Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some reflections from my recent trip ground-truthing in Ethiopia and thoughts on centering farmers in global good policy. 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,” showing the importance of including and centering farmers.

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, further demonstrating the importance of centering farmers.

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.

Read the full article about centering farmers in global food policy by Danielle Nierenberg at Food Tank.