The Brussels Development Briefing n. 57 on “Investing in smallholder agriculture for food security and nutrition” organised by CTA, the European Commission/EuropeAid and the ACP Secretariat was held on Wednesday 11th September 2019, 9h00-13h00 at the ACP Secretariat, Avenue Georges Henri 451, 1200 Brussels, Room C. The Briefing discussed smallholder agriculture and its key role in delivering food security/nutrition, and sustainable food systems, as recognised in SDG 2.

1. UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF FAMILY
FARMING 2019-2028
UNDFF and the prospects for SH family
farmingRoberto Ridolfi
Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations

2. Some key figures on SH Family Farming
• More than 90% of the 600+ million farms in the world are run by an individual
or a family and rely primarily on family labour;
• They occupy around 70–80% of farmland and produce more than 80% of the
world’s food in value terms;
• Farms of less than 1 ha account for 70% of all farms but operate only 7% of all
agricultural land;
• Farms between 1 and 2 ha: 14% of all farms and control 4% of the land
• Farms between 2 and 5 ha: 10% of all farms and control 6% of the land
• The largest 1% of farms in the world operate more than 70% of the world’s
farmland;
• Almost 50% of farm labour is performed by women, but they hold only 15% of farm
land. UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF FAMILY
FARMING 2019-2028

3. The UN Decade of Family Farming
2019-2028 (UNDFF)
• A framework for countries to develop public policies and investments to
support family farming from a holistic perspective, to realize sustainable
and inclusive food systems.
• The UNDFF contributes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
and focuses on enabling small-scale family farming as a key driver to fully
achieve the SDGs.
• The UNDFF mobilizes global commitment and actions towards economic,
social and environmental dimensions, focusing on innovation, knowledge
sharing, capacity building, tailored technology and access to markets as
the basis to formulate impactful actions and strategies.
UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF FAMILY
FARMING 2019-2028

4. UNDFF: where we are (regions)
UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF FAMILY
FARMING 2019-2028
Global Launch of
UNDFF
Rome, Italy, May 2019
Launch on the sidelines
of the High-Level
Political Forum on
Sustainable
Development
New York, USA, July
2019
Regional Launch in Latin
America and the
Caribbean
Dominican Republic,
August 2019
Launches in the other
regions are envisaged
over the next months…
500 participants, 230
delegates from 113 UN
member states, 236 family
farmers representatives of
civil society and private
sector
Launch of the Global Action
Plan to guide the
implementation
the Bavaro Declaration
reaffirms commitment
and recognizes the
strong links with the
SDGs

5. UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF FAMILY
FARMING 2019-2028
UNDFF: where we are (countries)
NPFF = National Plan for Family
Farming

6. UNDFF is a framework to coherently support SH family
farming
• CFS recommendations on women’s empowerment, connecting smallholders to
markets, protracted crisis, investing in smallholder agriculture, etc. are recognized by
the UNDFF as key instruments to support and reinforce family farming;
• The UNDFF will also support the implementation and benefit from activities related to
agreed international frameworks, among others:
• the Voluntary Guidelines to support the Progressive Realization of the Right to
Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security;
• Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries
and Forests (VGGT)
• the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the
Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication;
• the UN Declaration of the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural
Areas (UNDROP).
UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF FAMILY
FARMING 2019-2028

7. UNDFF Global Action Plan
UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF FAMILY
FARMING 2019-2028
Develop an
enabling policy
environment to
strengthen family
farming
Support youth and
ensure the
generational
sustainability of
family farming
Promote gender
equity in family
farming and the
leadership role of
rural women
Strengthen family
farmers’
organizations and
capacities to
generate
knowledge,
represent farmers
and provide
inclusive services
in the urban-rural
continuum
Improve socio-
economic
inclusion,
resilience and
well-being of
family farmers,
rural households
and communities
Promote
sustainability of
family farming for
climate-resilient
food systems
Strengthen the
multi-
dimensionality of
family farming to
promote social
innovations for
territorial
development and
food systems that
safeguard
biodiversity,
environment and
culture

8. UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF FAMILY FARMING 2019-2028
Prospects for SH family farmers
• Family farmers play a key role in improving the dietary patterns of their communities and of urban
populations. It is therefore indispensable to improve family farmers’ capacities and autonomy in
accessing domestic and local markets.
• Creation and promotion of (new) markets tailored to family farmers’ needs, which guarantee fair
price, continuous and structured demand for their products and promote direct linkages to
consumers.
• Strengthen the capacity of family farmers organizations (including cooperatives, social businesses,
SME’s) to benefit from and develop economic opportunities.
• Dialogue with different private sector entities is essential, as well as establishing policy and
institutional arrangements, including innovative partnerships related to value chains.
• It is crucial to empower family farmers, particularly women, youth and their organizations, to have an
effective and equitable role in the design and implementation of contractual arrangements.
• SMEs can play a very relevant role in this sense, specially at local markets and promoting urban-rural
linkages.

9. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
QUESTIONS?
UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF FAMILY
FARMING 2019-2028
PS-ADG@fao.org
Roberto.Ridolfi@fao.org