Support Family Farming - Help Local Farmers, Achieve Zero Hunger [Advocacy Video]

#ZeroHunger More than 90 percent of the 570 million farms worldwide are managed by an individual or a family and rely primarily on family labour. Visit: Family Farming Knowledge Platform http://www.fao.org/family-farming/home/en/ Family farms produce more than 80 percent of the world’s food in value terms, confirming family farming’s central importance in world food security today and for future generations. The vast majority of the world’s farms are small or very small. Farms smaller than 2 hectares account for 84 percent of all farms and control only 12 percent of all agricultural land. Many of the larger farms are family-owned also. Public policies that recognize the diversity and complexity of the challenges faced by family farms are key to end hunger and achieve inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems.

______________ The UN Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028 aims to shed new light on what it means to be a family farmer in a rapidly changing world and highlights more than ever before the important role they play in eradicating hunger and shaping our future of food. Family farming offers a unique opportunity to ensure food security, improve livelihoods, better manage natural resources, protect the environment and achieve sustainable development, particularly in rural areas. Thanks to their wisdom and care for the earth, family farmers are the agents of change we need to achieve Zero Hunger, a more balanced and resilient planet, and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Family Farming Knowledge Platform gathers digitized quality information on family farming from all over the world; including national laws and regulations, public policies, best practices, relevant data and statistics, researches, articles and publications. It provides a single access point for international, regional and national information related to family farming issues; integrating and systematizing existing information to better inform and provide knowledge-based assistance to policy-makers, family farmers’ organizations, development experts, as well as to stakeholders in the field and at the grassroots level. Why family farming? Family farming is the predominant form of agriculture both in developed and developing countries. There are over 500 million family farms in the world. Family farmers range from smallholder to medium-scale farmers, and include peasants, indigenous peoples, traditional communities, fisher folks, mountain farmers, pastoralists and many other groups representing every region and biome of the world. They run diversified agricultural systems and preserve traditional food products, contributing both to a balanced diet and the safeguarding of the world’s agro-biodiversity. Family farmers are embedded in territorial networks and local cultures, and spend their incomes mostly within local and regional markets, generating many agricultural and non-agricultural jobs. All the characteristics above mean that family farmers hold the unique potential to move towards more productive and sustainable food systems if policy environments support them in this path. Who are the Family Farming Knowledge Platform Contributors? Hosted by FAO, the Platform benefits from the active collaboration of its contributors including Governments, United Nations Agencies, Farmers’ Organizations, Research centres and Academia with the common goal of identifying opportunities and gaps to promote a shift towards more equal and balanced development. How to collaborate with the Platform? The Platform welcomes contributions of all interested entities (such as Research Organizations, Universities, Non-Governmental Organizations, Development Agencies and Farmers’ Organizations) willing to participate in the project by sending factual, notable, verifiable (with cited sources) and neutrally presented content. Who are the intended users? The Platform is intended for a wide range of users, from Government Officers to Farmers’ Organizations, from Academia to Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organizations, all of which need access to qualified knowledge on family farming and related topics. What are the potential benefits of using the Platform? Using the Platform as a worldwide knowledge reference on family farming can assist policy makers and other stakeholders by facilitating policy discussion, policy design and decision making on family farming. Easy online access to programmes, legislation, updated statistics, publications, lessons learned, and initiatives fosters knowledge and information dissemination for concrete actions and policy making in support of family farming.