Deep Roots

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Family farming and the sustainable use

of natural resources around the world

Dr Evelyn Nguleka, Acting WFO President; Marco Marzano de Marinis, Executive Director;

and Elizabeth Fox, Communications, World Farmers’ Organisation

amily farming and smallholder farming plays a

significant role in managing natural resources.

Facilitating access to land, water and other

natural resources and implementing specific public

policies for family farmers (credit, technical assistance,

insurance, market access, public purchases and appro-

priate technologies) are key components for increasing

agricultural productivity, eradicating poverty and

achieving world food security.

Family farming preserves traditional food products, while

contributing to a balanced diet and safeguarding the world’s

agrobiodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources.

Family farmers are the custodians of a finely adapted under-

standing of local ecologies and land capabilities. Through local

knowledge, they sustain productivity on often marginal lands,

through complex and innovative land management techniques.

As a result of the intimate knowledge they have of their land

and their ability to sustainably manage diverse landscapes,

family farmers are able to improve many ecosystem services.

However, farmers already face new challenges posed by

climate change while the degradation of land and water

resources, as well as other negative environmental impacts,

confirm the limits of highly intensive farming systems.

Family farming represents an opportunity to boost local

economies, especially when combined with specific policies

aimed at social protection and the well-being of communi-

ties. Family farmers have strong economic links to the rural

sector; they contribute strongly to employment, especially

in developing countries where agriculture still employs the

majority of the labour force. In addition, the incremental

income generated by family farming is spent on products

and services such as housing, education and clothing in the

local non-farm economy.

Family farmers play a pivotal role in the local production,

marketing and consumption circuits that are so important not

simply in fighting hunger, but also in creating jobs, generating

income, and in stimulating and diversifying local economies.

Worldwide, there are an estimated 500 million family farms.

In a Food and Agriculture Organization survey of 93 coun-

tries, family farmers account on average for over 80 per cent

of all holdings. In developed and developing countries alike,

they are the main producers of food consumed locally, and the

primary stewards of food security.

Family and small-scale farming are inextricably linked

to world food security. The World Farmers’ Organisation

(WFO) is an international member-based organization

whose mandate is to bring together farmers’ organizations

and agricultural cooperatives from all over the world, repre-

senting the global community of farmers: small, medium and

large-scale. WFO includes 66 members from about 50 coun-

tries in the developed and emerging world with the objective

to develop policies that favour and support farmers around

the world. WFO reached out to its global members for

insight about country-level experiences in family farming.

Here are a few examples of family farming in a nutshell, and

the sustainable use of natural resources.

According to the Coalition for Farmers Ghana (COFAG)

family farming, which includes all family-based agricultural

activities, in Ghana is a means of organizing agricultural,

forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production that is

managed and operated by a family and predominantly reliant

on family capital and labour, including both women and men.

The family and the farm are linked, coevolve and combine

economic, environmental, social and cultural functions. At

A woman farmer in Zambia: women play a vital role in family farming

Image: Kati Partanen, WFO Women’s Committee, Finland

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