The recently launched Policy in Focus special edition on Public Policies for Family Farming in the Global South aims to follow up on the celebration of the United Nations International Year of Family Farming (IYFF 2014), as well as on the recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Both of these events have given unprecedented visibility and recognition to the real and potentially greater role of family farmers worldwide in contributing to poverty reduction, food and nutrition security and the sustainable management of natural resources.