Deep Roots

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The International Year of Family Farming

and the importance of family farms

Pekka Pesonen, Secretary General, Copa-Cogeca

n the United Nations International Year of Family

Farming in 2014, Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General

Pekka Pesonen highlighted the increasing importance

of family farms – the backbone of rural economies. He

outlined key actions needed to realize their full potential

in creating jobs, boosting European Union (EU) economic

growth, providing quality food, helping to feed the world

and caring for the environment.

Coming from a family farm himself, Pesonen said: “I am

glad that the United Nations chose 2014 as the International

Year of Family Farming to focus world attention on the role

of family farms in alleviating this hunger, malnutrition and

poverty at the same time as protecting the environment. It is

crucial to have a dynamic, modern, resilient agriculture in the

future which gives family farms a viable future and ensures

food security for millions of people across the world. This

is particularly important given that world food demand is

expected to grow by 60 per cent by 2050.”

The EU agriculture sector, which employs almost 26

million people, most them on family farms handed down for

generations, is a key driver for growth and jobs in rural areas,

providing quality sustainable food supplies for 500 million

European consumers at the same time as maintaining the

environment and biodiversity. EU-28 agricultural production

is worth over €400 billion. The EU is also the world’s number

one exporter of agricultural and food products, representing

three-quarters of the EU net-trade balance.

Yet family farms are facing increasing challenges such as

high input costs, climate change and an increasing risk of

extreme weather events, and barriers to trade. They are also

currently being hit by international politics – something

which they are not responsible for. Often the producer price

drops resulting from these are not passed onto consumers,

providing a new opportunity for retailers to cut prices to

producers further and causing additional imbalances in the

EU agrifood chain. With farmers getting, for example, only 8

per cent on average of the price of a loaf of bread, family farms

Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen highlighted the increasing

importance of family farms as the backbone of rural economies

Family farmers need a quality of life and income that is comparable

to other sectors of the economy

Image: Copa-Cogeca

Image: Copa-Cogeca (Winning photo from Asaja Photo Competition)

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