Download The Role of Family Farming - EESC European Economic and Social

The New Global Development Agenda Beyond 2015:
The Role of Family Farming
By
Dyborn C. Chibonga
Member of EESC Follow-up Committee
Chief Executive Officer
NASFAM
Presentation at 27th meeting of ACP-EU Economic and Social Interest Groups, organised by the European Economic and Social
Committee (EESC) on 29-31 October 2014 in Brussels, Belgium
1
Overview of Presentation
1.
2.
3.
4.
Introduction: Smallholder and Family Farming
Critical Challenges in the Agricultural Sector
The 2014 International Year of Family Farming (IYFF)
The new Global Development Agenda 2015 and Family
Farms
5. Conclusion
2
1. Introduction: Smallholder and Family Farming
• 70% of the people living in poverty around the world live in rural areas
and depend largely on smallholder agriculture for their livelihood.
• According to FAO, there are an estimated 500 million family farms across
the developed and developing world.
• These farms produce the food that feeds billions of people, and
represent up to 80% of all farm holdings.
• Smallholders and family farms play an important role in agriculture
 Providing food and nutrition security for the growing world
population,
 Creating and preserving jobs in rural areas,
 Stemming the rural-urban migration
 Preserving Bio-diversity.
3
2. Critical Challenges in the Agricultural Sector
• Global Challenges




Climate Change
Insufficient Capital
Rising Cost of Production (COP)
Access to Markets.
• Challenges of Smallholder Farmers
 Access to Land






Low Productivity
Ineffective farming techniques – Traditional Subsistence Practices
Inadequate Access to Agricultural Extension
Low Adoption of New Technologies
Wasteful Post-harvest Practices – Affects Quality and Safety of Food
Poor Market Participation.
4
3. The 2014 International Year of Family Farming (IYFF)
• United Nations General Assembly of December 22, 2011, at its 76th
Session officially declared 2014 the International Year of Family
Farming (IYFF) in recognition of the role and plight of family
farming.
• Putting high on agenda in the development discourse on the role of
smallholder and family agriculture.
• Places emphasis on family farming as a model of sustainable
production.
• Contrary to popular belief, family farms have been flexible, innovative
and adaptive to markets and rapid economic and institutional changes.
5
• Moreover, in addition to contributing to global food and nutrition
security,
 Family Farms are a factor of preservation and conservation of
traditional local food and
 Balance of agricultural biodiversity through the sustainable use of
natural resources.
• If well supported by policies driven by social protection, and if the
farmers’ skills are enhanced, family farming can help to boost local and
regional economies.
6
4. The new Global Development Agenda 2015 and
Family Farms
• The new Global Development Agenda 2015 should recognise that ending
hunger and poverty requires recognition that family farming should be
central.
• However, it should not just stop at the level of that recognition, but rather
it should go further to provide guidelines on how the family farming can
efficiently and effectively produce food for the global populace.
• States and Governments must create the enabling environment and
provide all necessary support for the farmers to invest in their farming
businesses.
• The Family Farming holds the key towards poverty alleviation
and socio-economic development.
7
• Reports by World Bank have shown that Agriculture growth has high
economic pay-off and high poverty reduction pay-off (World Bank World
Development Report, 2007).
• According to IFPRI, agriculture growth, as opposed to growth in general, is
typically found to be the primary source of poverty reduction (IFPRI, 2007).
• However, there can never be agriculture growth in the first place without
production, and the family farmers are behind production of food, fibre,
fodder and fuel crops, as well as livestock (including fisheries).
• The Family Farmers will be vital in the new Global Development Agenda
2015 for poverty eradication because their business, agriculture, is proven to
be at least twice as effective as other production sectors in the prevention of
poverty.
8
• In most developing countries, and even in developed countries, the Family
Farmers are now joining forces and are working in organised groups such as
Associations, Cooperatives or Farmers Clubs for collective action and to defend
their rights to land, seeds, water and food.
• This is proving to be an important strategy, not only towards achieving
economies of scale, but also ensuring that farmers are able to access Rural
Advisory Services, Extension and Capacity Building Services in value addition.
• Consequently, most of the organised farming groups are now investing in
produce aggregation, warehouse receipting systems and agro-processing in their
rural set up, thus creating more jobs and providing markets to farmers to sell
their commodities within easy reach as they move up the agriculture value chain.
• In this regard, the new Global Development Agenda 2015 should not have far
to look in efforts to ending unemployment; the Family Farming can play that
role.
9
• With increasing changes in climate, the next Global Development Agenda will put
emphasis on Sustainable Development, and in this connection, the Family Farming will
play a significant role.
• Family Farming, besides being a source of genetic agro-diversity, can ensure their
preservation through seed varieties and native livestock breeds well adapted to various
environments.
• Finally, the Family Farming will have a critical role to play in reducing the impact of
climate change through adoption of Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices.
• By its very nature, Family Farming has to preserve and conserve soil and water for it to
be sustainable.
• However, as the world is embarking on the fight against climate change, it is surprising
to note that the global debates on climate change are ignoring the role agriculture can
play in reducing the effects of climate change.
• Much as greenhouse gasses (GHG) from agriculture contribute substantially to global
emissions, there is huge potential for CSA to play a significant role in climate change
adaptation and mitigation to contribute to reducing GHG emissions.
10
5. Conclusion
• The world is facing critical development challenges ranging from food
shortages, malnutrition, food safety, food losses and food waste to high levels
of poverty, high unemployment rates, and climate change.
• The global community is geared towards ensuring that the upcoming Global
Development Agenda builds on the successes, and lessons from the
Millennium Development Goals.
• The role of Family Farming in the next Development Agenda ought to be
well positioned because of the direct and practical implications it has on food
security, climate change, sustainable development and also in ending hunger,
malnutrition and creating jobs for the rural populace.
• Therefore, the new Global Development Agenda has to strategically position
the role of Family Farming in its theoretical and strategic framework which
UN Member States will adopt after 2015.
11
Thank You!
12
www.nasfam.org