78th Session of UN General Assembly Second Committee Agenda Item 23(a), Introduction of the Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (2019–2028) (A/78/233)

Mister Chair,

Excellencies,

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my honour to present to you today the Report on the Implementation of the Second Biennium of the UN Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028 on behalf of the FAO-IFAD Joint Secretariat.

It was a privilege for FAO and IFAD to have been called on by resolution A/RES/72/239 to lead implementation of the Decade.

Supporting small scale, family-based agriculture and food production is paramount to our Organizations’ core goals and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Today’s report was developed under the guidance of the UNDFF International Steering Committee utilizing a really active, participatory and inclusive approach, with 240 sets of inputs coming from 72 different countries, including  governments, Family Farmers’ Organizations, National Committees for Family Farming, and other relevant stakeholders, as well as from UN entities.

It has now been four years since we launched the Decade, and the results we have seen so far have already been incredibly strong. We’ve seen policy changes in at least 77 countries stemming from the Decade’s work, and we continue to drive a truly robust engagement process with many different parties, where we are continuing to help identify and implement concrete policies and measures in support of family farming across the world.

Since the launch of the Decade in 2019, more than 1,853 family farmers’ organizations and federations, and more than 80 intersectoral coordination mechanisms, such as national committees for family farming, have been involved in UNDFF dialogue processes and platforms.

The Decade encourages policy dialogue as a keyway to attain lasting results, and this really underlines the importance of governments, multilateral and intergovernmental organizations in developing policy frameworks and guidelines and in renewing commitment to advance in priority policy areas.

12 countries have approved National Action Plans for family farming, and a further 42 countries have kickstarted processes to develop their own.

At the same time, three Regional and Subregional Action Plans for family farming have been developed, reaching 40 countries with a policy framework triggered by the Decade.

Overall, a total of 262 policies, laws and regulations have been developed and approved to support family farming and the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.

Over the past few years, family farmers have faced increasing challenges from interconnected, mutually reinforcing drivers.

This notwithstanding, family farmers have developed innovative, tailored and locally adapted solutions, increased their capacities, strengthened their resilience and provided effective solutions to deal with the emerging needs of agri-food systems.

The Decade is supporting and helping drive their work.

As we approach the mid-term of the Decade in 2024, a new phase will begin.

We must now move to consolidate, strengthen and scale-up the results we have achieved, put these together and use them to fully leverage the innovative potential of family farmers to effectively meet the objectives of the 2030 Agenda.

A huge potential is there. However, we still need broader involvement. We need greater recognition of farmers’ organizations, NGOs, civil society organizations, academia and others as key participants in national policy dialogues; and, just as important, we still need appropriate financing to support family farming and ensure the Decade can continue to be properly and fully implemented in the coming years.

Mister Chair,

Distinguished delegates,

In concluding, I would like to warmly thank all of the governments and actors that have contributed to the preparation of today’s report and, most importantly, are so engaged in the implementation of the Decade.

The results achieved so far are extremely positive, and I hope this will pave the way for increasing support and commitment towards, for and with family farmers – the backbone of our agrifood systems.

Thank you.