to send an open letter to policymakers in the agriculture sector in your country discussing the issues you are dealing with in agriculture and including your recommendations for possible solutions to these challenges.

WHO CAN JOIN

• Young farmers (15 to 35 years old)
• Must be a member of any of the farmers’ groups within the AFOSP-APFP partners (as certified by NFO and NIA)

HOW TO JOIN

1. Write a letter narrating your story as a young farmer—including the challenges you face in engaging in agriculture, addressed to a policymaker (an official of the Ministry of Agriculture in your country).
2. The letter must clearly and creatively include any of the following themes:
   • Climate Change and Agriculture
   • Access to Finance
   • Access to Land / Land Rights
   • Information, Communication and Technology for Agriculture
   • Impact of COVID-19 on Agriculture
   • Gender and Agriculture Concern
   • Other agriculture-related concerns or issues
3. Follow this outline/letter structure:
   • Short personal bio or profile
   • Challenges in agriculture
   • What is your policy recommendation to address these challenges?
   • If your policy recommendation is granted, what will you do?
4. The letter must be written either in your native language or in the English language.
5. The letter must contain a minimum of 100 words and a maximum of 200 words.
6. The letter must be addressed to a policymakers / an official of the Ministry of Agriculture in your country.
7. Include 3 to 5 photos of yourself doing agricultural work.
8. Include a 30-second voice recording of the main message of your letter in your native language or in English (mp4 or m4a format). Note: Don’t audio record the entire content of the letter, just the main message.
9. E-mail your entry to afairish@asianfarmers.org cc afahana@asianfarmers.org.
   • Typewritten letter in your native language and the letter translated in English (word format)
   • 2 audio recording of the main message of the letter in the native language and in English (mp4 or m4a format)
10. The deadline for submission of entries is on 7 April 2021 at 11:59 PM (GMT +7)

AWARDS

• Three (3) letter senders
  • Will be given an opportunity to interact with policymakers—an official of Ministry of Agriculture in their country / United Nations Decade of Family Farming International Steering Committee Chairperson / IFAD President (due to the pandemic restrictions, the meeting will be organized virtually/online)
  • Will win USD 500 each
  • *Winners can claim their award after submitting a farm/agribusiness plan. They will also receive coaching for their farm plan from the Business Development Unit of APFP. Click here for a sample farm plan format: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/72cdqmdvmnvlhj7/AADgoq-ptx2mJUJtSU9ZrXQHa?dl=0

• Special Awards
  • In celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8), one young female letter sender will be given a special award of USD 500*
  • The winner can claim their award after submitting a farm/agribusiness plan. They will also receive coaching for their farm plan from the Business Development Unit of APFP.

• Other special awards will be given to participants

• NIA / NFOs with the most number of entries will receive
  • USD 1000
  • Prize can be claimed upon submission of a proposal for strengthening young farmers which will be reviewed by the BDU (the proposal does not need to be income-generating e.g. it can be skills training or workshop for young farmers

For more details, please watch this video.