About Us
Farmers Parliament (Zemnieku saeima) is the strongest non-governmental organization of commercial farmers in Latvia. It is an association of market oriented agricultural producers who are united by their determination to keep abreast of the developments in the national and EU agriculture sector. They are keen also to identify any problems and opportunities promptly, and address them quickly so facilitating the increase of competitiveness and wellbeing of the Latvian country side.
Farmers Parliament goals:
- Defend, protect and represent the interests of farmers;
- Analyse and interpret agricultural politics and agricultural economic processes both nationally and on EU level;
- Comprehensively investigate and evaluate directions of agricultural strategic plans both nationally and on EU level;
- Work together with and advise state and municipal bodies, non- governmental organizations, social organizations, political parties and private persons;
- Co-operate with international institutions;
- Inform and educate the public;
- Provide consultations and information to the members and other farmers;
- Organize further education and training activities for its members and other farmers.
Membership:
- Rural producers representing all sectors of agriculture;
- Private farmers, rural enterprises, associations, companies, professional organizations;
- Mostly family farms;
- Those who believe that agriculture is not just a way of life but the field for their business;
- Professionals in their fields;
- Highly motivated;
- Optimists, who believe in the future of Latvian agriculture in EU and make the best use of the potential of this challenging time.
Farmers Parliament was founded in 1999 with a membership of 150 who were staking their future in agricultural production and wanted to ensure that they were able to be competitive in the future.
Currently the membership consists of 852 farms and rural SMEs which represent all areas of rural production:
- Cultivate approximately 422 348ha
- 33% of members specialize in animal husbandry, 24% in crop farming and 17% in other types of agricultural production
- Of the total Latvian production they produce:
- 46 % of grain
- 54% of rapeseed
- They employ 3807 people in their enterprises/farms.
Farmers Parliament's highest decision bodies are the Congress and the Council. The Council consists of Chairman of Farmers Parliament, the Board of Directors, Heads of the Regional Associations and Sections or their representatives. While the Congress is in recession the Council decides on Farmers Parliament's directions and initiatives. The Board, consisting of nine members, including the Chairman of Farmers Parliament, is the executive body of Farmers Parliament. It meets once a month.
Farmers Parliament is a founding member of Marketing Council and the Rural information bureau. As of 1 May 2005 it has been a member of COPA, the European Farmers Association umbrella body.
Farmers Parliament office is a think tank working in the fields of rural development, agriculture policy tool development, lobbying, life-long education and service providing to farmers.
The main fields of the activities of the Union:
- Agriculture sector needs and specifics in Latvia and the Baltic region
- Needs of Latvian country farms
- Agriculture sector legislation, both on national and EU level
- Information dissemination to the farming sector
- Public relations
- Networking - involving resources from research institutions, other rural NGOs, national and European government institutions
Also, the organization has a 9 years history of implementing projects in the fields of environmental protection, rural human resources development, transfer of technologies and knowledge, life-long education, entrepreneurship and rural development, both national and international scale.
In the beginning of 2009 the Union did organize three farmers' protests all over Latvia with tractors on the roads. The action participants included a great number of farmers and tractors all over Latvia, and were sucessful: all the demands of the actions got fulfilled by the government.
In April 2009 in cooperation with the supermarket chain RIMI the Union has started a number of Farmers Markets in Riga, in order to create opportunities for the rural enterpreneurs to find their niche and income in the new economic conditions.
