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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been supporting family farmers for many decades, even though there is no single or universally-accepted definition of a “family farmer”.  To delve deeper into this matter, and to advance global efforts under the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF) 2019-2028, FAO has just released Legal Paper #112 “Enhancing the livelihoods of family farmers with the law”. 

This publication aims primarily to support decision-makers and practitioners in developing legislative measures to enhance the livelihoods of family farmers. Analysing examples of family farming from around the globe, and looking at their common features, the Paper highlights the need to define family farming so that law is better able to support it. Three main questions guided the research for this Paper:  

1. How does a legal definition of family farming support legislative interventions to enhance the livelihoods of family farmers?;
2. How can specific legislative measures be developed in support of family farming?; and
3. What are key features found in legislation when defining family farming?

The Paper discusses and analyses the experience of real cases in 21 countries and one region, representing a broad geographical, socio-economic and cultural variety. While the research found that each country has its own definition of a family farmer, with some definitions being broader and others narrower in their inclusion and enumeration, recurring elements made their way through the various definitions, which revealed certain commonalities across regions, cultures and languages. Among the Paper’s main conclusions are that a clear definition of family farming will lead to increased legislative efficiency, and that both primary and secondary legislation is necessary in order to address the multidimensional nature of family farming. The Paper also concludes that participatory processes in legislative development are fundamental for the effectiveness of subsequent implementation, compliance and enforcement of the legislation. 

Building on FAO’s Legal Paper #108 “Legislative and Regulatory Frameworks for Family Farming” and Legal Brief #8 on Family Farming, this new publication is the product of a collaborative effort between the Development Law Service of the FAO Legal Office and the Partnerships and United Nations Collaboration Division.  In the coming weeks, the publication will also be released in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish while elements discussed therein will be used to nourish upcoming global events under the UNDFF, especially in the context of its five-year milestone throughout 2024.