Der er behov for nytænkning og aktiv deltagelse for at sikre, at der er mad nok til klodens voksende befolkning, lyder det fra FN’s fødevare- og landbrugsorganisation. Familielandbrug udgør ni ud af 10 landbrug og skal have hjælp til at vokse.
16 October 2014, Rome (FAO): While substantial progress has been made in the fight against hunger in recent years, more than 800 million people remain hungry and efforts need to be increased to reach the global target of cutting the percentage of hungry people in half by 2015, said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva in his opening remarks at the annual World Food Day ceremony, held at FAO Headquarters in Rome.
The estimated 500 million family farms, which make up nine out of ten farms worldwide, play a key role in scaling up food production to meet the needs of a growing world population.
“At the same time, many family farmers, especially subsistence producers, are part of the 70 percent of the world’s food-insecure population that lives in rural areas,” said Graziano da Silva.
“Family farmers need to be protagonists of innovation. Only this way can they take ownership of the process and ensure that the solutions offered respond to their needs,” he added.
Smallholder farms save money
In her keynote speech, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands emphasised the importance of financial inclusion as a key tool to enable farmers to protect themselves from income shocks and as a central component in any ambitious efforts to end hunger.
This includes access to savings accounts, loans and credits.
“We know through empirical evidence that when smallholder farmers are offered savings accounts, they save even more, invest more, and have higher harvest proceeds as a result,” she said, adding that without the hard work of family farmers, the success story of lifting 100 million people out of chronic hunger over the last decade could not have been achieved.
Agriculture GDP more effective
John Kufuor, Former President of the Republic of Ghana emphasized the need to enhance the profitability of the family farm by helping them transform from their current subsistence production to business level operations.
This, he said, would influence the resilience of communities and stimulate job creation and play a key role in reducing poverty.
“It has been established that GDP growth generated by agriculture is up to four times more effective in reducing poverty than growth generated by other sectors because the effects are on the people directly at the grassroots.”
In addition to access to finance, he stressed the importance of institutional reforms in land rights, the recognition of basic rights of farmers, as well as integrated government policies on rural development in helping family farms achieve their full potential.
Pope: The hungry are people, not numbers
In his address, delivered by Archbishop Luigi Travaglino, Pope Francis underlined the need to acknowledge the increasing role of the rural family and to develop its full potential.
“This year dedicated to family farming has served to allow us to see that the rural family can respond to a lack of food without destroying the resources of creation. But we must be responsive to their needs.”
The Pope stressed that, over and above the current hunger data, “Those who suffer from food insecurity and malnutrition are people and not numbers. And precisely because of their dignity as people they are above any calculation or economic project.”
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