Board member Razan Zuayter was invited to attend the First Meeting for Stakeholders on the Arab Good Agricultural Practices Framework in Jordan hosted by the Economic and Social Council in West Asia (ESCWA) on 13-14/2/2017.

Participants reviewed and discussed good agricultural practices that contribute to environmental, economic and social sustainability, and produce safe and high quality agricultural products.  Ms Zuayter made clear her skepticism with instantly incorporating GAP at it is often paralleled by an export-based strategy that is out of reach for many small holder farmers. These practices tend to have higher production costs that cannot be met by smallholder farmers, who have a comparative disadvantage against large scale farmers and investors.

As such, Ms Zuayter emphasized that civil society has a role to play in making sure that the only way to bring in a successful regional GAP strategy is by protecting smallholder farmers, providing unbiased guidance and strengthening local food chains and markets