On Thursday, October 17, Marie Christine Monnier, coordinator of the World Agriculture Watch (WAW), participated in the session "Equitable Access to and Use of Land, Water, and Other Natural Resources" at the Global Family Farming Forum. She discussed the connection between the UN Decade for Family Farming (UNDFF) and the Rome Water Dialogue, emphasized the technical work of the FAO’s Land and Water (NSL) Division and highlighted the WAW approach to assess access and use natural resources by family farmers.

To connect the UNDFF and the Rome Water Dialogue, Marie Christine Monnier introduced the FAO’s and NSL framework and activities on physical natural resources. She outlined the goals of NSL in enhancing technical expertise in land, territory, soil, and water critical resources and production tools, in particular by leveraging geospatial data.

While geospatial modelling enables us to foresee the impacts of climate evolutions and trends, Monnier emphasized that mapping at this scale of agroecological zones provides limited insight into actual agrarian structures or the farmers who manage their resources. She noted that existing statistical tools developed at national level do not fill this data gap. However, efforts are being made to help countries equip themselves develop agricultural statistics tools based on comprehensive agricultural surveys and censuses.

Monnier presented the WAW approach as a pertinent tool to bridge this data gap at the level appropriate to support effective decision making in terms of policies adapted to the diversity of farms. She highlighted its focus on family farms and on obtaining accurate data about their interaction with natural resources and that evidence suggests family farms contribute more positively to local economies in terms employment, social values, and economic stability. The WAW approach looks not only at capitals, assets, and performances of the agriculture production system but also at the characteristics of family and other activities managed at household level.

Additionally, while external data is helpful, field observations reveal ground realities. For instance, in Tunisia, the survey done with WAW approach in the cereal production area of Jendouba revealed a trend for better yields when using well-known “soil-protective” farming practices, but a lack of correlation between nitrogen fertilizer use and crop yield for wheat production both rain-fed and irrigated, therefore questioning the relevance of public support for nitrogen chemical fertilizers.

To conclude, the intervention of Marie Christine Monnier was the occasion to emphasize the importance of complementing statistical data by agronomic insights and field-based guidance to ensure that family farmers remain connected to their land and resources.