Farmers registry
to be created by FAO

To provide farmers with social coverage and other benefits

Farmers registry
to be created by FAO
To provide farmers with social coverage and other benefits

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), will launch a project to create a unified farmers’ registry by unifying data at the ministry. The target is to eventually allow farmers access to social, agricultural and health services, among other objectives.

Faten Adada, Social Protection Focal Point at FAO, said that at a previous time FAO studied the strengths and weaknesses of the agricultural sector with the Ministry of Labor, the National Social Security Fund, and the agricultural cooperation, and found several loopholes that should be improved. She said that FAO aims to provide the ministry with the technical support to set the criteria of classifying farmers.

Adada said that classifying farmers will give them an identity and help the ministry know all their details, such as what kind of agriculture they are working in, the space of land they are taking care of, and whether they are land owners or part timers. “The project will help us know more about the farmers’ needs and requirements,” Adada said. FAO aims to implement the project and create the unified registry during 2016.

FAO will conduct a feasibility study, at a later stage, to see whether it is economically and socially feasible to involve farmers in labor law and NSSF. “The project will help us know the funds that should be allocated by the Government to cover farmers socially,” she said. FAO will also study the feasibility of establishing aiding funds that may be registered at MoA to replace NSSF.