New strategies and policies for Small And Family Farms? Role in Food an Nutrition Security

The overall aim is to enhance and secure the contribution of small farms and food businesses to sustainable food and nutrition security. For this, there will be in-depth analyses of case studies in several countries and explore with which strategies and under which policies small farms in these case studies can respond to future challenges. The case-studies will be defined by three dimensions: (i) a farming system dimension; (ii) a supply chain dimension; and (iii) a territorial dimension. We will investigate drivers (which factors affect the choices and performance of small farms), state (which strategies do small farms and food businesses use) and impact (how do they contribute to food and nutrition security) in these case studies to better understand their role in achieving sustainable food and nutrition security. Many of the currently critical global issues, such as food and nutrition insecurity, natural resource scarcity, biodiversity loss, climate change and poverty, are inter-related. Agro-food systems may be part of the problem, but by adapting or reshaping these systems, they can also play a key role the solution to these pressing issues. Small farms and food businesses present a reality in many parts of the world. Moreover, research has provided ample evidence of the impressive ability of family farms for adaptation and maintaining resilience and of many positive contributions that these small entities can offer. However, it becomes more and more doubtful whether small farms can maintain that ability under the conditions of global integrated agricultural markets. Small farms need new strategies, including new supply chain arrangements, and an enabling institutional environment to fulfil their ability to contribute to sustainable food and nutrition security in the future.