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The GFEFF also provided the opportunity for family

farmers of participating countries to introduce their activi-

ties in the frame of the Expo, open during the whole event.

Farmers and members of farmers’ organizations arrived from

all parts of the world to exhibit their own products and share

their best practices.

Behind these impressive numbers lies the effort and

commitment of the participants who made this event a success

by engaging actively in discussions and sharing their expertise

and ideas. One participant travelled over 50 hours from the

island of Palau to attend the event and exhibit at the Expo.

He was committed to showing that family farming is present

and highly important in small islands at the other end of our

planet, such as in the Pacific and Oceania.

The GFEFF was an important milestone in the IYFF,

bringing people together from different regions and different

backgrounds to listen, to discuss and to enrich their expertise

on family farming. Good ideas and new contacts born during

the event will live beyond the IYFF, and this is crucial for

keeping the momentum also after 2014.

Summary Conclusions of the Global Forum and Expo on Family Farming

Initiated by the Philippines and World Rural Forum, the UN General

Assembly declared 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming.

Against this background, the FAO and the Hungarian Ministry of

Agriculture organised a Global Forum to identify the various political,

policy, business and social elements that play a role in the complex

environment in which family farms operate. The overall objective was to

find ways in which economies and communities could benefit from the

values that family farms represent in food production, management of

natural resources, biodiversity, human relations and the preservation of

cultural heritage.

The main findings of the two day event, which emerged from the

ministerial roundtable and the three parallel panel discussions, are the

following:

• Even if family farms differ to a large extent from region to region,

they have values that all nations share and challenges that all

nations need to tackle.

• Most smallholder farms are family-based and make a significant

contribution to global food and nutrition security. However, family farms

and the countries in which they operate are diverse in many ways and

the solutions offered for them should be tailored for this diversity.

• Farmers need a high enough income to maintain their rural

livelihoods and not to move to urban areas in the hope for a better

life. To this end, a decent price for their produce and services needs

to be obtained.

• Limited access to land and other natural resources, knowledge,

education and financing are seriously hindering family farming

development globally. Best practices of coping mechanisms should

be widely disseminated.

• Co-operation could offer access to investment, technology and

markets making family farming viable. An enabling environment,

including a clear and simple legislation and a proper taxation

system is crucial for the development of co-operatives and farmers’

organisations. Socially responsible partnerships with civil society

organizations and with the private sector can play an important role

in the promotion of co-operation.

• Women are the backbone of family farming but their large

contribution is not duly recognized in terms of income earned and

access to productive resources and assets. If both women and men

have adequate access to productive resources, rural societies can

become more resilient. Hence, women’s meaningful participation

in decision making processes should be enabled. We should

continue raising awareness on the role of women in family farming

management and promote women’s equal access to land, credit,

education, technology, networks and decision-making processes.

• Youth are increasingly losing interest in agriculture and are migrating

away from rural areas in search for job opportunities in other sectors. In

order to provide young farmers with adequate livelihoods, appropriate

income, targeted policies, programs and projects are essential.

• The common ground among the views expressed reflects the

key position that family farms occupy in sustainable agriculture.

Since we all want our agrarian systems and rural networks to be

sustainable, we must strive to support family farms.

• Economic sustainability is essential for family farming. Viable farming

helps to keep young people on the farm. We also need pragmatic

co-operation and responsible actions from different stakeholders:

especially government, business, farmers and civil society.

• Environmental regulations should take into account the measured and

internalised positive and negative externalities of different types of family

farming. Traditional family farming strongly contributes to environmental

sustainability. New environmental challenges should be answered by

participative research, knowledge transfer and Life Long Learning.

• The social sustainability of family farming is based on the next

generation’s willingness to take part in farming and the society

valuing the culture behind traditional family farming.

The GFEFF family (left); Farmers and members of farmers’ organizations exhibited their products and shared best practices at the GFEFF Expo (right)

Images: Csaba Pelsöczy, Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary

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