'7 ways to promote family farming and rural development'

NaijaAgroNet:

The goodwill ambassador for the International Year of Family Farming for the World Farmers Organisation (WFO), Mr Ger Sonnleitner, has outlined some Seven ways to promote family farming and rural development, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The two day conference on family farming in Brussels, according to NaijaAgroNet reports is on “Regional Dialogue on Family Farming: Working towards a strategic approach to promote food security and nutrition.”

The conference is organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the World Farmer’s Organisation (WFO), the World Rural Forum (WRF), and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA).

The event taking place in the framework of the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) NaijaAgroNet gathered is the final conference in a series of five held to increase knowledge on the state of family farming, the challenges and the actions and policies needed.

Additionally, NaijaAgroNet reports that the regional dialogue on family farming is a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at identifying best practices in family farming as well as policies and practices in support of family farming around the world.

The year, NaijaAgroNet gathered will serve as a catalyst in the creation of a multi-stakeholder dialogue that will continue after the IYFF comes to an end in order to keep family farming high on the international agenda.

Mr Gerd Sonnleitner, representative of the World Farmers’ Organisation, spoke at the opening ceremony of the conference, and highlighted seven points that are deemed to be fundamental in order to ensure rural development around the world.

He listed good governance, enabling rural development through capacity development programmes for farmers, pointing out that rural development must be a central point on the international development agenda, just as there must be a specific support measures for small farmers aimed at making their farming activities more profitable.

Equally, he advocated for “economically and politically independent farmers’ organizations” stressing that modernization of farming, and a subsequent increase in production, and positive effects on food insecurity cannot be over-emphasised, just as a local and regional focus of rural development programs, and keeping in mind that one size does not fit all, are imperative.

“In this moment of crisis, family farming represents a flexible model, able to adapt to changing contexts and emerging challenges such as climate change, price volatility, and the marginalization of farmers in the value chain,” he said.

Insisting that if all work together and promote this model of farming, the issue of food security will no longer be a global problem.

Remmy Nweke

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