17 An Introduction to Family Farming
Fiorella Loli
Learning objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to:
- Present an overview of family farming during the Decade of Family Farming (2019-2028);
- Present an overview of family farming public policy in Latin America, and
- Discuss policy implementation towards the Peruvian family farming public policy case study.
Introduction
Currently food systems are faced with the challenge of providing sufficient, affordable, and nutritious food to a growing global population. But what is the role of family farming in this scheme? Sustainable food systems and the family farming embedded in these systems must recognize the role of social inclusion and fairness approaches. The International Year of Family Farming (2014) raised global awareness of the critical role played by family farmers in promoting food security and nutrition and in contributing more broadly to the development of more inclusive and equitable societies. This period also initiated the process by which 2019–2028 was deemed the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2019).
How does family farming relate to the COVID-19 pandemic? It is no secret that COVID-19 has exposed the underlying inequities in societies. Critical weaknesses and inequalities in Latin America’s food systems have emerged. The current crisis is not only a health crisis; it is also an economic and social crisis, which is of particular concern for the food security of countries with the highest poverty levels (Bustos, 2020).
In the light of the pandemic, the strict measures that have been implemented worldwide to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have necessitated the halting of several economic activities and the consequent loss of income for workers in some industries. Although there is no decisive evidence of its impact thus far, the health crisis makes us think about different ways of affecting food market actors. In this chapter, we analyze types of action that might promote family farmers’ well-being by considering a case study. In doing so, we recognize farmers as active participants in their own development.
Family Farming
What Is Family Farming, and Why Is It Important?
There is no single definition of family farming. Multiple definitions exist in the literature and at the country level. Among the common key elements are ownership and management of the farm at the family level, family habitation of the farm, and a predominant reliance on family labor (FAO & IFAD, 2019). The definition agreed upon in 2014 by the International Steering Committee of the International Year of Family Farming states that family farming “is a means of organizing agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production which is managed and operated by a family and predominantly reliant on family labor, including both women’s and men’s. The family and the farm are linked, co-evolve and combine economic, environmental, reproductive, social and cultural functions” (FAO, 2014).
Family farmers contribute directly to food security and nutrition. They also directly influence the management of resources, social interaction, and community bonds. Roughly 80% of food in the world comes from family farming (FAO, 2014). Furthermore, estimates indicate there are 500 million family farms constituting 90% of all farms globally. Family farmers face diverse challenges, including access to land and services, environmental threats, the limited ability to participate in political institutions, and climate change (FAO & IFAD, 2019). Among rural women, these challenges are even greater due to the lack of consideration they receive in the design and implementation of public policy (FAO, 2011, as cited in FAO & IFAD, 2019). The special roles of women and women’s knowledge about family farming are invisible in relevant discussions and planning processes (FAO & IFAD, 2019). It is important for governmental policymakers to pay attention to women’s exceptional capacity to adapt and advance innovation in farming.
Local sustainable and agroecological approaches are predominant in family farming. Nevertheless, family farmers must have access to innovations that transform their productivity and profitability. Within this debate, there is also the question of the role indigenous knowledge should play in creating more sustainable social, environmental, and nutritional outcomes and an improved system (FAO & IFAD, 2019).
There are several reasons why family farmers are considered key contributors to food security and nutrition. First and foremost, they produce food in many regions of the world including some of the most food-insecure regions (Herrero et al., 2017, as cited in FAO & IFAD, 2019). Also, they have advantages in terms of environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation. This may emerge from “their greater attachment to local communities and landscapes, which foster a higher level of interest and care for the natural environment and climate upon which they rely for agricultural production” (FAO & IFAD, 2019, p. 11). Sustainability goals are influenced by and affect family farmers’ livelihoods since family farmers are key actors in the fight against climate change (FAO & IFAD, 2019).
Public Policy in Latin America
The history of governmental public policy surrounding family farming starts with several agrarian reforms between 1960 and 1970. After this period came trade liberalization policies and economic openness, which lasted from the end of 1990 until the early 21st century. Since then, family farming has returned to occupy a relevant space on the public agenda (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture, 2016).[1] The table below offers some data about the proportion of family agricultural units in Latin America. On average, family farms represent 81.3% of all farms in Latin American countries, ranging from 46.9% in Uruguay to 97.2% in Honduras (Leporati et al., 2014).[2]
Table 1. Family farming units in Latin America and the Caribbean
| Subregion/Country | Total number of agricultural farms | Number of family farming units | % family farming units over the total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 20,414,539.00 | 16,596,837.00 | 81.3% |
| Caribbean | 1,704,651.00 | 1,507,757.00 | 88.4% |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 1,226.00 | 1,118.00 | 91.2% |
| Belize | 13,882.00 | 10,272.00 | 74.0% |
| Grenada | 55,029.00 | 49,246.00 | 89.5% |
| Haiti | 1,018,951.00 | 956,892.00 | 93.9% |
| Jamaica | 228,683.00 | 179,999.00 | 78.7% |
| Dominican Republic | 347,563.00 | 281,526.00 | 81.0% |
| Saint Lucia | 9,972.00 | 8,287.00 | 83.1% |
| Surinam | 10,234.00 | 10,189.00 | 99.6% |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 19,111.00 | 10,228.00 | 53.5% |
| Subregion/Country | Total number of agricultural farms | Number of family farming units | % family farming units over the total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central America & Mexico | 7,486,831.00 | 5,883,205.00 | 78.6% |
| El Salvador | 397,433.00 | 325,895.00 | 82.0% |
| Guatemala | 830,684.00 | 718,585.00 | 86.5% |
| Honduras | 317,199.00 | 308,347.00 | 97.2% |
| Mexico | 5,424,428.00 | 4,104,505.00 | 75.7% |
| Nicaragua | 268,527.00 | 223,374.00 | 83.2% |
| Panama | 248,560.00 | 202,499.00 | 81.5% |
| Subregion/Country | Total number of agricultural farms | Number of family farming units | % family farming units over the total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andean Countries | 5,078,283.00 | 4,051,342.00 | 79.8% |
| Colombia | 2,021,895.00 | 1,584,892.00 | 78.4% |
| Ecuador | 842,882.00 | 712,035.00 | 84.5% |
| Peru | 2,213,506.00 | 1,754,415.00 | 79.3% |
| Subregion/Country | Total number of agricultural farms | Number of family farming units | % family farming units over the total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Cone | 6,144,774.00 | 5,154,533.00 | 83.9% |
| Argentina | 333,477.00 | 218,868.00 | 65.6% |
| Brazil | 5,175,489.00 | 4,367,902.00 | 84.4% |
| Chile | 301,269.00 | 277,166.00 | 92.0% |
| Paraguay | 289,649.00 | 269,559.00 | 93.1% |
| Uruguay | 44,890.00 | 21,038.00 | 46.9% |
Source: Leporati et al. (2014), p. 37.[3]
A study by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and RIMISP (2014) notes that family farming is well suited to addressing multiple challenges including the persistence of rural poverty, projected population growth in the next 30 years, and climate change. Moreover, family farming is a vital topic in rural development actions and agendas (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture, 2016)[4].
Among several factors that might contribute to better and more effective policies in the region, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (2016) recognizes four primary dimensions: capacity building, knowledge management and use, coordination and articulation of actors, and productive innovation and rural extension. The table below summarizes the main lines of action in all these dimensions.
| Dimension | Lines of action |
|---|---|
| Capacity building |
|
| Knowledge management and use |
|
| Coordination and articulation of actors |
|
| Productive innovation and extension of rural |
|
Source: Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (2016), p. 30.
Peruvian Case Study
The 2014 International Year of Family Farming aimed to raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farming. It aimed to do so “by focusing world attention on its significant role in the fight for the eradication of hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas” (FAO, 2014).
As a result of the 2014 International Year of Family Farming, the Peruvian government enacted the National Strategy for Family Farming 2015–2021 (ENAF)[5] as the country’s policy guide for promoting and developing family farming (ENAF, 2015). This public policy has been enhanced by the National Law for the Promotion and Development of Family Farming and the most recent National Plan for Family Farming.
In all these instruments, family farming is defined as “the way of life and production managed by a family and whose members are the main labor force. It includes different activities such as aquaculture and livestock production, forest management, rural industry, artisanal fishing, aquaculture, and beekeeping, among others” (ENAF, 2015, p. 31).[6] In these regulatory norms, three segments are guided by family farming typology: subsistence, intermediate, and consolidated.
Subsistence farming is defined as “one with greater orientation to self-consumption, with insufficient land availability and income from own production to guarantee family reproduction, which induces them to seek wage labor outside or inside the agricultural field” (ENAF, 2015, p. 38).
Intermediate family farming “is the one that presents a greater dependence on own production (sale and self-consumption), accesses land with better resources than the previous group, thereby satisfies the requirements of family reproduction, but has difficulties in generating surpluses that allow the reproduction and development of the productive unit” (ENAF, 2015, p. 38).
Consolidated family farming is distinguished because “it has sufficient sustenance in its production, exploits land resources with greater potential, has access to markets (technology, capital, products) and generates surpluses for the capitalization of the productive unit” (ENAF, 2015, p. 38).
While these definitions are vital to understanding and guiding public and private intervention, the challenge reaches beyond this: how can this typology be enacted in governmental policy? The National Plan for Family Farming answers this question. Within the definitions of Peru’s National Strategy for Family Farming, the National Plan provides an operative description based on the number of hectares to identify subtypes of the aforementioned categories. The chart below presents an operative typology for family farming.
| Typology of family farming | Definition | Subtype | Definition of Subtype |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subsistence | Includes all those agricultural units less than 2 standardized hectares and that can or do not use both technologies (irrigation or seeds certified) | Critical family farming | Those agricultural units consisting of less than 2 standardized hectares and that do not have irrigation in any of their plots or use seeds certified. |
| Noncritical family farming | Agricultural units with an extension of less than 2 standardized hectares and that make use of at least one of the two technologies analyzed. | ||
| Intermediate | All agricultural units between 2 and 5 standardized hectares and can or do not use technologies. As in the previous case, there is a subdivision from technological control | Intermediate family farming with minor potential | Agricultural units between 2 and 5 standardized hectares that do not have plots under irrigation or use seeds certified. That is, they have no technological potential.[7] |
| Intermediate family farming with more potential | Agricultural units that have extensions between 2 and 5 standardized hectares and that use at least one technology for production. | ||
| Consolidated | Agricultural units whose extensions have at least 5 and but no more than 10 standardized hectares. These units use at least one technology (e.g., there is at least one plot under irrigation, the unit use seeds, or even both technologies). | Consolidated family farming | Agricultural units that have enough sustenance in its production, exploit land resources and other production factors with more significant potential, have access to markets (technology, capital, producers), and generate surpluses for the productive unit’s capitalization. |
Source: National Plan for Family Farming. Own translation.
Moreover, highlighting which aspects to prioritize in its interventions, the National Strategy and the National Plan propose nine strategic guidelines that are aligned with the Decade of Family Farming. These guidelines are shown in Table 4.
| Guideline | Action |
|---|---|
| 1. Access to factors of production | Promote access to and security on land and water in sufficient quantity and quality to produce competitively, improve the standard of living and productive activity, and exercise full property rights (collective or individual) over the lands where family farmers work, prioritizing the establishment of boundaries, titling, and registration of the rights of the set of peasant and native communities recognized in the framework of current regulations. |
| 2. Comprehensive support for innovation based on local resources | Help family farmers acquire knowledge and skills required to achieve sustainable and innovative development of their productive units and their territories, giving importance to the recovery and assessment of knowledge and ancestral and community technologies and to the broad participation of family farmers in the development of innovations and horizontal strategies of transmitting knowledge. |
| 3. Strengthening of associativity | Strengthen the associative and organizational forms, alliances, and work in networks of family farmers, as well as the promotion of ancestral organizational structures of the multifamily nature of indigenous peoples and afro-descendants who have allowed the occupation of complex territories, thereby facilitating risk management. In this sense, this guideline is vital to consolidate processes of articulation to the market, as well as the optimal use of business opportunities. |
| 4. Market engagement | Strengthen and expand access from family farmers to local, regional, and national markets. Expand access to international markets where there is a growing demand for biodiverse products. |
| 5. Sustainable management of natural resources in the face of climate change | Promote the management of natural resources and adaptation to variability and climate change, adopting risk management measures against disasters and extreme weather events. Actively support family farmers in implementing environmental management mechanisms with a territorial scope. |
| 6. Social inclusion and food security | Contribute to closing gaps around the exercise of rights, access to labor opportunities, economic and capacity building, and assistance techniques for sustainable management of livestock activity. Ensure that male and female family farmers can have safe food products, promoting appropriate, organic, and ecological agriculture. |
| 7. Greater investment for the provision of public goods with a territorial approach | Expand the coverage and quality of education and health services, water and basic sanitation, electricity, communications, and transportation infrastructure in rural areas. |
| 8. Institutional strengthening | Consolidate and institutionalize highly decentralized, flexible, and multi-sectoral areas in ways that adapt to the territorial particularities, such that the public and private sectors and civil society can work together harmoniously. This institutional framework will also allow articulation between the different actors of the territories in which family farmers and their organizations have a prominent role. |
| 9. Knowledge management and innovation | Promote scientific research capacity, enhance knowledge, and increase male and female family farmers’ competitiveness through the best use of individual and collective expertise. To do this, emphasize traditional knowledge, systematize and develop understanding around family farming, and generate mechanisms to involve the academic community. |
Source: National Strategy for Family Farming 2015–2021. Author’s translation.
These instruments clearly demonstrate how important it is to define a concept and therefore the segments of family farming. How can public policy be implemented? This table shows how to determine the segments through the elements of technology, land property and size, and supplies. Moreover, it is vital to understand how a national plan can complement a national strategy that offers some fundamental guidelines to foster family farmers’ development.
Figure 1 is a woman from the community of Yanaquihua, Condesuyos. This community is located in the highlands, specifically in the region of Arequipa, Peru. In this picture, she is showing children how to cut alfalfa. This picture depicts the relationship among family, labor, and the natural environment.
Source: MINAGRI (2014), p. 14.[8]
Conclusion
In this chapter, we have presented an overview of family farming. First, we addressed why family farming is important and the elements can help us to define it. Second, we introduced the recent history of family farming public policy in Latin America. Finally, we presented a Peruvian case study of family farming design and the implementation of public policy during the 2014 International Year of Family Farming.
Family farming is important because it directly relates to food security and nutrition. Even though there is no consensus on the specific definition of family farming, family farming clearly matters and impacts people’s livelihoods. Certain elements must be incorporated into our definitions. At the same time, it is vital to recognize that family farmers represent most agriculture models worldwide. They are also embedded in sociocultural environments that contribute directly to the impacts of climate change. Finally, they represent most of the labor force in rural territories (ENAF, 2015).
Nevertheless, they face multiple and constant challenges. COVID-19 is changing the dynamics in rural territories. This situation might complicate farmers’ case and put them in a more vulnerable position. In this sense, it is vital to go back to the field and understand what people are already doing to create better and more effective policies. As we have seen in the case described in this chapter, certain elements guide family farming interventions: the amount of land, technological skills, and supplies. Thus, addressing public intervention is complex. When it comes to the policymaking process, it is vital to address and acknowledge farmers’ needs and consider them as active participants in promoting change in their communities and regions.
Further Exploration
Among the organizations that center their work in family farming and food security are three leading institutions: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Its goal is “to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide” (FAO, 2021).
Some of FAO’s achievements consist of eradicating the deadly livestock viral disease rinderpest, creating international standards such as Codex Alimentarius, ensuring safe and good food for everyone, and eliminating human river blindness in 11 West African countries. Furthermore, FAO maintains the world’s largest and most comprehensive statistical database on food and agriculture, has helped halve the number of hungry people in Latin America and the Caribbean, and has promoted access to food as a human right guaranteed in the constitutions and frameworks of more than 30 countries.
Moreover, FAO is leading the effort on the 2030 agenda regarding food and agriculture. Focusing on food and agriculture, investing in family farmers, and transforming the rural sector can spur progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (FAO, 2019). Some key messages are that hunger needs to decrease to achieve the SDGs by 2030; food and agriculture systems need to transform to nourish people, nurture the planet, and build resilience livelihoods; and there must be a commitment to change rural territories and therefore invest in vulnerable populations (FAO, 2019).
International Fund for Agricultural Development
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and specialized United Nations agency based in Rome, the United Nations’ food and agriculture hub. According to IFAD (2021), “Since 1978, they have provided US$22.4 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached an estimated 512 million people.” The organization’s approach is to “invest in rural people, empowering them to increase their food security, improve the nutrition of their families and increase their incomes.” Through this, “they help them build resilience, expand their businesses and take charge of their development.”
IFAD (2021) recognizes that the “starting point for a world without poverty and hunger, is the rural world. An estimated 3.4 billion people—around 45 percent of the global population—live in the rural areas of developing countries.” Most depend on small family farms for their income and sustenance. Rural people grow the food that feeds their nations. Still, they are also disproportionately poor: 80% of the women, children, and men living in extreme poverty live in rural areas, not cities. Therefore, “investing in rural people is a long-term solution to so many of the problems we face today. Hunger, poverty, youth unemployment, and forced migration—all have deep roots in rural areas; and all can be vastly improved through investing in small-scale agriculture and inclusive rural development” (IFAD, 2021).
One exciting approach IFAD is taking involves seeing rural youth as key actors for the transformation of rural territories. IFAD has developed the IFAD Action Plan: Rural Youth 2019–2021 (2019) that has the following messages: all countries’ strategies and 50% of projects must be youth-sensitive by 2021; jobs, entrepreneurship, and well-being for youth will be available through more access to productive assets, services, and skills; and evidence-based policy engagement and partnerships.
Furthermore, IFAD (2019) “has stepped up efforts to integrate cross-cutting themes through its framework for implementing transformational approaches to the mainstreaming themes. This sets out IFAD’s commitment to integrated mainstreaming of youth and gender, nutrition, and climate change so that synergies are tapped, and trade-offs are managed. IFAD wants to ensure that smallholders benefit from interventions that are fit for purpose in their complex reality, in which they face multiple challenges” (p. 7).
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is the specialized agency for agriculture of the Inter-American System that supports member states’ efforts to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being. The institute provides cooperation services through close and permanent work with its 34 member states, addressing their needs promptly.
The set of products and services that IICA offers includes “knowledge sharing, wisdom, and experiences; strengthening of technical and institutional capacities; advice on strategic processes and design of public policies; articulation and technical secretariat of multi-institutional instances; development, facilitation, and implementation of tools and methodologies; management and administration of projects linked to the agricultural sector; among other possible actions for the performance of the cooperation work” (IICA, 2021).
Check Your Knowledge
What are three reasons that family farming is essential?
What are the main elements of the definition of family farming?
Describe some lines of action within public policy implementation in Latin America.
Synthesis Questions
How is family farming related to food security and nutrition?
What are the main challenges to creating a definition for family farming?
Why is it important to recognize the differences between segments in family farming?
What are the main challenges for public policy implementation in the field of family farming?
References
Bustos, S. (2020). COVID-19 and the food phenomena. The Food System and the Challenges of COVID-19, 1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb0762en
Food and Agriculture Organization. (2014). 2014 International Year of Family Farming. United Nations. https://www.familyfarmingcampaign.org/en/
Food and Agriculture Organization. (2019). Transforming the world through food and agriculture: FAO and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. https://www.fao.org/3/ca5299en/ca5299en.pdf
Food and Agriculture Organization & International Fund for Agricultural Development. (2019). United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019–2028: The future of family farming in the context of the 2030 agenda. https://www.fao.org/3/ca4778en/ca4778en.pdf
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture. (2016). La agricultura familiar en las Américas: Principios y conceptos que guían la cooperación técnica del IICA.
International Fund for Agricultural Development. (2019). IFAD action plan: Rural youth 2019–2021. https://www.ifad.org/documents/38711624/41190839/Action_Youth_web.pdf/f09a8d5c-36eb-f915-8b36-b521b1414b08
Leporati, M., Salcedo, S., Jara, B., Boero, V., & Muñoz, M. (2014). La agricultura familiar en cifras. In S. Salcedo & L. Guzmán (Eds.), Agricultura familiar en América Latina y el Caribe: recomendaciones de política. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://www.fao.org/3/i3788s/i3788s.pdf
Ministerio de Agricultura y Riego. (2014). Somos memoria.
Ministerio de Agricultura y Riego. (2015). Estrategia nacional de agricultura familiar 2015–2021.
Presidencia de Consejo de Ministros de Perú. (2019). Decreto Supremo que aprueba el Plan Nacional de Agricultura Familiar.
