The effective search for sustainability of agricultural production systems in their economic, social, and environmental dimensions is a permanent challenge to be equated in the formulation and implementation of public policies for the sector, at any time. Thus, it is a constant concern in the agenda and programming of public agricultural research institutions like Embrapa.

However, sustainable rural development will not be attained without paying special attention to integrated actions for productive inclusion and reduction of rural poverty.

This requires strong support to technological development that prioritize agriculture in all of its dimensions and plurality.

These are concerns that, in view of their relevance, are explained in the document Visão 2014–2034: o futuro do desenvolvimento tecnológico da agricultura brasileira [Vision 2014-2034: the future of technological development of Brazilian agriculture], with which Embrapa seeks to direct its programming in the next decades.

By doing so, Embrapa recognizes and reaffirms the absolute essentialness of the national policy for support and strengthening of family farming, in line with the effort of international bodies, which seek to reposition family farming in the center of agricultural, environmental and social policies, identifying gaps and opportunities to promote a more equal and balanced development. These are the reasons that led the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to choose 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming.

Embrapa, in light of the importance of family farming to the development of Brazilian agriculture and in view of the recent creation of the National Agency for Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (Anater) develops and furthers specific strategies to meet this segment, aiming at strengthening the local/regional economies and promoting improvement in the quality of life, and food and nutritional security of the rural and urban populations.

It is in this context that the present document must be read and interpreted. It is an expressive demonstration of Embrapa’s real involvement in the generation of knowledge and technologies “with” family farming, in the different Brazilian agroecosystems, as well as in technical exchange with African countries, through technicians and researchers assigned to the most diverse Research Centers and in partnership with relevant public and private institutions.