Small farms have always been a cornerstone of agriculture in the EU. They play a significant role in supporting rural employment, contributing to territorial development. They are important for production, particularly in the form of local specialist products and provide important social, cultural and environmental services.  The last enlargements in 2004...

Pourquoi faut-il s’occuper de l’agriculture familiale ? Pourquoi un « changement de paradigme » est-il nécessaire ? Quelles nouvelles visions, politiques et coopérations trans-méditerranéennes et transsahariennes se donner ? Comment s’organiser, accéder aux marchés et créer de la richesse en milieu rural ? Comment assurer l’accès de l’agriculture familiale au financement ? Les questions abordées par...

Les îles de São Tomé et de Principe orientent leur développement sur les cultures vivrières mais aussi en grande partie sur la promotion de filières agricoles d’exportation de produits agricoles de qualité (cacao, café et poivre). Dans ce contexte, l’objectif est de promouvoir, avec 300 planteurs, une production durable de...

The video outlines three case studies of farmers utilizing agroecological practices in their farming systems. It focuses on complex adaptive rice systems in the Easter part of the island of Java, Indonesia; on a large-scale farm in the Netherlands applying sustainable soil management practices; and on social aspects of agroecology...

Document de valorisation des acquis et principales recommandations d’une semaine d’animation et de débats sur les Agricultures Familiales à Madagascar, où la très grande majorité des exploitations agricoles sont familiales (près de 99% selon le recensement agricole de 2004/2005).

This video shows some of the activities that FAO is implementing in the field to support rural communities in areas that are periodically affected by natural hazards in Southern Africa, mainly droughts, floods and cyclones. While these natural hazards will happen again in the future, and, as a result of...

Thanks to improved access to information and a powerful participatory communication approach, villagers in isolated communities across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Niger are making strides to improve gender equality and empower women. FAO Dimitra community listeners’ clubs are helping rural populations participate in the development of...

Ecuador is going through a substantial nutritional transition. This, coupled with the paradox that rural families that produce food are often those most affected by undernutrition, shows the ironies of ‘modern’ food systems. It also highlights the importance of rural-urban linkages around family nutrition which can help to address such...

In Austria, grassland accounts for more than 50 percent of agricultural land and is mainly located in mountainous regions. Consequently, 70 percent of all Austrian dairy farms, producing two thirds of all milk, are located in these areas. In the Alpine regions, organic farming has traditionally been very important and...

This very large family farm and business near Albacete, Spain was brought together to form a Limited Company with the marriage of the parents of the current part-owner and manager. The property on the paternal side of this arrangement has been within the same family for 200 years. Today the...

Recurring drought and crop failure in many parts of the world have led to food and nutrition insecurity, and a dependence on food aid. But recently, some farmers in Kenya have been developing their own sustainable way to secure enough nutritious food along with extra income so that they can...

The right to food sovereignty is a part of the Plurinational State of Bolivia’s constitution, but what does this actually mean for family farmers? The truth is that many people in rural areas are far from having access to adequate food and nutrition, with 37% of children under five reported...

Food fairs are an important tool and space to promote food sovereignty as they take place in local public spaces and within people’s own socio-cultural settings. One excellent example was a food fair in Ghana, organised by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD). Women farmers exhibited traditional...

Federal Minister Christian Schmidt visits a family farm.

Extended analyses and latest results of the Horticulture Network you find in the Horticulture Report 2014.

A great tomato from the heart of the desert? All thanks to the Salad Trail, a working farm and interactive museum designed to teach visitors about the techniques used to farm a desert – techniques that have helped Israel become almost entirely agriculturally self-sufficient. And for a population that is...

This report presents the synthesis of case studies analysed by the action-research activity. The aim is to give a description of the practices carried out by farmers, individually or collectively, which can be considered as sustainable ways to use plant genetic resources with the purpose that these practices be spread...

Formed in 2007, Food Plant Solutions Rotary Action Group (FPS) creates science-based educational materials, which: identify highly nutritious local food plants, explain how to grow them in a sustainable, agroecological way, detail the nutritional value of the plants and describe why human bodies require those nutrients. The resources created by FPS allows people to better...

In 2000, twelve smallholder farming families, which had gathered extensive experience on agroecological methods by working closely with a grassroots organization called the Association of Zimbabwe Traditional Environmental Conservationists (AZTREC), organized themselves into a group. They initiated a project to set up a school for farmer-to-farmer training in Zimbabwe which...

Llámese agroecología, agricultura orgánica, agricultura natural, agricultura sostenible con bajos insumos externos, etc., [lo fundamental es] especificar los principios ecológicos, sociales y políticos que el movimiento defiende, [que se] basan en la recuperación de los métodos de la agricultura campesina tradicional, la innovación en las nuevas prácticas ecológicas, el control...