Family farmers and the many ways in which they contribute to food security, healthy landscapes and thriving rural communities can be supported in a number of ways. These are some initiatives from around the world.
Tipping the Balance: Policies to shape agricultural investments and markets in favour of small-scale farmers
A recent wave of large-scale land acquisitions and other commercial investment in agriculture has raised concerns that small-scale producers are being marginalized. This report takes a new look at the role of public policy and market governance in ensuring inclusive sustainable development. It also foucses on elements that can contribute to gender-equitable results. Four country case studies, conducted in Guatemala, Nigeria, Tanzania and the Philippines supports this work.
Measuring farmer’s agroecological resistance in the wake of Hurricane Mitch
This study, published in 2001 by IIED, is the outcome of a participatory action research carried out in cooperation with the Campesino a Campesino, a farmer-led sustainable agriculture movement in Latin America. It compares the sustainability of conventional to agroecological farms after Hurricane Mitch, covering 360 communities of smallholders from southern Nicaragua to eastern Guatemala.