After a successful launch and the conclusion of its first phase, the FMCOUNT! campaign is moving into its next chapter and this time, we’re counting farmers.
FMCOUNT! is a global campaign designed to raise awareness and advocate for the essential role that farmers markets play in creating sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems. Launched as part of the Global Network of Farmers Markets, the campaign seeks to connect diverse stakeholders from policymakers to consumers, farmers to NGOs through outreach, storytelling, and data.
What We’ve Achieved So Far
In the first phase, launched around World Biodiversity Day in May, we focused on product diversity highlighting how farmers markets are a critical space for preserving and promoting food biodiversity. Through events, communications, and stories shared across our network, we’ve begun to demonstrate just how much farmers markets count when it comes to sustainable food systems.
What’s Next: Counting Farmers
As we move into the second phase of the campaign, (Campaign B) we shift our focus to the farmers themselves. Timed to coincide with World Rural Development Day in July, this phase aims to highlight the social and economic inclusion that farmers markets offer especially for women, youth, indigenous communities, and small-scale family farmers often left out of longer supply chains.
This part of the campaign is action-oriented and measurable: we are asking our members and partners to count the farmers who are directly connected to consumers through farmers markets. Each farmer represents a story of resilience, of biodiversity, of fresh food grown with care. By counting and celebrating them, we strengthen our collective voice and demonstrate to the world that farmers markets are a real strategy for rural development.
Join the preparatory webinar on June 23, 2025
Why Farmers Markets Count
Our message is simple and supported by data and lived experience:
- Farmers Markets Count when it comes to consumers seeking fresh, healthy, local food.
- Farmers Markets Count when it comes to giving farmers direct access to new shoppers and stronger markets for their agri-food products.
- Farmers Markets Count when it comes to preserving and promoting food biodiversity, which is essential for the health of people and the planet.
And now, we’re proving that farmers themselves count and we’re counting them.
Looking Ahead to October
The campaign will culminate with a third and final phase in October, aligned with World Food Day, where we will turn our attention to the consumer side of the equation. But for now, it’s time to spotlight and celebrate the farmers the heartbeat of every market.
Let’s count them, support them, and make their voices heard.
