Contributions of Family Farming and the Cooperative Movement in the Eradication of Hunger and Promotion of Sustainable Agriculture
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DISCUSSION PAPER 1.3 Contributions of Family Farming and the Cooperative Movement in the Eradication of Hunger and Promotion of Sustainable Agriculture. B. Aragao, B. Miranda, M. Blanco "CONTRIBUTIONS OF FAMILY FARMING AND THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN THE ERADICATION OF HUNGER AND PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE EDUCATION" Abstract: Family farming is a social category that involves individuals who live in rural areas and that work the land with productive and reproductive objectives; they perform these activities mainly with their relatives. The agglomeration, localization and proximity relationships in family farming in specific territories aim at the enormous associative potential that this category presents. One of the main challenges that family farming faces, in order to consolidate the fundamental role it has in the struggle against hunger, is how to perform its productive activities in an organized and collective manner. Therefore, a new generation of public policies for the promotion of the cooperative movement is needed. Authors: Breno Aragao Tiburcio, who is Brazilian, owns a PhD in Social Sciences in Developm1 ent, Agriculture and Society from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, a master's degree in Agribusiness from the University of Brasilia; he is an Agricultural Engineer and a Specialist in Energy Planning for Sustainable Development. He has worked professionally for over 26 years in the fields of agriculture, sustainable development and international technical cooperation. He has been professor in a university degree program in agronomy and veterinary medicine. He has worked in agricultural programs (in the public and private sector) as a specialist, analyst and manager. He co-organizes 12 publications from the series Desarrollo Rural Sostenible (Urban Sustainable Development) and he is also the author of the book Agroenergía y Desarrollo de Comunidades Aisladas (Agroenergy and the Development of Isolated Communities). Byron Miranda Abaunza, Nicaraguan, main specialist in the topic "Inclusion in Agriculture and Rural Territories." PhD in Organizational and Human Development, MC in Rural, Agronomy and Agricultural Administration graduate. Author or co-author of recent publications: “Programa de formación líderes: desatando energías locales", 2015; 80 tools for participatory development (2017); Políticas públicas y Agricultures Familiares, 2015; “Innover avec les acteurs du monde rural: la recherche-action en partenariat” (CIRAD 2009) y “Social Capital, Institutions and Territories: The Case of Central America” (IICA 2008). His areas of interest include: management of technical development and cooperation programs; facilitation of participative programs of institutional and human transformation; local systems of innovation performed by local actors; the development of collaborative leadership, the systemic approach in the development of rural territories, the promotion of associativity and the empowerment of social actors. 1 The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Cooperatives of the Americas or the Co-operative Confederation of Argentina.” 1 Paseo Colón 38, 6th Floor, Office 6-10, San José, Costa Rica Ecuador 374, Buenos Aires, Argentina +506 40203540 [email protected] +541121132107 [email protected] DISCUSSION PAPER 1.3 Contributions of Family Farming and the Cooperative Movement in the Eradication of Hunger and Promotion of Sustainable Agriculture. B. Aragao, B. Miranda, M. Blanco Marvin Blanco, from Costa Rica, is a specialist in Agribusiness and Value Aggregation in IICA. He graduated as a Food Engineer in the University of Costa Rica; he has a master's degree in Tourism Management from the National University of Costa Rica and majors in Agri-Food Economy (CEFAS-Italy), Management of the Small and Medium-Sized Agri- Food Enterprise (SINNEA-Italy) and Rural Tourism (University of Buenos Aires- Argentina). He has over 30 years of experience in Latin America in areas such as value aggregation, agroindustrial development, business management, project creation, agricultural tourism, touristic development planning, information management, on-line training, short circuits of commercialization and organizations of agri-food markets. He has experience in research, teaching and counseling for international organisms, universities, NGOs and private enterprises. INTRODUCTION Family farming (FF), understood as a social category that involves individuals who live in rural areas and who work the land with productive and reproductive objectives and with their relatives, has become a relevant social subject in different countries. Nowadays, there are several FF definitions; the most significant ones are the definitions from the Specialized Meeting on Family Farming (REAF), approved by the resolution 25/07 from the Common Market Group (GMC); in the Central American Strategy for Rural and Territorial Development 2010-2030 (ECADERT) and by the Andean Community (CAN). Several countries have adopted an official definition in which they recognize FF as a social category, subject to public policies with distinguished measures. The year 2014 was a very important year for FF at the global level since this year was declared, by the General Assembly from the United Nations Organization (UNO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) from the UNO, as the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) with the objective of showing the real contribution and the potential of FF regarding global feeding. On December 20th, 2017, the United Nations General Assembly officially adopted, in its 72nd session, the Decade for Family Farming 2019-2028. The objective of this decade is the promotion of projects and policies for family farming, acknowledging its contribution to nutritional safety and global feeding, the eradication of poverty and hunger, biodiversity conservation, the improvement of environmental sustainability and the capacity to face migratory challenges. This Resolution also recognizes the significance of women and young farmers for family farming and the need to promote their empowerment in view of a development coherent with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and 2 Paseo Colón 38, 6th Floor, Office 6-10, San José, Costa Rica Ecuador 374, Buenos Aires, Argentina +506 40203540 [email protected] +541121132107 [email protected] DISCUSSION PAPER 1.3 Contributions of Family Farming and the Cooperative Movement in the Eradication of Hunger and Promotion of Sustainable Agriculture. B. Aragao, B. Miranda, M. Blanco on the basis of a fair market, open to small farmers and family farming. According to CEPAL et al. (2014) in Latin America and the Caribbean (ALC) around 16.5 million exploitations belong to family farmers and they concentrate a population of about 60 million people. 56% of these exploitations are in South America and 35% in Mexico and the Central American countries. In this context, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) considers that FF constitutes a type of production that: performs an important role regarding food provision in our societies, improves family work in rural areas, energizes local and territorial economies and contributes to environment and biodiversity management. IICA also considers that FF preserves a part of the significant cultural patrimony of each community of our diverse continent and that it is a fundamental piece for the integral and sustainable development of nations. Besides, the Institute recognizes the territorial systems of family farming, which are complex sets of production systems based on the family, interwoven though social networks and economic chains, associated with: the natural resource base of a territory, the cultural practices related to its use and transformation, the means and ways of living and the historically constructed identities. FF territoriality, by means of agglomeration, localization and proximity relationships aim at the enormous associative potential of this category. In the last few years, FF became noticeable in public policies of the Americas and, in one way or another, recognition started to be given to the potential of FF in societies from different perspectives (social, economic, environmental), and also to the need of strengthening and consolidating it. However, in the complex and dynamic current international and national scenery, FF faces several challenges, such as being competitive against the instability of agricultural prices; solving the problems related to land ownership; overcoming production models difficult to sustain, with low productivity and without productive and technological innovation; increasing food supply; eliminating generational and gender gaps and increasing FF participation in the dynamics of territories and in their management. Besides, according to Dulclair Sternadt and Alberto Ramírez (In: Salcedo and Guzmán 2014.) "One of the main challenges that family farming faces, in order to consolidate the fundamental role it has in the struggle against hunger, is how to perform its productive activities in an organized and collective manner and with a sense of collaboration among its members and, at the same time, to move towards an organization with a political representation able to produce the changes that the sector needs for its development and growth. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on the current situation of the cooperative movement in the region." 3 Paseo