Family farmers need enabling public policies and legal frameworks that will “allow them to adapt and flourish in today’s changing environment” and maximize their contribution to sustainable development, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said on Tuesday.
He made the remarks at the launch of the UN Decade of Family Farming on the sidelines of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York.
The event saw the participation of the heads of FAO and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which lead the implementation of the Decade, co-organizers Costa Rica and France, as well as La Via Campesina, the World Rural Forum and the World Farmers’ Organization among others.
“We need to reform our food systems and link the activities of the Decade of Family Farming with the Decade of Action on Nutrition. Family farmers are the ones who produce healthy foods. They can save us from the epidemic of obesity, and we need them for healthy diets,” Graziano Da Silva said.
Read the full story here: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1202098/icode/