Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some reflections from my recent trip ground-truthing in Ethiopia. These aren’t the typical news-style pieces you see on Food Tank. They’re more personal. They’re my own observations of what I saw, what I heard, and what I’m still thinking about.
I sometimes joke that I’m a professional conference-goer. And it’s true. I speak and moderate at a lot of events. Between the U.S. and international trips, I attend dozens and dozens of conferences a year. (That’s not even counting Food Tank’s own gatherings.)
But here’s the thing: for all the stages I’ve stood on and rooms I’ve sat in, I’m still surprised by how few farmers, ranchers, fishers, foragers, and other food producers are present, either physically in the room or figuratively “at the table.”
That is changing, slowly. And more importantly, the way people perceive food producers is also starting to shift.
At the U.N. Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake in Addis Ababa, Elizabeth Nsimadala, Regional President of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, said it plainly:
“We need to pay for the value farmers are bringing to these discussions.”
It’s not enough to invite farmers to a conference so they can sit quietly in the audience. They need to help shape the conversations—especially when those discussions directly affect their ability to feed people in ways that nourish both people and the planet.
Agricultural researchers often talk about “participatory research and development”—working alongside farmers to design tools, practices, and innovations that actually work in the field. In the past, too much was designed for farmers, instead of with them.
The same is true for agricultural policies. Too often, leaders develop and implement legislation without farmer input. That means laws that affect farmers’ daily lives are written without their lived experience in mind. We need participatory law-making, where farmers, women, youth, and other underrepresented voices are not just consulted but are part of the process.
For some reason, it seems very easy for researchers, policy makers or program designers to understand that farmers have a lot to learn from the collection of knowledge generated by studying farms. But we have a much harder time wrapping our heads around the idea that this should be a two-way street: we have questions that farmers can help answer. When we say they should have a seat at the table it’s about more than giving them the respect they deserve: it’s about comprehensively fulfilling the duty to finding answers by learning from what they have to share.
In Addis, I heard something that gave me hope: multiple African and European officials were echoing the same themes: dignity, respect, and real investment in farmers.
Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy:
“Farmers must be given the means to live with dignity and fair recognition of their work.” She reminded us that “food is a right, a cultural expression, the pillar of a nation’s identity.”
Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia:
“Ethiopia made a choice to act boldly and place human dignity at the center of agriculture.” He spoke about renewing indigenous food traditions, reforming land laws, and ensuring technology is affordable—not locked behind high walls.
Hasan Sheik Mohammed, President of Somalia:
“Agriculture is more than a sector—it is our survival.” He called it the lifeblood of society and said food systems transformation is a question of justice.
Kashim Shettima, Vice President of Nigeria:
“The arc of history bends toward food justice, where no farmer is forgotten.”
Antonio Guterres, U.N. Secretary-General:
“Above all we need peace so farmers can look to the future. The future of food is the future of humanity.
Of course, speeches are easy. These leaders—and many others—will be judged not by what they said in Addis but by what they do to ensure farmers’ dignity, livelihoods, and leadership are prioritized.
For me, the takeaway is clear: farmers and food producers need more than an invitation or a microphone. They need global leaders who respect, value them, and learn from them—and then put policies in place that help farmers create resilience to the world’s most pressing problems.
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