An article written by Jan Douwe van der Ploeg in the Farming Matters magazine discusses the 10 qualities of family farming. I found this article quite enlightening and thought I’d share the key things I learnt…
Family farming is not just about the size of the farm, as when we talk about small-scale farming; it is more about the way people farm and live. Below are 10 qualities of family farming, please note that these qualities are not always present at the same time.
- The farming family has control over the main resources that are used in the farm, that is land, animals, crops, genetic material, house, buildings, machinery and know-how that specifies how these resources need to be utilized and combined.
- The family provides the main part of the labour force. The farm is there to meet the many needs of the family, while the family provides the possibilities, the means and also limitations of the farm.
- The nexus between the family and the farm is at the core of many decisions about the development of the farm. Each particular farm has its own specific balances, for instance between the mouths to be fed and the hands that do the work. This balance ties family and farm together and make each family farm into a unique constellation.
- Family farms provide the family with a part or all of its income and food. The family farm is not only a place of production. It is also home to the farming families, it is place where the family lives and the children grow up.
- The family farm is not only a place of production. It is also home to the farming families, it is a place where the family lives and the children grow up.
- The farming family is part of a flow that links past, present and future. This means that every farm has a history and is full of memories.
- The family farm is the place where experience accumulates, learning takes place and knowledge is passed on, in a subtle but strong way, to the next generation.
- The family farm is a place where culture is applied and preserved, just as the farm can be a place of cultural heritage.
- The family and farm are also part of a wider rural economy; they are tied to locality, carrying the cultural codes of the local community.
- The family farm is part of a wider rural landscape. It may work with, rather than against nature, using ecological processes and balances instead of disrupting them, thus preserving the beauty and integrity of landscape
You can read the complete article in the link below. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
http://www.agriculturesnetwork.org/magazines/global/family-farming
