9 May 2014, Rome - The International Year of Family Farming (IYFF)was launched as part of a global campaign to reinforce awareness and support for small scale and family farmers around the world. The move to focus on family farmers for the international year was driven by strong advocacy from civil society, mainly the World Rural Forum. According to FAO, the contributions of these important agricultural producers is critical to the fight against hunger and malnutrition. Both in developing and developed countries, family farming is the predominant form of agriculture in the food production sector.