Family Farming: From concepts to practice

22/03/2022

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The Course "Family Farming: From concepts to practice" is part of the Regional Technical Platform for Family Farming (https://www.fao.org/americas/daf/global/en/) in alliance with the “Sembrando Capacities” projects (ABC, MAPA Brazil, MADR Colombia and FAO) and “Farmers Organizations for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries -FO4ACP” (IFAD, EU, OACPS, PROCASUR and FAO). This Platform promotes institutional and technical innovations that strengthen family farmers and small-scale producers around the world by sharing existing knowledge, experiences and best practices, as well as fostering dialogue, learning and collaboration between diverse partners both within FAO and outside the organization.

To feed the world sustainably, an urgent and radical change in our food systems is required. Transformative measures will only be effective if they address a complex set of interconnected objectives that encompass economic, social and environmental dimensions. In this context, family farmers – male and female herders, fishermen, forest workers, indigenous peoples, and other food producing groups – are crucial to this issue. In addition to providing most of the world's food, they are the main investors in agriculture and form the backbone of the rural economic structure (FAO, 2019).

In this context, this course “Family Farming: From concepts to practice” presents the Family Farming sector as an important and necessary actor to face the region’s current economic, social, food and environmental challenges. The aim is to provide an overview of the main programmes and policies for strengthening Family Farming in Latin America and the Caribbean. Thus, the course includes topics such as: the identity of Family Farming, its conceptualization, the 2030 Agenda and the link between Family Farming and the SDGs, and the multifunctionality of Family Farming in the different territories, among other elements.

Course details

Name: Family Farming: From concepts to practice

Code: SAPAF202202-EN

Language: English

Course type: salfe-paced course

Duration of the course: 20 chronological hours

Start of course: 23 March 2022

Intended audience:

• Public managers and professionals who work in the implementation of programmes and actions linked to rural development mechanisms and programmes.
• Representatives of Family Farming organizations.
• Professionals who participate in different initiatives within the framework of South-South cooperation.
• Leaders of civil society, representatives of the private sector and academia, and students who have an interest in the course's agenda.
• Technicians and coordinators participating in projects managed by FAO in the region.

General objective:

Present an introduction to the concept and importance of Family Farming and an overview of the main programmes and policies for the strengthening of this sector in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Specific objectives:

• Generate basic capabilities to understand the concept of Family Farming and its relevance as a strategic sector for sustainable development.
• Recognize the multiple roles of Family Farming for the sustainability of food systems and the achievement of sustainable development objectives.
• Identify the progress and challenges faced in the implementation of different policies and laws for the strengthening of Family Farming in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Contents: 

• Family Farming: definition and concepts
• Food systems and Family Farming
• Sustainable Development Goals and the Decade of Family Farming
  

Better to which it belongs: BP4: Small scale producers equitable access to resources

Supervising Officer: Luiz Beduschi

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