Happy New Year folks!!!
Pretty excited about this year for many many reasons one of them being the fact that this year has been declared the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF). I hope we can work together to make this year succesful. Below is literature from the FAO website on what the IYFF is and what it seeks to achieve.
At the 66th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, 2014 was formally declared to be the “International Year of Family Farming” (IYFF). The 2014 year of international farming aims to raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farming by focusing world attention on its significant role in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas. The goal of the 2014 IYFF is to reposition family farming at the centre of agricultural, environmental and social policies in the national agendas by identifying gaps and opportunities to promote a shift towards a more equal and balanced development.
Family Farming and its Importance
Family farming includes all family-based agricultural activities, and it is linked to several areas of the rural development. Family farming is a means of organizing agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production which is managed and operated by a family and predominantly reliant on family labour, including both women’s and men’s. Family farming has an important socio-economic, environmental and cultural role.
- Family and small-scale farming are inextricably linked to world food security.
- Family farming preserves traditional food products, while contributing to a balanced diet and safeguarding the world’s agro-biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources.
- Family farming represents an opportunity to boost local economies, especially when combined with specific policies aimed at social protection and well-being of communities.
Objectives of the International Year of Family Farming
- Support the development of policies conducive to sustainable family farming by encouraging governments to establish the enabling environment for the sustainable development of family farming.
- Increase knowledge, communication and public awareness
- Attain better understanding of family farming needs, potential and constraints and ensure technical support
- Create synergies for sustainability
Thank you so much for for sticking around in 2013…2014 will definitely be better. Here’s to a great 2014…
To our success!!! 🙂
