Family Farming Knowledge Platform

Innovation systems for family farming

Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to risks.  They are vulnerable to risks from disease, pests, drought, floods and unpredictable rainfall – and they are also vulnerable to the fact that we are increasingly reducing the variety of products that we are producing and consuming. “Out of the 7000 food crops that we know of in the world, 50% of our plant-derived calories are coming from just 3 species; rice, maize and wheat – and this is increasing the vulnerability of the systems where smallholders operate” said Ann Tutwiler, incoming DG for Bioversity International (a member of the CGIAR Consortium) addressing an event in Geneva last week on “Innovation Systems for Family Farming.” The event was held to coincide with the high-level segment of the ECOSOC Substantive session to strengthen dialogue among Member states, UN organizations and other stakeholders on the need to promote innovation and innovation capacity for family farms.  CGIAR, FAO, GFAR and IFAD pledged to increase their joint efforts to boost the contribution of science, technology and innovation to enable family farmers to improve agricultural productivity and livelihoods whilst conserving and enhancing natural resources. In a joint statement they urged the international community to promote agricultural innovation systems that are particularly responsive to the needs of smallholder family farmers.

Title of publication: News - Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
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Author: Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
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Organization: Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
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Year: 2013
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Geographical coverage: Africa
Type: Blog article
Content language: English
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