Deep Roots

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Family farming holds the promise of developing produc-

tive, sustainable, responsive, innovative and dynamic

agricultural systems and for contributing to resolving the

food, finance, fuel and climate crises prevailing in the world

today. Policies that enable family farmers to thrive should

therefore be based on the promotion of agroecology. This

requires change in many institutions, including those of

governments, international agencies (such as the Food

and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for

Agricultural Development and other United Nations organ-

izations), research organizations, political parties, social

movements and civil society as a whole.

Although family farming continues to survive in highly adverse

conditions, positive policies can help enormously in ensuring

that family farming reaches its full potential. Policies can ensure

that family farmers’ rights are secured and that they are provided

with the necessary security to invest in their own futures. This

was recently reconfirmed by the prestigious High Level Panel

of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. Enabling policies

can allow farmers to experiment and accumulate knowledge,

and ensure that local resources are the starting point for rural

development. Family farmers can then use their special qualities

to increase productivity and build a sustainable future for them-

selves, while contributing in many ways to society as a whole.

To unlock the potential of men and women family

farmers, governments must create long-term investment

strategies, with accompanying policies and budgets. These

should put family farmers and their organizations at the

heart of these strategies.

The challenges faced by humanity as a whole are enor-

mous. Yet, we still have family farmers with the knowledge

needed for developing agroecology, especially if they are

supported by adequate public policies. Policies are also

urgently needed to protect or re-establish family farming, for

example through agrarian reforms and measures that guar-

antee territorial rights as well as other measures. The sooner

we implement measures for promoting agrifood systems

based around agroecological family farming, the less painful

the transition from an economy based on fossil fuel energy

to an effectively sustainable economy will be.

Agroecological farming involves developing and maintaining agroecosystems with a wide diversity of livestock breeds and crops

Image: Somenath Mukhopadhyay

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