In the third and last seminar block of the multilateral 'Transitional Agriculture' project in 2020, the Farmers' Organizations (FOs) will deal extensively with their concrete case studies regarding Capacity Development (CD). In this context, the term Capacity Development covers short- and long-term opportunities and goals for capacity building within the FOs and for their members.

The six national FOs from Malawi, Ghana, Germany, Zimbabwe, Russia and Rwanda (see Figure 1) presented their own case studies on international network building, training sessions focusing on women and youth, and organizational development processes that are important for achieving their strategic goals (see Figure 2).

Based on the presented case studies and their challenges, such as strategic and financial planning, expansion of the network and sustainable training units, the participants discussed different approaches in the following working groups. Additional suggestions from the experts Horst Haller and Thomas Wilde on organizational development and services in mechanization illustrated new ways to meet the challenge.

The interactively designed seminars highlighted the importance of the exchange between the FOs. Jean Claude, youth representative from INGABO Syndicate (FO in Rwanda), commented in the public chat and on Twitter: “Farmers learn more from other farmers than from anyone else".

With this thought in mind, the next and last seminar this year will be held on 25th November 2020, where, in addition to summarizing the results of the 2nd and 3rd seminar block, the main focus will be on what the participants have learned during the seminars and what they aim to apply in their own FOs.