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Dear
Friend,
Greetings from Budapest, Hungary. I am
here as part of the Global Forum and
Expo on Family Farming.
Today, Food Tank is releasing a new research report
called Food Tank By the Numbers:
Family Farming. You can share
an article about the report with a
link to the complementary download by
clicking HERE.
The
report proves that family
farms—farms or ranches owned and
operated by families—are not only
feeding the world, but also
nourishing the planet. Family Farms
are developing effective ways to
address global food security,
increase income, protect
biodiversity, and conserve the
environment for a growing
population.
According
to research in the Food Tank report,
approximately 70 percent of the
world’s freshwater goes toward
agriculture, and it is estimated
that this will increase by 19 percent by the
year 2050. Soilsare being
depleted 10 to 40 times faster than
they are being replenished, and as a
result, 30 percent of global arable
land has lost productivity. And land
use changes as a result of
agriculture—deforestation and land
degradation—are contributing to
climate change.
But
millions of family farmers are using
agroecological approaches to combat
climate change and create resilience
to food price shocks, natural
disasters, and conflict.
Agroforestry, inter-cropping, cover
crops and green manure, solar drip
irrigation, integrated pest
management, and utilizing orphan and
indigenous crops are helping protect
natural resources, improving
nutrient density, and increasing
farmers’ incomes.
We need
to bring more attention to what’s
being implemented by family
farmers—big and small—on the ground
in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast
Asia, Central America, the United
States, and Europe because what
they’re doing is working. These
innovative practices, which are
grounded in farmers’ knowledge, are
nourishing communities and
protecting the planet’s resources at
the same time. Smallholder and
family farmers are the backbone of
food production all over the world.
Seventy-five
percent of Earth’s
plant genetic resources have been
lost, but family farmers are
protecting plant diversity across
the world. According to the report,
by planting diversified and
indigenous crops, family farmers can produce
between 20 to 60 percent more yields
than farmers who produce only one
type of crop.
Supporting
family farmers’ livelihoods through
facilitating access to markets can
have a substantial and significant
effect on increasing rural incomes,
which includes 70 percent of the
world’s poor. Organic certification
for family farmers has also had a positive
effect on their incomes—in
Indonesia, the Boyolali Farmers’
Association, Asosiasi Petani Padi
Organik Boyolali [APPOLI], has shown
a 40 percent reduction in production
costs because of organic farming
practices, and the market price of
the organic rice that they grow is
20 percent higher than non-organic
rice.
Family
farming also drives economic growth
and social stability by providing
job opportunities. Small farmers create a
“multiplier” effect that
extends beyond the farm sector,
spending a high share of their
income in other sectors, including
construction, infrastructure, and
manufacturing, which creates demand
for other goods and sectors in their
communities. In Asia, for example,
every dollar of income that the
farming sector generates also creates an
additional US$0.80 in
non-farming sectors.
“Family
farmers deserve to be recognized for
the multiple roles they play—as
business women and men, innovators,
teachers, and stewards of the land.
Family farmers need our recognition
and our support now, not later,”
says Caterina Batello, Senior
Agricultural Officer FAO.
With
increased support from research
institutions and the funding and
donor communities to invest in
family farmers, global food security
can be achieved, environmental
resources can be protected, and
national economies can grow.
Further
highlights from the report:
●
Recent research by FAO shows that,
in their global sample, over 98
percent of farms are family farms
and these produce at least 56
percent of the world’s agricultural
production. In many countries, the
contribution of family farmers to
food production far surpasses their
share of land holdings.
●
Family farming makes up the
majority of agricultural production
in sub-Saharan Africa,where
approximately 33 million farms in
the region, or 80 percent, are
smallholder farms.
●
More than 80 percent of all
agricultural holdings measure less
than two hectares in size and are
thus managed by smallholder farmers.
●
All farmers can have a direct impact
on nutrition through the crops that
they choose to grow and consume, as
well as through post-harvest and
preparation methods.
●
Smallholder farmers utilize farming
practices that preserve
biodiversity—not just for nutrition
and taste—but also because
cultivating a wide variety of
species helps insulate farmers
against risk of plant disease, and
crop diversity promotes soil health
and increases yields.
●
Diversified and indigenous crops are
typically more resilient to climate
change and extreme weather
conditions.
●
The use of organic fertilizers by
family farms has been proven to be
effective in reducing soil
degradation.
●
Smallholder farmers typically use
innovative technologies to conserve
resources. Drip irrigation methods
used in Benin, for example, can save
between 30 and 60 percent more water
than conventional methods.
●
Evidence shows smallholder and
family farming can be the key to
mitigation of the negative effects
of climate change and improving food
security.
●
If 10,000 small- and medium-sized
farms converted to organic,
sustainable production, the
environmental effect in terms of
carbon sequestration would be
equivalent to removing over one
million cars from the road.
●
In Vietnam, land tenure reforms that
provide private land use rights to
smallholder farmers have had a
significant and positive effect on
agricultural productivity, as well
as increasing household incomes.
●
Mobile phone technology has been
instrumental in breaking down
barriers that smallholder, rural
farmers, especially women, face in
accessing markets.
●
Despite growth of large-scale farms
around the world, smallholder and
family farming still make up the
majority of global agriculture
Also in cased you missed it last week,
please watch Food Tank’s new short
video, “Family Farmers + You =
Nourished World” HERE. Also please
don't forget to sign
our global petition campaign.
Thanks for all that you do to build a
better food system!
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All
The Best,
Danielle Nierenberg
President, Food Tank
foodtank.com
Please connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest
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