Organic farming no longer serves a niche market in the European Union (EU). In spite of the global economic crisis, the mainstreaming of organic products has maintained its impressive trajectory: since 2008 there has been an average annual growth rate of 8%; annual turnover has risen to €20 billion; and more than 500...

In the world, more than 80 per cent of farms are family farms – in total more than 500 million economic and social entities. In Europe 25 million people, 172 million hectares of agricultural land and 12 million farms are involved in EU agricultural production. A vast majority of these...

In constrained environments such as mountainous and Mediterranean areas the sustainable use of forage resources by domestic herbivores has to combine production, conservation of high environmental value areas and product quality. The sustainability of animal production systems relies on their ability to reconcile economic performance based on the added value...

Small ruminants are important for income generation and security, food supply and for development in rural Mediterranean areas especially in mountainous and marginal regions. Nevertheless, the adoption of cost-effective technologies and management practices for improving flock productivity and farmers' incomes is limited. This is largely due to socio-economic factors, such...

Fishermen in Aveiro are participating in environmental conservation measures to help restore the sustainability of a once economically valuable species: the European eel. Their participation is allowing researchers to go further and faster in their study and giving fishermen a role in assessing eels stocks, and a voice in proposing...

12 million farms, 172 million hectares of agricultural land, 25 million people involved in agricultural production – these are some of the key data for the EU farming sector in 2010; but what about the situation of individual farms and how do things differ between Member States and as compared...

Agro-food chain is the only chain in the economy that can bring together and integrate numerous of economic activities, can connect hundreds of local enterprises with thousands consumers and producers, offering a unique opportunity to rural development, which consequently can reinvigorate the region’s economy and the whole national economy. Rural...

A total of 14 LAGs, led by the Dutch LAG 'Zuid Twente', from 7 Member States cooperate to exchange best practice examples of production, marketing, distribution and inter-regional trading of local / regional food products between partner countries Regional products are sold by an increasing number of farms and it has...

Being the most common operational farming model, family farming has ensured the growth of Europe’s agricultural sector for centuries. Today’s ambitious European Union (EU) policy  framework is designed to take account of the different models of agriculture existing in the EU, including the diverse types of family farming. It focuses...

Domestic and donor-driven development agendas for African agriculture are spurring smallholder family farming as a catalyst for food security and poverty reduction. Family farms are also the backbone of agriculture in the European Union, although the process of concentration has gone further than in Africa. European agricultural policy reforms now...

This document was prepared under the supervision of Nadia El-Hage Scialabba, as part of “Preparations and Follow-up to Rio+20”, a project of the FAO Natural Resources Management and Environment Department (NRD). It highlights the positions and common agenda of small-scale farmers´ organizations who participated in Rio+20 with the support of...

The concept of family farming is the recipient of much high-level political capital right now...  The United Nations has declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming, the primary aim of which is to promote, develop and strengthen all types of familyoriented agriculture - from horticulture and livestock to fisheries and forestry - as a socially...

Frubaça is a  fruit growers cooperative, situated in the municipality of Alcobaça, with activity from 1992, currently having 25 members. The main objective is to enhance the production of apples, pears and peaches, through a strategy involving product quality and innovation by adopting practices that ensure consumer and environment protection and...

All businesses need to innovate if they are to thrive, and family farms are no exception. By thinking ahead and developing new approaches, farmers can increase output, develop new and improved products, diversify and tap into new income streams, and remain environmentally sustainable. Innovative farms are more likely to weather...

Grassland-based systems are no longer seen exclusively as livestock production enterprises but as multiple use systems with important consequences for the global environment. They are crucial for the protection of ecosystem goods and services, for tourism and for mitigating climate change. Well-managed grasslands provide important benefits such as increased water...

Marinhão is a local breed of cattle, threatened with extinction due to loss of its main vocation: work. Direct marketing -  at home -  of bovine meat Marinho PDO, began in 2009 in response to the difficulties encountered in the flow of food and the price of normal distribution channels.

The farm "Monte das Faias" with an area of 130 ha, start a new life through a project involving a young farmer, namely – breeding of  Miranda Race donkeys (breed only local Portuguese kind), with a view  to produce, process and commercialize  jennet milk. This innovative project is based on exploiting...

GIAHS are found throughout the developing world, linked to centers of diversity.  Agroecosystems cover more than one quarter of the global land area, reaching about 5 billion hectares. Agroecosystems are ecosystems in which people have deliberately selected crop plants and livestock animals to replace the natural flora and fauna.  

“KM 0” is a branding initiative to promote local sourcing. It brings together stakeholders from the entire chain of actors involved in the production, processing, sales, marketing and consumption of fisheries products from the Minho Lima area. This project aims to promote local sourcing through the branding of local products and...

Portugal’s ‘PROVE’ project (PROmover e VEnder – which translates to ‘Promote and Sell’) stems from a bottom-up initiative involving eight of the country’s mainland LAGs. PROVE has been busy connecting local producers in these LAG territories within a joint marketing scheme for fresh locally-sourced fruit and vegetables. The project is...