1. Family Farming and Food Security
Oslo October 21, 2014
Marcela Villarreal, Ph.D.
Director Partnerships, Advocacy and Capacity Development
FAO

2. Family Farming is predominant in all agricultural
systems across the world
• Family farming has been very persistent and
resilient and has remained the predominant
model of farms in the world
• Over 500 million Family Farms out of 570 million
farms worldwide
• The vast majority are small farms. More than
475 million farms have less than 2 hectares

3. 3

4. Small Family Farms are predominant but
control a small portion of agricultural land
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – for a world without hunger

5. Women operate smaller farms
Milk
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Bolivia
Ecuador
Guatemal
Nicaragua
Panama
Banglade
Indonesia
Nepal
Pakistan
Tajikistan
Viet Nam
Ghana
Madagasc
Malawi
Average farm size (ha)
Male-headed households Female-headed households

6. Most of the world’s farmland
is on large farms
Distribution of farms and farmland worldwide
100
80
60
40
20
0
<2 ha 2-5 ha 5-10 ha 10-20
ha
20-50
ha
>50 ha
Percentage
Land size class (ha)
Holdings
Area
#sofa2014

7. Farm households have many sources
of income
of income
Average share of household income by source and farm size quartile
0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %
1st quartile
3rd quartile
2nd quartile
4th quartile
1st quartile
3rd quartile
2nd quartile
4th quartile
1st quartile
3rd quartile
2nd quartile
4th quartile
1st quartile
3rd quartile
2nd quartile
4th quartile
United
Republic
Viet
Nam
of
Bangla
desh
Nicarag
Tanzani
ua Nepal Kenya Ethiopia Bolivia
a
#sofa2014
Crop and livestock production Agricultural wages
Non-farm income Transfers and remittances

8. Small farms have higher yields than
large farms
Slaelregcteed f carorpm yise ld…s, by farm size
#sofa2014

9. … but they have lower labour
productivity
Value of agricultural production per worker per day
(constant 2009 PPP dollars)
#sofa2014

10. Family Farms produce the majority of some
commodities in terms of volume produced
5. Contribution of FF in terms of volume
produced
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – for a world without hunger

11. The need for innovation
5. Contribution of FF in terms of volume
produced
•Family farms are key for world food security. The vast majority
of the world’s farms are family farms
•They have the potential to feed the world, but need to
produce more with less resources
•Innovation including technology and organization is key
•If they are enabled to innovate, they can:
•increase production
•preserve natural resources
•raise rural incomes.
•We need an innovation system that meets the needs of family
farms
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – for a world without hunger

12. Agricultural R&D can be made
more effective
 International cooperation can make research
efforts more effective
 Farmer-led innovation and formal research
complement each other
 Inclusive and participatory research can meet
the needs of family farms
 Central role of farmer organizations
#sofa2014

13. Many countries need to invest more
in agricultural R&D
Agricultural research intensity by decade and income group
3,5
3,0
2,5
2,0
1,5
1,0
0,5
0,0
1960–69 1970–79 1980–89 1990–99 2000–09
Percentage
Low-income
countries
World
Lower-middle-income
countries
Upper-middle-income
countries
High-income
countries

14. Certain types of advisory services will only
be provided with government initiative
 Sustainability and environmental preservation
 Addressing crop and livestock diseases
 Food security and poverty eradication
 A key concern: making services available for
small family farms, especially in remote areas
• but need to consider trade-offs between
costs and broad delivery
#sofa2014

15. Capacity to innovate must be developed
at different levels
Capacity development in different dimensions
The enabling environment dimension is
the broad social system in which
organizations and individuals function
The organizational dimension
refers to all public, private and civil
society organizations
The individual dimension relates to
all individuals in organizations and
communities
#sofa2014

16. International Year of Family Farming
Policy Dialogue : Regional Dialogues
Consensus over three characteristics of family farms:
• Diversified agricultural systems that preserve traditional food
products, contributing to better diets and agro-biodiversity
• Embedded in territorial networks and local cultures, spend
their incomes mostly within local and regional markets,
generating many agricultural and non agricultural jobs
• Play major part in fighting hunger especially when linked to
social protection policies
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – for a world without hunger

17. Main policy outcomes
• Better definitions of FF tailored to national and regional
contexts
• Enabling Policy Environment for FF;
• Foster Policy Dialogue with FF organizations;
• Empowering Women/ Equal rights, entitlements and
opportunities
• Youth/Rural Development;
• Sustainable technologies for improving productivity and
reducing drudgery;
• Access to Credit and Productive Resources;
• Guarantee and Secure Access to Land and other Natural
Resources;
• Markets access and broader share of the value chain: enhance
strong collective action
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – for a world without hunger

18. GLOBAL DIALOGUE: 27-28 OCTOBER
FSN
FORA
• Family Farming
beyond the IYFF
• Post 2015
Development Agenda
RD
outco
mes
RC
outco
mes
Acade
mic
paper
s
GLOBAL DIALOGUE
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – for a world without hunger

19. Web-based knowledge platform on family farming
• Digitalized quality information from all over the world on
family farming, including:
– national laws and regulations
– public policies
– best practices
– relevant data and statistics
– research findings, articles and publications
• Continue dialogue after 2014
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – for a world without hunger

20. FF and Post-2015 Development Agenda
Two Proposed Goals and Targets:
• Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food
security and adequate nutrition for
all, and promote sustainable
agriculture.
• Goal 14. Attain conservation and
sustainable use of marine
resources, oceans and seas

21. Thank you
For more information please visit us at:
http://www.fao.org/family-farming-2014/en/
Family-Farming-2014@fao.org
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – for a world without hunger