Olivier De Schutter is the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food. He aims to inform people at the highest political levels about the role that smallholders play...
Participatory Guarantee Systems – Making organic certification more accessible for small scale farmers
Many farmers’ organizations all around the world and in India contribute to the establishment and promotion of Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS). Particularly appropriate for...
ZIMSOFF and the Shashe Agro-Ecology School
While it is now widely acknowledged that a smallholder based, agro-ecological food production system is the best way to eradicate hunger and to reduce the impact of agriculture...
The Narayana Reddy Column: Family farming
Only way to protect farmers and farming. Family farming is a characteristic of farms that can be maintained by the family members without much dependence on high cost external...
Small-scale farmers, big-scale change
The organisations working together in the Agricultural Biodiversity Knowledge Programme (agrobiodiversity@knowledged) initiated by Oxfam Novib and Hivos all work with family...
The mother of our breath
In the westernmost region of the Caroline Islands of Micronesia lies the Republic of Palau. Palauan traditional farming shows how agriculture, family values and culture are...
Ten qualities of family farming
Even in the International Year of Family Farming there is confusion about family farming: what is it actually, what makes it unique, and what distinguishes it from...
Few steps towards a plentiful tomorrow
More than three-fourths of the rural population depend on agriculture, which is largely rainfed. Farmers often face challenges like irregular monsoon, non-availability of quality...
Poverty reduction through sustainable agriculture
The three tier institutional model of working with smallholders has delivered better services to the farmers in Tamil Nadu. The role clarity of organizations at each level and...