Mr Clayton Simamao
Steering Committee Representative, Global Agriculture Food Security Program (GAFSP), Asia Pacific region
Clayton Simamao is an entrepreneur and dedicated farmer with a strong focus on agribusiness and sustainable agricultural development for vulnerable communities. Working with regional organizations such as Pacific Farmers Organization has allowed him to network and connect small scale farmers and producer organizations to markets and also agricultural projects for farming support.
Mr. Simamao is now the new steering committee representative for the Asia Pacific region under the Global Agriculture Food Security Program (GAFSP). His objective is to drive the empowerment of small holder farmers to be involved in key decision making policies that impacts food security in the region.
Through collaboration, and community engagement, Clayton strives to inspire the next generation of farmers to embrace innovation while preserving sustainable farming practices. He believes that sustainable farming in the Pacific context needs to incorporate the impacts of climate change on food security and how farmers can be more resilient to the many changes now faced in the agriculture industry.
ABSTRACT
Talofa lava, and warm Pacific Greetings! My name is Clayton Simamao and I am a small holder farmer and beekeeper from Samoa.
As the Steering Committee representative on the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, commonly referred to as GAFSP, representing civil societies of the Asia-Pacific region. I work closely with Farmers and Farmer Organizations in the Pacific Region from Smallholder farmers to commercial farming organization that have an input to food provision in the islands.
Farmers specifically smallholder farmers produce roughly 1/3 of the world’s food supply – despite the obvious importance of farmers on a national, regional, and global scale – – farmer priorities and farmer challenges are not always reflected accurately or practically in the forums that matter and usually misunderstood in the development space.
My priority, is to strengthen farmer representation in global forums, advocate for inclusive and equitable agricultural development, and promote investments that will enhance food security, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods. This starts with ensuring farmers realities are considered in the GAFSP policies and decision making process for adaptable solutions.
As one of the mechanisms trying to bridge the gap between farmers’ needs, and donor requirements – – it has been my experience, that many international partners have a pre-set notion of the interventions that will benefit the agricultural sector, yet the agricultural environment differs for every country and region – and this uniqueness is often missing in the proposed interventions of regional projects.
Local stakeholders need to be the main driver to inform regional and global support interventions. Local innovations and traditional farming knowledge are some of the key components that must be considered by international partners.
A key part of my role is working closely with farmers’ organizations to understand their challenges, build their capacity, and facilitate meaningful engagement with governments, development partners, and other key stakeholders. Speaking on the roles of Farmer/Producer Organizations and how they bring change for the good especially for food security and importantly being the link for Farmers organizations to GAFSP and other donor partners. I strive to ensure that farmers’ voices influence policies and programs that create lasting, positive impacts for rural communities across the Asia-Pacific region.