The Food and Agriculture (FAO) highlights family farming and smallholder farmers in 2014's World Food Day Celebration.
This year’s theme, Family Farming: Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth recognizes the critical role that family and smallholder farmers play in the continuing fight against food insecurity. The theme is consistent with the UN proclamation of 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming.
According to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, despite progress worldwide when it comes to the first Millennium Development Goal, there is still a strong need to step up agricultural production and adopt sustainable agriculture for the world’s future. The Secretary-General adds that this year’s celebration is but a fitting recognition of the more than 500 million smallholder farmers in the world who play a pivotal role in fighting hunger, ensuring sustainable and inclusive agriculture, and preserving environmental resources.
Alongside the recognition of smallholder farmers is also the need to underscore the role of women in agriculture, this is according to HilalElver, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. In many traditional agricultural communities especially in developing countries, rural women are as actively engaged in agricultural labour as men.
World Food Day Celebration in Asia and the Pacific
In Asia and the Pacific region, this year’s theme is particularly relevant as Asia remains one of the largest players in global agriculture. Furthermore, more than 80% of the food produced in the region come from smallholder and family farms.
During the celebration in Bangkok, both Thailand’s Royal Highness Princess MahaChakriSirindhorn and FAO’s Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific Hiroyuki Konuma stressed that while smallholder farmers are the main producers of much of the region’s food supply, they also still remain one of the most vulnerable sectors in the industry.
With preparations for the APEC 2015 Assembly and the ASEAN Integration underway, the celebration also served as a timely reminder to the country governments to continue collaborations and build inter-country and regional partnerships to enhance knowledge and technology sharing in agriculture and agricultural practices. Konuma added that while smallholder farmers and their contribution cannot be discounted, the fight against food insecurity is a matter that concerns us all, and therefore everyone has a role to play.
A highlight of this year’s celebration was the awarding of five model farmers. They were Mr. Jin Yuepin, a rice-fish farmer from China; Mrs.ShailajaNavandar, an organic farmer from India; Mr. U Myo Thant from Myanmar, a hybrid rice advocate; Ms. Ruth Yvette Hone, a dairy farmer from New Zealand; and Mr.PatphongMongkolkarnchanakhoon from Thailand who has made considerable success from integrated farming.
Similar celebrations were also held in Southeast Asia, particularly in the Mekong Delta countries. In Vietnam, the celebration’s highlights included the launch of a policy brief on rural women and the announcement of winners of the National Story Competition on the role of women in family farming. In Lao PDR, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry set up an agricultural exhibit and organised a field visit to Bolevon Plateau, a coffee growing area in the country. Meanwhile, in Cambodia, more than 300 guests and farmers toured family farms in the Kampong Chhnang Province. A knowledge fair, on the other hand, capped this year’s celebration of the World Food Day in Myanmar.
Last year’s World Food Day Celebration centered on building sustainable food systems, with the theme “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition.”
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