Agriculture although faced with numerous challenges, is still the primary activity of the 80% of the people of the region.  Agriculture in this region which is basically small scale has got its uniqueness which can be viewed either as strength or weakness.  The EAFF would like to see agriculture that;

1. Guarantees food and revenue to the family farmers in a sustainable manner.
2. One that creates surplus for external markets
3. One that creates and adds value to products for industrial purpose.
4. One that generates solidarity and social security in our communities
5. And one that ensures equitable access to productive resources and sustainable management of natural resources.

For the agriculture of the region to attain this identify and benefit, policies and other supportive mechanism must be negotiated with the farmers’ organization at national and regional and with governments and development partners to ensure that the policies are coherent and address the critical problem of the family farmer.  For sustainability, implementation must be participatory.

Services to Members

1. Provision of capacity to the member platforms through training and provide linkages with the development partners.
2. Representation in the meetings or consultations at regional, continental and international levels on issues of interest to farmers of the region.
3. Lobby and advocate for farmers participation in policy formulation and participation in the implementation of rural development protocol whose aims are to eradicate poverty and ensure food security i.e. NEPAD-CAADP, FAO Special Programmes for Food Security (SPFS), IGAD projects.
4. Commodity marketing within the region and international.
5. Participation in discussion on trade rules and regulations that might led to agreements in agriculture trade e.g. WTO, Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA under EU).
6. Communication and information management. 

The federation also conducts surveys to provide critical information to the member platforms to assist them lobby and provide member services.  Surveys have been conducted on agricultural production, extension, marketing, training needs and information dissemination.  
The outcomes of these surveys are communicated through workshops and special training sessions.  Services area also provided through meetings, consultations, lobbying and advocacy.

Special Strength of EAFF

The federation is unique in many ways.  At the inception of the federation, it was ensured that the federation would be transparent and democratic in structure and operations.  The membership to the federation is only allowed from peasants and producer organizations that are National and have a network system that emanates from the small and large farmer at the village level.  The leadership of such a platform has to be democratically elected and should manage their platforms in a transparent manner.  It is for this reason that all our membership platforms have been profiled to establish their legitimacy and credibility.  The leadership of the federation also originates from the member national platforms.  The council memberships of the federation are elected during farmers’ congress in our member country platform.  Each country elects three council members to represent them in the federation.

The council meets every year to provide guidance to the management and the secretariat.  The day-to-day activities of the federation are managed through a board of 11 (eleven) people elected by the council, with the help of a fulltime secretariat.

Apart from structured order of the federation, it is also unique in that its membership is from countries that have a lot in common, politically, culturally, socially and economically.  It therefore brings together people who have already integrated themselves through languages, trade, political blocks, and cultural.

It is therefore not only a forum that farmers of the region own but are very excited about it.  EAFF is also unique in that it was formed at a time when a wave of regional integration either through political or trade blocks was cutting through regions of Africa.  Some of the regions e.g. ECOWAS, EAC, SADC are even strengthening their relationship through common custom union, joint services in transport, communication and road networks and are removing such barrier as transit visa to facilitate free movement of people, goods and services.  As the farmers’ organizations in the region strengthen their relationship to be able to do business, they all have one aspect in common, that their lifeline both economically and socially is agriculture.

As a consequence of the ongoing integration, development partners, international governance institute and donors are shifting their operational base from nations to regional networks.  EAFF is strategically positioned to ensure that all those seeking to work with rural communities from a regional level have a legitimate farmers’ forum to partner with to ensure that farmers in the villages are linked to regional, continental and international protocols.  The existence of EAFF is timely and strategic to ensure that farmers of the region have the opportunity to speak for themselves.  The EAFF is the only established and operational regional forum for the farmers of the region.