Deep Roots

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

Image: Rob McClure, Hilltop Community Farm, USA

Cow milking on an African farm: the DSIP under CAADP supports family

farmers, but clearer policies are needed on agriculture financing

A community supported agriculture share at Hilltop Community Farm, Wisconsin,

USA: growers and eaters share in the risks and rewards of food production

Microfinance institutions support the needs of family

farmers and smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. However, the

exact level of availability of microfinance funds is not known

at this time. Government policies and legal structures are in

place in Ethiopia to ensure that landholding and access to

land for family farmers is protected and uniformly applied

across the regions of the country. In fact agricultural land is

owned by the state and not sold, but leased through both the

federal and regional governments. The Development Strategy

and Investment Plan (DSIP) under the Comprehensive Africa

Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has elements

that emphasize support to family farmers, but there is no clear

policy on agriculture financing. EHC would like to see poli-

cies in place such as agriculture financing policy, which would

facilitate access to affordable farm credit.

In Malaysia, according to Penubuhan Pertubuhan Peladang

Kebangsaan (NAFAS) - National Farmers’ Organization of

Malaysia, family farms are handed down fromgeneration to gener-

ation. They are managed and operated by the family as the main

source of family income. There are approximately 800,272 family

farms inMalaysia. The Malaysian New Economic Transformation

Program and National Agro-Food Policy support family farming.

According to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA),

family-managed farm operation – be it a corporation, partner-

ship or single proprietorship – makes up 72-98 per cent of the

farmers in Canada. Family farming is an excellent stewardship of

land and natural capital. The policies in place to support family

farming in Canada include Farm Credit Canada; young farmer

loans; the ‘Ag more than ever’ campaign and Growing Forward 2

(however this is for farmers in general, not only family farmers).

Meanwhile CFA would like to see long-term food strategies in

place that all stakeholders agree upon, industry and government.

The National Farmers Union in the United States of America

(NFUUSA) recognizes family farming as a unit utilizing land and

other capital investments operated by one farmer together with

his/her family, who provide stewardship, management and take

the risk. All NFU USAmembers are family farmers or supporters

of family farming. According to NFU USA, family farming is the

prime economic driver of rural communities in the USA. All farm

policy is governed by the Farm Bill, a safety net that includes

limitations that direct assistance to family farming. NFU USA

would like to see more attention to concentration and consolida-

tion in agriculture at the government level.

Upon the United States Senate designation of the 2014

International Year of Family Farming on 17 September 2014,

NFU USA President Roger Johnson, said, “Recognizing the

critical role family farmers play in providing food, fuel, feed

and fibre to the global population and alleviating hunger and

poverty is important because we need to be developing our

future farmers – both in the USA and abroad – right now.”

In Finland, according to the Central Union of Agricultural

Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), on family farms the

decision-making, juridical and economic responsibility lies in

the hands of the family, wherein the family contributes labour,

and ownership is passed on (down) through the family. Nearly

all Finnish farms are family farms. Family farming provides

employment in rural areas in the production, processing and

serving of Finnish food. In fact 80 per cent of the food eaten in

Finland is produced in Finland. There is financial support from

the Finnish Government for family farmers, including start-up

support for young farmers and capacity building. MTK would

like to see government policies in place to support competitive-

ness, fair trade and consumer information.

Family farming in Uganda, according to the Uganda

National Farmers Federation (UNFFE) is characterized by

a small resource base, low input and low output. Over 90

per cent of the farms in Uganda are family farms, and within

UNFFE 95 per cent of the members are family farmers. The

bulk of Ugandan exports are aggregates of surplus from family

farming. The DSIP under CAADP has elements that empha-

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