WASHINGTON DC, US: The 2014 World Food Day theme - Family Farming: “Feeding the world, caring for the earth” - has been chosen to raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farmers. It focuses world attention on the significant role of family farming in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.
The UN General Assembly has designated 2014 “International Year of Family Farming.” This is a strong signal that the international community recognizes the important contribution of family farmers to world food security.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that there are 805 million hungry people in the world. This means they regularly do not have enough food to live an active life. The actual number of hungry people in the world is even higher when including those who face seasonal food shortages or those who do not eat a varied diet that includes protein, vitamins and minerals.
An estimated 26 per cent of the world’s children are stunted due to malnutrition and 2 billion people suffer from one or more micronutrient deficiencies. If you are a part of the roughly 99 per cent of the North American population that doesn’t work on a farm, you might be surprised to know that family farming still exists in this fast-paced world. In fact, 500 million out of the 570 million farms in the world are family farms.
Family farms are fruit and vegetable farms, grain farms, orchards, livestock ranches, and even fisheries and those that harvest non-wood forest products. They include all family-based agricultural activities that are managed and operated by a family and rely predominantly on family labor.
Family farmers have an intimate knowledge of their land: its history, needs and productive capacity. They are the custodians of a finely adapted understanding of local ecologies and land capabilities. As a result, they sustain remarkably high levels of productivity despite having less access to agricultural inputs and support. They are safe-guarding the world’s agro-biodiversity through the sustainable use of natural resources.
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