What
FO-MAPP is

The Farmers’ and Rural Producers’ Organizations Mapping (FO-MAPP) is an interactive online database that provides geo-referenced information on local smallholders', family farmers' and other rural producers’ organizations in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

FO-MAPP makes no attempt to be exhaustive/comprehensive in listing existing organizations in the geographical areas covered. It is rather a work in progress, to be fed primarily by organizations themselves with appropriate data certification by peers.

Why FO-MAPP
was developed

Recognizing that it is often a challenge to identify and obtain reliable data on existing farmers and rural producers’ organizations, FO-MAPP was developed to fill this critical information gap.

FO-MAPP provides farmers and rural producers’ organizations around the world with a global online database they can feed with information about their status, membership, geographical outreach, services provided and agricultural products. It thereby enables them to make proactive efforts to improve their visibility and engage in markets and sustainable development partnerships.

A wide range of actors – including development assistance agencies and practitioners, local and national governments and the private sector – might use information in the database to identify organizations in a given country/area and explore possible synergies and partnerships that could be developed.

Who can
register in
FO-MAPP

Based on the definition of farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations adopted by FO-MAPP, and bearing in mind the need to limit the number of organizations in the database, a set of criteria was established for inclusion in it.

Specifically, to register in FO-MAPP organizations should:

• Be legally recognized;
• Be membership-based;
• Have a membership composed primarily of smallholders and family farmers;
• Have a minimum of 500 individuals in their membership;
• Operate at national and subnational levels.

Who can
use
FO-MAPP

Development assistance agencies and practitioners can use FO-MAPP to better target their financial support and/or identify countries and regions in which farmers and rural producers’ organizations might be partners for them to engage with in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects and initiatives.

Farmers and rural producers’ organizations can use FO-MAPP as a tool for knowledge-sharing among peers, to support their engagement with one another, and to increase their visibility for governments and other actors;

Local and national governments can use the database to better recognize and identify farmers and rural producers’ organizations, enable public officials to easily approach them and foster partnership and collaboration;

Private agri-food companies and financial services providers can use the information in the database to better understand the activities, expertise, services and products undertaken by farmers and rural producers’ organizations in a particular country or region, and explore the possibility of engaging in win-win partnerships and business initiatives.

Researchers and academia can use the information in FO-MAPP to better understand the positions of farmers and rural producers’ organizations within local and national contexts and on global policy issues, and to promote information exchange and knowledge-sharing.