Despite its enormous contribution to food security and to rural economy, small-scale agriculture faces a number of intertwined constraints that are impeding its productivity, its profitability and its contribution to economic growth. These include a limited access to productive assets (land, water and capital), poor linkages to markets and the absence of an enabling environment and supportive policies. The initiative on small-scale family farming provides the region's countries with a cohesive framework to promote small-scale agriculture as a means to reduce rural poverty in the Near East and North Africa.