Developed by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the tool builds and consolidates on FAO’s methodologies and practice implemented with producer organizations and cooperatives over the years in North Africa, East-Asia (Nepal and Bangladesh), and in Europe; which were further developed and tested in collaboration with the BOND project partners.

This work is in the framework of the UN Decade of Family Farming (pillar 4: on strengthening organizations) and is an outcome of the implementation of the EU project on “Bringing Organizations & Network Development to higher levels in the farming sector in Europe (BOND)” in which FAO’s unit has been involved. The development of the Guide has been possible with funding received from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.

The BOND Learning Guide for Trainers focuses on empowering farmers through the creation of social capital and recognizing the fundamental role that social capital plays for healthy and sustainable organizations. Encouraging farmers and their groups to cooperate, form associations, or build alliances with different actors, enhances their capacities to learn from each other, exchange reliable information, access markets, better manage natural resources, and advocate for common causes.

This tool can support the design and facilitation of learning events, meetings, and workshops led by farmer leaders and managers. However, its scope goes beyond the facilitation of events. It can also be applied to young or more mature groups or organizations, as they support the strengthening of good governance practices and for internal reflection of groups and organizations to start a change process.

The Learning Guide is divided into two main parts:

• PART 1 focuses on the design of the training events, providing information on how to identify the target group and the learning objectives, details the training methodology, and provides indication on how to structure the training.
   
• PART 2 focuses on the topics for empowering farmers and their organizations. It is composed of 16 sessions. Key topics covered in the guide are group dynamics, self-confidence, management and leadership, conflict management, building a common vision, developing strategies and action plans, analysis of organizational performance, service orientation, communication for collaborative action, networking, dialogue, advocacy and negotiation.

It is an effective tool to foster the creation of social capital and to strengthen it in the various forms it can take. The detailed guide can be accessed here.