Family Farming Around the World
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May 2015 Family Farming Around the World A SAVOIR Definitions, contributions and public policies Family farms are central to both contemporary changes and contradictions 28 Family Farming in agriculture. They have been, and are still, the crucible for a whole host of agricultural innovations and major revolutions. They form the social basis of most Southern countries and contribute to supplying their local, national and international markets. Paradoxically, however, they constitute the vast Around the World majority of poor rural households which are also in a situation of food insecurity worldwide. They sometimes operate using specialised, and highly artificialised, intensified models (agrochemicals and mechanisation). In this respect, they do not escape the questions and criticism directed to agri- Definitions, contributions culture and its capacity to meet the contemporary and widely globalised and public policies challenges of climate change, food security, the increasing scarcity of fossil fuels, and the prevention of emerging diseases. But family farms also provide alternative production models to conventional intensification – sustainable agriculture models or new energy sources – which differentiates them from 2015 corporate farms and can bring solutions to the world’s food, social and May environmental challenges. / Jean-François BÉLIÈRES AUTHORS COORDINATION Jean-François BÉLIÈRES Marie-Cécile THIRION Philippe BONNAL Philippe BONNAL Sustainable Development Department, AFD Pierre-Marie BOSC Pierre-Marie BOSC [email protected] Bruno LOSCH Bruno LOSCH Pierre-Marie BOSC Jacques MARZIN Jacques MARZIN Cirad Family Farming Around the World Jean-Michel SOURISSEAU [email protected] Jean-Michel SOURISSEAU Cirad Cirad A SAVOIR 28 A SAVOIR Family Farming Around the World Definitions, contributions and public policies AUTHORS Jean-François BÉLIÈRES Philippe BONNAL Pierre-Marie BOSC Bruno LOSCH Jacques MARZIN Jean-Michel SOURISSEAU Cirad COORDINATION Marie-Cécile THIRION Sustainable Development Department, AFD [email protected] Pierre-Marie BOSC Cirad [email protected] À Savoir The A Savoir collection was created in 2010 by AFD’s Research Department and gathers either literature reviews or existing knowledge on issues that present an operational interest. Publications in this collection contain contributions based on research and feedback from researchers and field operators from AFD or its partners and are designed to be working tools. They target a public of professionals that are either specialists on the topic or the geographical area concerned. All our publications are available at http://librairie.afd.fr/ Already published in the collection (see page 185). All our publications are available at www.afd.fr/A-Savoir [ Disclaimer] The analyses and conclusions in this document are formulated under the sole responsibility of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of AFD or its partner institutions. In agreement with the publisher Quae, certain passages and illustrations are also in the publication Agricultures familiales et mondes à venir (Éditions Quae, February 2014). In view of the International Year of Family Farming declared by the United Nations for 2014, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and International Development, and Agriculture, Agrifood and Forestry, asked the Centre for International Research on Environment and Development (CIRAD) to specify the concept of family farming and its relevance compared to the other categories of agriculture, analyse the economic, social and environmental contributions of family farms, and put in perspective the way in which they are taken into account in the public policies of various countries. This publication is an enhanced and revised version of the report published in May 2013. Director of Publications: Anne PAUGAM Editorial Director: Gaël GIRAUD Design and production: Ferrari /Corporate – Telephone: 00 33 (0)1 42 96 05 50 – J. Rouy/Coquelicot A SAVOIR Foreword 7 Introduction 9 1. Definitions and diversity of family forms of agricultural production around the world 13 1.1. Conceptual framework and definitions 13 1.1.1. The main forms of organisation for agriculture 15 1.1.2. A “positive” definition of family farming 18 1.1.3. The family 22 1.1.4. Corporate agriculture 22 1.1.5. Perspectives on other ways of attributing names and underlying questions 25 1.1.6. The mobilisation of the cognitive register in the context of public policies and debates 45 1.1.7. Multiple definitions of family farming by public policies in South America and Central America 47 1.2. Family farming: A multiform reality 50 1.2.1. Level of secure access to natural resources and particularly to land 52 1.2.2. Investment capacity of families 54 1.2.3. The importance of on-farm consumption in the use of production 55 1.2.4. The type of integration of family farms into downstream markets 56 1.2.5. Nature and complexity of the systems of activity implemented 57 1.2.6. Nature and complexity of the production and livestock raising systems implemented 58 1.2.7. Nature and scale of the replacement of family labour by capital 59 1.2.8. Organic links between the family and production 60 2. Contributions and controversial issues 61 Contents 2.1. The economic importance of family farms 62 2.1.1. Initial attempt at an inventory 63 2.1.2. Contribution of family farms to incomes and production 68 2.2. Family farms and food security 71 2.2.1. Food security: Definition and representation 73 2.2.2. Family farming and food security at global level 75 2.2.3. Food security and national situations 79 2.2.4. Food security on family farms in developing countries 81 2.2.5. By way of conclusion on food security 83 May 2015 / Family Farming Around the World / © AFD [ 3 ] Contents A SAVOIR 2.3. Family farms and natural resources 84 2.3.1. The blame game! A longstanding and evolving issue 84 2.3.2. The methodological challenge of assessing the state of degradation of natural resources 88 2.3.3. The diversity of family systems and production models and their environmental impacts 90 2.3.4. Agricultural policies generally not beneficial for the environment 94 2.3.5. By way of conclusion on natural resources 95 2.4. Family farming and social issues 96 2.4.1. For a pragmatic and targeted understanding of gender issues: Working relations in family farming, or reconciling production and reproduction 97 2.4.2. Young people, working relations and family farming: Social issues related to the question of economic transition 104 3. The “politicisation” of family farms 109 3.1. Economic and political contexts of the politicisation of family farming policies 109 3.1.1. Importance of agriculture in national contexts, endogenous dynamics 110 3.1.2. Long-term trend of the link between family farming, national public policies and the international reference 112 3.1.3. National actors of politicisation and recognition of family farms in our case studies 124 3.2. Public policies in practical terms: Lessons learned from case studies 128 3.2.1. The sectoral policies to assist and support agricultural production 128 3.2.2. Environmental policies 135 3.2.3. Contrasting social policies 137 3.2.4. Territorial policies and allocations of public goods 139 3.3. What public policy instruments to support family farming? 143 3.3.1. An important lesson from the case studies: The disjunction between policies and instruments 143 3.3.2. For an extension of agricultural policies to rural policies, promoting all the functions and dimensions of family farming 148 [ 4 ] © AFD / Family Farming Around the World / May 2015 Contents A SAVOIR 4. Themes for further development 155 4.1. Research to analyse the impacts of production models 155 4.2. Pay more attention to working relations and the forms of family organisation 155 4.3. Pay close attention to emerging technical models 156 4.4. New family farming products in response to trends in food demand 157 4.5. Highlight the importance of social movements in transforming family farming and its politicisation 158 4.6. Finally, contribute to bringing about changes to the representations of family farming 158 Acronyms and abbreviations 161 References 165 May 2015 / Family Farming Around the World / © AFD [ 5 ] A SAVOIR Foreword This publication is a resumption and revised version of the report published by CIRAD in May 2013 with the same title, on behalf and at the request of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Ministry of Agriculture, Agrifood and Forestry (MAAF) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development (MAEDI). The commission given to CIRAD, which was entitled “Study on the contribution that family farming makes to food security” was intended to prepare the United Nations International Year of Family Farming (2014) and aimed to “clarify the terminology used, the reality covered by family farming in developing countries and its impact on food security and sustainable development”, based on an analysis of the institutional and scientific literature and case studies in various countries concerning the “imple- mentation of family farming policies”. The May 2013 report comprises: • A first part concerning the summary of research – the subject of this publication – with the same authors and contributions from Vincent Baron (CIRAD) and Jacques Loyat (CIRAD, associate researcher); • A second part devoted to ten case studies (Brazil, Cuba, France, Hungary, India, Mali, Morocco, Mexico, South Africa and Vietnam), conducted by some of the authors of the summary, and Jacques Loyat, Vincent Baron, Pascal Chevalier (University of Montpellier III), Gilbert Etienne and Christine Lutringer (IHEID, Geneva), Nicolas Faysse (CIRAD) and Eric Léonard (IRD). The entire process for the preparation of the report and the subsequent publication was coordinated by Marie-Cécile Thirion (AFD) on behalf of the ordering parties and by Pierre-Marie Bosc for CIRAD, who also handled the final publication.