Innovation and Sustainability in Family Farming

17/11/2021

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The Course “Innovation and Sustainability in Family Farming”, is part of the Regional Technical Platform for Family Farming (https://www.fao.org/americas/daf/plataforma/es/) in alliance with the Projects "Sembrando Oportunidades" (ABC, MAPA Brazil, MADR Colombia and FAO ) and the Farmers Organizations for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries - FO4ACP (FIDA, EU, OACPS, PROCASUR and FAO). This platform promotes institutional and technical innovations that strengthen family farmers and small producers around the world by mobilizing existing knowledge, experience, best practices, fostering dialogue, learning and collaboration among a diversity of partners from inside and outside of FAO.

The world food system is at a crossroads and requires a deep transformation at multiple levels due to increasing demographic pressure, climate change, growing competition for natural resources, the loss of biodiversity and malnutrition problems. Faced with this situation, the World Food Safety Council has indicated the importance of agroecology and other innovative approaches, which occupy an increasingly prominent position in discussions on sustainable development considering the need to link environmental sustainability and social innovation, production and consumption, global concerns and local dynamics.

Various studies and years of experience have shown that family farming has implemented innovative solutions to address sustainability challenges in their local food systems. However, since many of these innovations remain small in scope, it is necessary to share these experiences horizontally for scaling up and expanding their impact through adaptation and replication. The generation of multi-actor territorial innovation systems and technical assistance and rural extension services play a key role in facilitating the generation and propagation of innovative solutions for the sustainability of food systems.

In this course, various experiences from Brazil, Colombia and other countries in the region are presented, in which initiatives and tools have been identified that can serve as inspiration and a reference to make decisive progress in strengthening family farming as an agent of transformation.

Course details:

Name: Innovation and Sustainability in Family Farming

Code: ISAFEN202111

Language: English

Course type: salfe-paced course

Duration of the course: 20 chronological hours

Start of course: 17 November 2021

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 initiatives within the framework of South-South cooperation in its different modalities.
• 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 different principles and experiences that show how family farming has implemented innovative solutions to transform food systems towards sustainability.

Specific objectives:

• Explain the contribution of different innovative approaches in Family Farming in the development of sustainable food systems.
• Identify Family Farming initiatives and tools that serve to transform food systems.
• Link the principles and key characteristics of innovation to specific experiences in the territories.

Contents: 

• Innovative approaches for sustainability
• Valuation mechanisms
• Innovation experiences in the territories
  

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

Supervising Officer: Luiz Beduschi

Technical team: Raúl Contreras Devia, Pedro Boareto, Marcos Rodriguez Fazzone, Camilo Ardila Galvis

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