Ireland’s family farming heritage holds crucial elements of rural sustainability – established networks of social support; cultural traditions resourcing ethno-industries such as tourism and  draft; and localised human-ecological knowledge important for environmental custodianship. The ‘small, not multinational’ symbolic value of family farming is strategically used to authenticate the ‘brand-centred, consumer...

Family farms are central to both contemporary changes and contradictions in agriculture. They have been, and are still, the crucible for a whole host of agricultural innovations and major revolutions. They form the social basis of most Southern countries and contribute to supplying their local, national and international markets. Paradoxically,...

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...

The International Year of Family Farming 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...

This technical guide has been prepared under the direction of Francesca Romano in collaboration with a team from the Forest Peoples Programme and Samuel Nguiffo of the Centre pour l’Environnement et le Développement (CED) in Cameroon. The guide was written by Marcus Colchester and Sophie Chao, with contributions from participants...

Face à l’arrivée d’investisseurs  dans le périmètre irrigué de l’Office du Niger (Mali), la recherche-action menée par l’UMR G-EAU avec comme objectifs : d'analyser et comparer les pratiques foncières des exploitants familiaux et des investisseurs ; d'accompagner les acteurs dans l’identification des enjeux à long terme et l’anticipation des conséquences des nouvelles attributions foncières...

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...

La ENEI 2-2014 tiene como principal objetivo obtener información estadística sobre variables de empleo, desempleo, subempleo y actividad e inactividad económica de la población. En lo que respecta a los ingresos, se captó información sobre formas, fuentes, montos, beneficios sociales y laborales, ayudas en especie y dinero, e ingresos no...

Keogh's Farm is a family owned and run potato growing and crisping business based in North County Dublin.  Our family have been growing delicious Irish potatoes in this area for over 100 years and now we are hand cooking Ireland’s finest crisps in small batches right here on our farm

Promoting the holistic nature of nutrition and its links with gastronomy is Luis Ginocchio’s ‘bread and butter’ as the expression goes. For Peru’s former minister of Agriculture, who also authored the book ‘Small farming and food’, it is an overriding interest. Gastronomy is defined as the practice of choosing, cooking,...

A three-day technical meeting has come to a close for the Regional Conference for the Near East and North Africa (NERC32). During the conference, government ministers and senior officials from countries across the region reviewed the overall state of food and agriculture. They also discussed urgent issues facing countries, including...

Federal Minister Christian Schmidt visits a family farm.

Fishing is a human activity that has gone on for millennia. Nowadays, it remains one of the very few large scale economic activities that is still based on the ‘hunting and gathering’ of wild biological resources, contrary to agriculture or animal farming, where a few productive species and races were...

El Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural y la Organización para la Agricultura y la Alimentación de Naciones Unidas de Colombia quieren aportar a los cuidadores de familia y a los distribuidores de pescado colombianos este manual de elementos básicos para la compra, almacenamiento y preparación de pescado producido en...

lthough the role of agriculture in the national economy of Lebanon is declining in relative terms, it continues to play an important role in the rural economy and has a significant impact on rural livelihoods. In the areas most affected by the Syria crisis – northern Lebanon and the Bekaa...

Esta investigación trata sobre familias bolivianas migrantes que practican horticultura diversificada en localidades del Alto Valle del Río Negro. Los actores sociales que se estudian en esta investigación, desde hace dos décadas están protagonizando un proceso de uso de tierras rurales con fines y modalidades diferenciados a la producción frutícola...

Improving the situation of family farmers is a burning need. And as they produce an estimated 70% of the world’s food, it is an issue that affects us all. The 2014 International Year of Family Farming aimed to create a better understanding of family farming and support the development of...

The booming world fish trade is generating more wealth than ever before, but countries must help small-scale fishers and fish farmers to benefit too, FAO said today. Global fishery production from wild capture fisheries and aquaculture is expected to set a new record in 2013 at 160 million tonnes, up...

Groundnut is among the most important crops for smallholder farmers in Tanzania, providing both food and income for households. Groundnut is a nutritious source of fats, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals for human consumption and parts of the crop can be used for livestock feed. This study identified factors which...

The objective of the preparation and implementation of the Estonian Rural Development Plan (ERDP) for 2014–2020 is to support Estonian rural development in a manner that is complementary to other measures of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy (for example, direct supports and market organisation measures), cohesion policy and the...