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Creating resilient, sustainable
and equitable farming systems
Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, Oxfam International
D
eep
R
oots
I
t is shocking that a majority of the 805 million
people who are currently undernourished are small-
scale farmers and their families.
1
Small-scale food
producers around the world face enormous challenges
meeting their food needs and contributing to the food
security of their communities and countries. Women
farmers face unique barriers such as access to land,
credit and support services, and multiple responsibili-
ties, which have consequences for their well-being and
the contributions they can make to their communities.
These challenges are compounded by climate change.
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and
more severe, threatening the reliability and productivity of
agriculture, exacerbating already extreme levels of poverty,
and reinforcing persistent inequality and chronic under-
nutrition. Without efforts to address and adapt to climate
change, more erratic weather – including across Africa
which has the greatest concentration of people living in
hunger – will result in lower yields for the basic staple
grains. By mid-century, yields could be down by almost a
quarter accross sub-Saharan Africa.
2
This is a truly frightening picture. But it is not inevita-
ble. In truth, we already know a lot about how to create
resilient, productive, sustainable, equitable and efficient
farming systems that can meet the needs of food produc-
ers and consumers now and in the future. Getting there
requires action on several levels.
Image: Anna Fawcus /Oxfam America
Ms. Mamawse Sandra, farmer and credit officer of APDA, weeding rice from SRI rice plots in Petite Riviere, Haiti