Family farming: A dialogue towards more sustainable and resilient farming in Europe and the world

2014 was designated the International Year of Family Farming at the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it has the objective of raising the profile of family farming by focusing world attention on its role in alleviating hunger and poverty, providing food security and improving livelihoods, while protecting the environment and biodiversity. In this context, and given the importance of family farming within the European Union and the interlinked relation with farmers from all the world, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development is organising a conference on "Family farming: A dialogue towards more sustainable and resilient farming in Europe and the world"

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This conference will allow participants to look at the role of family farming, key challenges and priorities for the future, as well the best means of supporting family farms. The conference objective is to highlight the diversity of family farms in Europe and the world and the value of family farming as sustainable rural model, as an efficient producer of food, as a source of income, as a source of cultural values, of agrarian know-how and as a guarantor of the preservation of the environment and biodiversity.

The participants of the conference will include national and international platforms, governments, rural organisations, development associations, and experts. The 450 participants of the conference will be conveyed through personal invitation and will be able to register as from September. It will be possible to follow the work of the conference via webstreaming.

In the conference, 3 main thematic will be debated into parallel panels on the following topics: 1. Contribution: The role of family farming and ways of supporting this model to achieve smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; 2. Innovation: The importance of innovation for family farming and how best to facilitate access to new technology and research; 3. Organisation: The opportunities for working together in different ways to strengthen family farms. The presentation of the workshop outcomes and a High Level Panel on 'Expected objectives of the International Year of Family Farming and International policies in favour of family farming' will take place in the afternoon session.

An e-consultation has been launched to investigate perceptions of the role of Family Farming, key challenges and priorities for the future. The e-consultation has been opened on 02 August to the general public until 11 October 2013. You invited to respond to the consultation, available in all EU languages, at http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/consultations/family-farming/2013_en.htm

In addition, the WRF -coordinator of the Global Campaign for the Family Farming- has been requested by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) to conduct a consultation with farmers' organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The consultation will be focused on the main thematic of the conference, seeking the participation of La Via Campesina, the World Farmers Organization and the main farmers and rural development organizations, to identify their positions, main demands and actions planned in order to guarantee the sustainable development of Family Farming in the world. The result of the consultations will be presented in the conference. The outcome of the conference will contribute to the FAO European Regional Conference scheduled in 2014 in Bucharest (Romania) and will be presented into events related to family farming that will be organized in the course of 2014.