Coinciding with the International Year of Family Farming, Food Tank has launched a report showing how family farms are “developing effective ways to address global food security, increase income, protect biodiversity, and conserve the environment for a growing population”.

The report highlights approaches that family farmers are taking to address global challenges of climate change, resilience to food price shocks, natural disasters and conflict. These include agroforestry, inter-cropping, growing cover crops, using green manure and making use of indigenous species.

Such approaches not only help to protect natural resources but also increase farmers’ incomes.

The report demonstrates how family farmers across the world protect biodiversity and how, through using diversified and indigenous crops, they can increase their yields substantially and build resilience to extremes of weather.

The challenge, according to the report is in raising the profile of these innovations in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, the United States, and Europe.

“With increased support from research institutions and the funding and donor communities to invest in family farmers, global food security can be achieved, environmental resources can be protected, and national economies can grow,” says an article about the report on Food Tank’s website.

Research by FAO shows that more than 98 per cent of farms are family farms and these account for at least 56 per cent of the world’s agricultural production.

Read the full story: NEW REPORT: Food Tank By The Numbers: Family Farming

Download the Food Tank by the Numbers report