THE FUTURE OF

FAMILY FARMING
ILEIA Jubilee Conference

Report on the
FUTURE OF FAMILY FARMING
Conference

Nieuwspoort, The Hague, the Netherlands

15 December 2009

Chair: Bram Huijsman

Director Wageningen International
 Introduction
The Future of Family Farming was
addressed in a conference on 15
December 2009 in Nieuwspoort, The
Hague. ileia - Centre for learning on
sustainable agriculture - organised
this conference in collaboration with
Schuttelaar & Partners. More than 150
professionals from science, government,
business, as well as NGOs, students and
partners from the South explored what
small-scale family farmers have to offer
to the world. They also looked at what
other stakeholders in agriculture ought to
do to give family farmers a fair chance to
survive and thrive.
Leading questions of the conference
were: What is the future of agriculture,
and in particular the future of small-scale
family farmers? What is the impact of
family farming on food security? How can
small-scale farmers mitigate the effects of
climate change and how do they adapt?
During the morning, four keynote
speakers approached the theme from
various angles:
• Camilla Toulmin, economist and
director of the International Institute
for Environment and Development
(IIED) in the UK, focused on climate
change and agriculture: Copenhagen’s
implications for family farming
• K. S. Gopal, executive Director of
the Centre for Environment Concerns
(CEC), Hyderabad in India explored
Teresa Fogelberg (ileia’s chair)
opened the conference
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the strategies followed by family
farmers in ensuring food security; how
resilience and autonomy are central
and determine a possible way forward
• Olufunke Cofie, research
scientist at the International Water
Management Institute (IWMI) and
Regional Coordinator of the Resource
Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food
Security (RUAF) in Ghana, made
a presentation on urban agriculture
in Ghana: her focus was on family
farming and the food system of Accra
• Edith van Walsum, director of ileia
in the Netherlands, reflected on ileia’s
experience as a knowledge broker
for sustainable agriculture and family
farming over the past twenty-five years
and looked at the challenges ahead.
The presentations were followed
by discussions and three regional
workshops, wherein ileia’s African, Latin
American and Asian partners of the
global AgriCultures Network shared their
perspectives and practical experiences.
Ileia’s boardmembers Paul Engel, Janice
Jiggins and Moussa Badji facilitated these
workshops.
The conference was chaired by Bram
Huijsman (director Wageningen
International). The day ended with the
launch of the renewed sustainable
agriculture magazine Farming Matters and
a celebration of ileia’s 25th anniversary.
 Summary
The recognition that the world needs
multi-functional family farming is gaining
ground. Family farms in developing
countries represent more than 1 billion
people. They are family-run undertakings
mostly producing on less than two
hectares, and supplying local and regional
food markets for more than 70 percent,
making a significant contribution to local,
national and regional level food security.
Catering primarily to regional markets and
using mainly local inputs, family farming is
low-carbon agriculture. If managed well, it
is more efficient, more people friendly and
less polluting than large-scale industrial
agriculture. Family farming is not just a
technical concept; it stands for a way of
life, a flexible and complex strategy to
deal with the (often harsh) environment;
it means resilience and a struggle for
independence and dignity. It offers an
alternative way forward in agriculture than
through specialisation and economies of
scale. There are plenty of opportunities
and some daunting challenges ahead if
400 million small-farm families all over the
world are to be given the space they need
to fulfil their potential.
This was the main take-home message
for the participants of this conference.
It sounds very logical, but it is not an
easy message. For the challenges are
numerous, and swift, concerted action
is needed to improve the situation of
family farmers.
‘the family farming They need secure
access to land,
movement must
fairer (international)
feed the insights trade conditions and
and interests they need to know
of small-scale how to adapt their
farming systems to
farmers into
climate change. The
policy debates’ conference showed
that critical consumers,
dynamic farmers’ movements and smart
use of ICTs can play a catalytic role in
strengthening family farming.
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The market place for ideas is
wide open
Family farming deserves more attention
from policymakers than it gets today. The
world is in flux. Climate change, the food
and energy crises as well as financial and
economic crises have shown that there is
a need for creative ideas, new forms of
cooperation and ways of blending time-
tested knowledge with newly emerging
insights. Camilla Toulmin challenged the
audience: ‘The market place for ideas
is wide open. There are opportunities to
influence and design the way in which
climate change policy is being shaped.
The family farming movement must
find ways to take on board the insights
and interests of small women and men
farmers and feed these into policy
dialogues and debates’.
There is enough for
everyone’s need
In recent years, large scale land
acquisition, triggered by an increasing
global demand for biofuels, has become
a major threat to small-scale farmers.
Private investors have set up large-scale
plantations which are pushing small
farmers out of business. Family farmers
have proven to be amazingly flexible and
adaptable but they cannot survive in a
vacuum, on a crumbling resource base.
Governments’ support to small farmers
has focused on specific commodities, not
on production systems, let alone on their
strategic needs. Support of family farming
means that a political choice has to be
made, or even a philosophical one as
K.S. Gopal said, quoting Gandhi: ‘There
is enough for everyone’s need, but not for
anyone’s greed’. Taking the family farming
framework as a starting point means that
policymakers should consider ecology,
sustainable development and human
values in their agricultural and economic
policies.
Green cities
Within the next twenty years, the
majority of the world’s population will
live in cities. Climate change affects
cities, e.g., through increased migration
of ‘climate refugees’ from rural areas.
The result is more pressure on cities,
including the challenge to feed ever-
growing populations. Agriculture in and
around cities (especially the production
of perishable foods) is therefore
an increasingly important option to
complement rural food production.
Besides that, it is a source of income for
poor urban families. It is efficient and
low-carbon agriculture, recycling nutrients
and urban wastewater and reducing food
miles. Olufunke Cofie demonstrated the
benefits and potential of urban farming
using the example of the food system of
Accra in Ghana.
But what is the future scope of urban
family farming, taking into account the
present rate of urbanization and resulting
competition for a water and land. Here
too, a political choice has to be made.
The challenge will be to protect land from
encroachment and estate development
and to ensure that necessary services
such as credit and information exchange
are made accessible to urban farmers.
This requires visionary urban planners
and legislators, and a good synergy
among key stakeholders in urban
agriculture.
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Knowledge brokering in a
global context
Edith van Walsum reflected on 25 years
of knowledge networking for sustainable
agriculture. The former LEISA Network
(today renamed as AgriCultures Network)
has gone a long way in capturing,
validating and disseminating relevant,
local experience of family farmers through
articles in the LEISA Magazine. The
challenge ahead is to show the relevance
of sustainable practices in today’s
context of climate change and food crisis.
Collaboration with research in validating
such practices, and an active engagement
with policy are crucial. The renewed
magazine Farming Matters, linking local
practices more explicitly to global debates,
is a step in this direction. The formation of
a Sustainable Agriculture Alliance with five
other Dutch organisations (ETC, Heifer
Netherlands, Agro Eco Louis Bolk, RUAF
and Both Ends) has been another step.
The keynote speeches in the morning were
accompanied by two short films: Where is
the monsoon? showing an Indian dry land
farm family and Feeding and greening
the city on urban agriculture in Accra.
Localised agriculture
In the afternoon, regional trends in
family farming were presented in three
workshops, facilitated by ileia’s partners
and board members from the AgriCultures
Network. All over the world, agrarian
state policies have lead to an enormous
increase in agricultural production,
but also to environmental problems,
because of mono-cropping and pesticides
and fertilizers becoming ineffective,
growing inequalities and farmers falling
into a debt trap. The workshops made
clear that consumers’ awareness and
farmers’ mobilisation call for alternative
ways and that farmers actually do find
opportunities to improve their situation. In
Asia, sustainable and organic agriculture
are viable alternatives to mainstream
agriculture. In Latin America, the agro-
ecology movement facilitates knowledge
building and exchange between farmers,
scientists and policymakers. And in Africa,
good use of ICT has promising results in
informing, organising and thus empowering
family farmers.
All workshops showed that there is a need
for policy commitment to family farming and
fairer international trade. But there is also a
need to bridge the gap between high level
ideas and policies, and the implementation
of these on the ground. Information and
knowledge brokering to show policymakers
that family farming matters, will be crucial
in the coming months and years.
The challenges facing family farming are
daunting. Concerted action of stakeholders
from South and North will make the
difference.
We wish you inspiration in reading this
report - because farming matters!
Edith van Walsum
Mireille Vermeulen
ileia

For the films see: www.youtube.com/user/ILEIAfoundation

The International Year for Family Farming

A number of farmers’ organizations, NGOs, researchers and
Governments are promoting the idea of an International Year
for Family Farming, to promote a wider acknowledgement of its
significance. Jose Osaba Garcia, initiator, made a passionate
plea to the participants and the Dutch Government to support the
Campaign for the International Year of Family Farming.

www.familyfarmingcampaign.net

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 Content

Introduction   ...   2

Summary   ...   3

Report of the day   ...   7

Presentations - Dr. Camilla Toulmin   ...   11

Presentations - K. S. Gopal   ...   13

Presentations - Dr. Olufunke Cofie   ...   15

Presentations - Edith van Walsum   ...   17

Workshops - Latin America   ...   20

Workshops - Asia   ...   22

Workshops - Africa   ...   24

CV speakers   ...   26

Colophon   ...   27
 Report of the day

Bram Huijsman

Climate food. With products showing more natural

and seasonal diversity than what is sold
Despite its failure to come up with
in western supermarkets, small farmers
objective targets and solutions, the
are the ones that feed world, not the
Climate Change summit in Copenhagen
industrial farms. The world is running out
in December 2009 has made clear that
of options: India alone has 450 million
there is great urgency in finding answers
family farmers, and this will double in
to climate change. What happens to water
30 years. Their systems have built in
and moisture is of vital importance. It is
resilience to climate change, especially
obvious that low carbon agriculture is the
because of the diversity of crops. People
future, and this can give a large impetus
should return to indigenous crops and
to family farming. Resilience of family
food habits.
farming systems is an advantage in this
respect, but more answers from a family
Urban agriculture
farming perspective are needed, for
instance on bio-fuels, land grabbing, and In and around cities, many family
access to CO2 compensation markets for farms produce perishable foods (fruits,
small farmers. vegetables, animal products) for city
dwellers. They provide nutritious,
Family farming affordable and culturally appropriate
food to the urban population. (Peri)urban
Family farming is about improving
agriculture is also important as a strategy
livelihoods. It is about the rights of
for coping with climate change, for
families to produce food on their own
example by recovery or reuse of nutrients
terms. Farmers are innovators, making
and water. The key is to upgrade waste to
use of the practical experience of
resources, such as nutrients and water.
generations of many millions of farmers.
And they want to be autonomous.
But can urgan agriculture alone feed
the growing city population or are better
Small farmers are efficient producers of
linkages with rural farming needed?

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The answer is that urban agriculture might
develop and open up new areas, but both
systems are needed to provide enough
food.
Agro-ecology movement in
Latin America
In Latin America, the agro-ecology
movement represents many organisations
and networks, as well as individuals
and representatives of local, regional
and national governments. What brings
these persons and organisations
together is their interest in exchanging
knowledge, and in participating in a
broad debate on the role of agriculture
in contemporary society. Documentation
and systematization processes play a key
role here. The best environment in which
to promote agro-ecology is democracy.
All efforts should aim at reinforcing
this democracy: strengthening the civil
society, but also reinforcing the state and
its institutions and ensuring an adequate
balance of power. An important question
is what role the younger generation will
want to play in agriculture, for they will be
responsible for feeding the world in 2050.
Feeding the world in Asia
In China, the political lead question with
regards to agriculture is safety of food.
Family farmers in China are important,
as they produce 20% of the food in the
world. They focus on industrial production
methods. Interestingly, farmers plant
different crops for the market and
Gert Jan Becx questioning the speakers
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for themselves. In India, the Green
Revolution has been a mismatch because
of its high costs and displacement of
farmers depending on rain-fed agriculture.
Agriculture is a livelihood: it employs
people, it is diversified and integrated.
Climate change, poverty and food supply
need to be addressed in an integrated
way, and food miles must be reduced.
Sustainable land and water management
and appropriate technologies are the
only alternative. In Indonesia, organic
agriculture stands for a new way of
agriculture. Now 230,000 hectares are
under some sort of organic agriculture.
The increased awareness of consumers
in booming Asian cities may become an
important driver of sustainable/organic
agriculture in the coming years.
ICTs for food in Africa
African family farming systems are
characterised by an increased pressure
on land, due to a combined effect of
increase in household size and external
factors such as land grabbing and
conflicting interests between farmers and
pastoralists. Households therefore must
seek diversity in economic resources.
Migration is high, especially in the
younger generation who sees no future
in farming. At the same time, there is a
growing demand for food from the urban
population, in which family farming plays
a crucial role. Family farming should
ensure food sovereignty, but problems in
assuring food sovereignty are not merely
Roberto Ugas questioning the speakers
technical. Political involvement is even
more important: empowered farmers
produce more. However, technique can
play a role. ICTs can link farmers to
market information and buyers. Mobile
phones have already had an enormous
impact in Africa.
Farming Matters…
Information is crucial in small-scale
farming everywhere. ileia has played
an important role in improving farmers’
access to information in the last 25
years, by the publication of (former)
LEISA Magazine, a global magazine
on small-scale family farming.
Actually, ileia is working with seven
partners in the AgriCultures Network.
The regional magazines document
practical field experiences from small-
scale family farming. They offer an
opportunity for those working in
agricultural development to publish
their experiences and to read about the
experiences of others. Now that ileia
is working with regional partners, the
global edition aims more and more to
link experiences of small-scale farmers
to global discussions and to make
small-scale farming visible as a viable
option for development. The new name
of the magazine is Farming Matters.
Paul Menkveld, director of the Sustainable
Economic Development Department of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Netherlands released the new magazine.
Paul Menkveld
 | ileia
In his speech he highlighted ileia’s proven
value in sharing local experiences with
small-scale farming and he welcomed the
intention of ileia to target policymakers
with the magazine.
…in Latin America
As already mentioned, knowledge
building in Latin America is for a large
part institutionalized in the agro-ecology
movement. Scientists, farmers, NGOs
and state institutions exchange and
adapt their experiences and focus. Agro-
ecology, or low-external-input sustainable
agriculture, is widely known and
accepted. There is a growing dichotomy in
Latin America. On the one hand, there is
a rather small group of very large farmers
producing for international and regional
markets. On the other hand, there is a
very large group of small farmers (about
17 million) producing for their families, but
also for local and regional markets. They
have found colleagues and scientists in
the agro-ecology movement, providing
a forum in which to exchange problems
and experiences that can improve their
agricultural techniques. Small farmers
have the expertise in this, and state and
commercial farmers can learn a lot from
them. But it may help also in organizing
them, to defend their rights collectively.
…in Asia
In Asia, small farmers (over 200 million)
produce the bulk of the food for the
region and even for the world. They have
A new magazine
been supported by state and NGOs to
adopt a commercial way of farming. The
Green Revolution has certainly improved
yields and food availability, but has had
negative consequences as well: hybrid
crops are not adapted to certain climatic
and weather conditions, farmers are
highly dependent on credits for fertilizers
and other inputs, resulting in a high
suicide rate among farmers who have
problems repaying their debts. Asia is
on a crossroad in the development of
agricultural systems. Intensification of
food production is needed for the growing
population. Will only big industrial farms
be capable of producing this growing
demand or will small farmers have
something to offer with their sustainable
or organic smallholdings? Farmers need
to exchange and build up information
on good practices and alternatives for
intensive production techniques, as
these have already proven not to be
very worthwhile in all situations. The
Green Revolution has merely focused
on irrigated rice production, whereas
the growing demand for food asks for
intensification in less favourable rain-fed
agricultural regions.
…in Africa
In Africa, 80 percent of agricultural
production comes from small farmers
(some 33 million) on farms of less than 2
hectares. They produce 90 percent of all
food products in the region. Small farmers
in Africa need knowledge on agricultural
Reporting back from the workshops...
10 | ileia
techniques suited for farming in dry,
marginal areas. Therefore, information
needs to focus on organic fertilizers,
mixed techniques and risk management.
But farmers also need information on
things like better commercialisation of
their products. ICTs offer opportunities
to reach a large audience with this
practical information on prices and
markets. But there is another component
in information: to develop into a critical
mass, small farmers need information
about the democratic systems, about
their rights as citizens, they need to
know what property rights on land they
can claim so that they can invest in their
lands. Empowered farmers farm better:
they invest in land fertility and sustainable
production methods. The situation in
Africa could even be looked upon in a
very optimistic way: Africa could jump
directly onto the right path to sustainable
farming, offering chances for everyone,
as they did with jumping onto the right
path of mobile phones. That has been
the most practical and efficient strategy
to choose in the fast changing world
of communications, and it has worked:
mobile phones have changed the world in
Africa, in the field of finance, commerce
and agriculture.
 Presentations - Dr. Camilla Toulmin

Dr. Camilla Toulmin:

Climate change and agriculture - Copenhagen implications for family

Coming straight from the Copenhagen to see that agriculture has been part of
Climate Summit, Camilla Toulmin gave the climate problem, but also has the
an update of the current international potential to be part of the solution. For
debate on agriculture’s role in climate agriculture represents a source as well as
change. She ended with linking the a sink for carbon: ploughed land releases
climate negotiations to the future of family greenhouse gases, but well-managed
farming worldwide. Impressed by the land can retain and absorb significant
huge amount of information and the many quantities of organic carbon.
different ideas about the rapidly changing
context of climate and agriculture, Low carbon agriculture
Toulmin is convinced that the family Diversity in agriculture is important to
farming movement has space to take off. cope with climate change and to make
Flexibility and adaptability are crucial for effective use of natural resources. This
climate and agriculture. demands both global science and local
skills. Multi-functional family farming
Climate continues to be not only a livelihood
The discussion on global warming and strategy for hundreds of millions of
agriculture focuses on issues such as families, it also has in-built resilience
carbon emission, water mechanisms that will be crucial in
use, biodiversity, use of ‘Climate negotiators are the context of climate change,
natural resources and mainly focused on tropical such as diversity in crop mixes
on how to produce more forests and reforestation, and better management
food with less input. of water. Reification of
but it is very likely that in
Changes in temperature indigenous knowledge as the
are important for farming the next five to ten years, solution to all problems is not
and farming systems, but carbon management will realistic, but if science could
what happens to water be guided by the needs and
shift out of forests and into
and moisture availability perspectives of family farming,
is vital. It is important agriculture more broadly’ we could gain a lot.

11 | ileia
Thus, low carbon agriculture is the
future, but can family farmers win in
this system? At the moment the system
is in flux and we need to develop ideas
of what family farming can offer to the
debate. Can family farmers feed 9 billion
people by 2050, and how? A clear design
of low-carbon agriculture is needed.
Much of the industrial sector cannot
survive under a low-carbon model and
with properly-priced greenhouse gases.
Industrial agriculture will need to learn
from family farming. Even Binswanger,
former economist of the World Bank
stated that only for a few plantation crops
is large-scale production economically
advantageous. Other commercially
produced crops survive only because of
preferential access to credit, inputs and
markets offered by governments.
Small farmers
Climate policy now being developed
will have impact on agriculture and
farming systems: the question of bio-
fuels, large foreign land acquisitions in
Africa for food and bio-fuel crops, carbon
offsets, energy costs and the food miles
debate (how far should food travel from
producer to consumer?) would need to
be looked at in terms of their implications
on family farming, both as threats and
opportunities. Another issue is the
payments for Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Desertification (REDD):
forests must be worth more standing than
felled. Africa often gets nothing out of
cooperation for fixing carbon. We need
12 | ileia
to design systems that allow market
access to suppliers of carbon surpluses,
especially small African producers.
Consumer pressure
Consumers play an important role in the
climate-agriculture debate. What helps
is a better understanding and awareness
of the global power of consumers: we
can shame supermarket bosses into
addressing issues. But the majority
of buyers are deeply conservative.
Consumers have also been guided by the
misperception that carbon footprints of
fruits and vegetables flown in from Africa
are too high, whereas other changes
in their lives would make a far greater
impact than stopping the purchase of
produce from African farmers. We must
also look at alternative procurement
channels, to meet consumers´ as well
as producers´ needs. In an imperfect
world, it may be more realistic to make
supermarkets work better. Governments
need to make collective statements and
regulations concerning what is acceptable
and what not.
The next 6 to 12 months will be critical
for finding solution for climate change
and choosing good agricultural strategies.
Voices of family farmers need to be heard
in this.
 Presentations - K. S. Gopal

K. S. Gopal:
Food and Family Farming - Resilience, Autonomy and Way Forward

Gopal’s presentation was preceded by a Autonomy

short film, Where is the monsoon?, in
In this struggle, family farmers are neither
which an Indian family from the semi-arid
heroes nor victims, but entrepreneurs
Anantapur district explains their choice
who try to make optimal use of their
for multi-functional organic agriculture.
resources. Family farming is about more
As of today, 60% of agricultural land in
than producing commodities. It is about
India is under dry land cultivation. The
communities being given a fair chance to
family explains how farmers have become
improve their livelihoods. It is about the
completely dependent on one cash crop,
rights of women farmers to produce food
groundnut, promoted by the Government
on their own terms. It is about decreasing
since the 1970s. This policy has had
dependency from money lenders,
disastrous consequences: as fertilisers
from external inputs and from external
and pesticides were not very ineffective
knowledge. Farmers are innovators,
under dryland conditions, market prices
making use of the practical experience of
came down and rains became more
generations of many millions of farmers.
erratic, farmers fell into a debt trap. Many
They want to be autonomous. Farmers
committed suicide. This family
talk about the value of their
explains the advantages of
‘Family farmers optimize cow, which provides not only
a more diverse approach to
available factors of milk or meat but also timely
farming that builds on locally
plough, dung as soil nutrient
available resources. The production as to sustain
and urine for pest control.
film however shows that it is every one’s health needs Farmers are trying to seek
not just about farming with
(soils, micro-organisms, quality of life by optimizing
organic inputs but about an
productive resources,
entire lifestyle. The example animals and humans).
not exploiting
from India shows how farmers Industrial farmers are driven them. That is their
experience this environmental
by supply opportunities and philosophical mindset.
change and how they struggle
to find solutions. profit optimization’

13 | ileia
 reason to believe that small farmers are
inefficient. Maybe their products show
more natural and seasonal diversity,
but small farmers feed the world, not
industries. It is up to society to decide
which type of food it wants and what
consequences that should have for the
economy.

Narayana Reddy
Diverse farming systems
Moreover, the world is running out of
options. India has 450 million people
Government in small-scale farming and this will
support almost double to 800 milion by 2050. So
nations and states need to know what
The government of India has waived 10
family farmers need. Family farming is
million of loans for farmers. Fertilizer
closely related to food security and the
subsidy was 15 billion euros in India last
right to food. This is in the first place an
year. At the same time, India in the last
issue of confidence about the access to
10 years has lost many traditional breeds.
food. All farmers have risk management
Protection in India is geared towards
strategies of up to three years. Production
supporting specific products, which leads
has especially fallen in monoculture,
to distortions in products and economies.
in irrigated areas. One Indian farmer,
We need to understand this first to be
Narayana Reddy, present at the
able to understand family farming. Family
conference, told from his own experience
farmers’ objective is independence. But
that formerly there were at least 16 local
family farmers cannot and do not want
millets. Now they have only rice and
to succeed in a vacuum. They need
wheat, and he blames the multinational
considerable policy support. Therefore we
seed companies and state policy focusing
need to look at the global economic order
on one or two crops only. Consumers
and the direction in which it is moving.
should return to indigenous food. Grains
The question is, how do we manage
for people are now fed to animals to
change in these turbulent times, not how
produce meat. These food habits should
do we create more products.
change and governments must provide
support. Diverse crops are vital to
Do we want to solve the
building a resilient system, especially
problem?
in face of changes in temperature and
Seventy percent of people live in cities, rainfall. In fact, farmers know exactly
yet 70% of our food comes from family what plants are best suited to specific
farming. Family farmers can solve the environmental circumstances; they are an
hunger problem in the world. The issue early warning system. Practicing farmers
is, do we want them to do that? What observe minute changes, not just in yields
is the global order we are looking for? but also in multiple change effects still
The policy focus on one product and the unknown to scientists. Science can learn
industrial production pricing does not a lot from small-scale farmers, and this
take into account the key elements of may also become a motivation for the
the family farmer framework. It overlooks younger generation to stay in farming.
principles of ecology, sustainable
development and human values. We need
to create synergy – knowledge, products
and services for farmers. There is no

14 | ileia
 Presentations - Dr. Olufunke Cofie

Dr. Olufunke Cofie:

Urban agriculture in Ghana: Family farming and the food system of

Olufinke Cofie’s presentation was and peri-urban agriculture to overall food

preceded by a film Feeding and greening supply to the city is considerably lower
the city on food systems and urban than that of the countryside, it remains
agriculture in Accra, capital of Ghana. the main source of key commodities such
Cities face dynamic pressures resulting as fresh leafy vegetables. For instance,
from rapid urbanization, complex urban lettuce in Accra is mainly provided by
systems and consequences of climate urban farmers and purchased by street
change, each with an impact on the urban vendors selling fast food. About 200.000
food situation. In 2010, 51 percent of people consume this daily through street
Ghana’s population lives in cities. Accra’s vendors. Taking into account restaurants
food is partly imported from abroad and and hotels, this number would be even
available in supermarkets, such rice, more.
wheat and poultry. But local and fresh
food products come from the country. Nutrient pit
Urban agriculture is crucial for urban food (Peri)urban agriculture can be important
security. as a strategy to cope with climate change,
e.g., by recovery/reuse of nutrients and
Consumption and production water. The key is to upgrade waste to
Urban consumers use food products resources, such as nutrients and water.
from rural and urban farmers. Rural The city can be seen as a nutrients pit.
farmers in Ghana provide markets in Ninety percent of nutrients in Accra´s
Accra with staples: maize, yam, cassava soils flow in from rural areas, 70 percent
and plantain. In and around cities, for Kumasi and 75 percent for Tamale.
many family farms The total annual rural-
produce perishable ‘In Ghana 19 percent of the rural urban nutrient flow has a
foods: fruits, leafy population and 10 percent of the fertilizer value of US$
vegetables and animal urban population are food insecure. 10 million. The city is
products. Although the a resource sink, but
contribution of urban
Most affected are food crop farmers’ the bulk of nutrients

15 | ileia
end up in the drains or landfills, because the government. In other countries,
recycling is minimal. farmers’ organisations are often larger.
But Ghanaian organisations are fairly
Urban food security strong; many work together in platforms,
There is an important role for (peri)urban combining family farming and community
agriculture in enhancing urban food farming.
security.
The question is, with the actual rate of Urban agriculture is now being seen as
urbanisation and a legitimate use of urban land and
resulting water ‘The role of urban or peri-urban resources by governments. Two
problem and key aspects for future: the
agriculture is in enhancing urban
competing claims development of a sustainable
food security by providing nutritious, food production system for
on land in mind,
whether there affordable and culturally appropriate Accra and better urban-rural
is a big future food to the urban population’ linkages. Urban and rural
for urban family agriculture have to be integrated
farming. Or are better linkages with rural in the national policy.
farming needed to supply enough food
for the urban population? According to
Cofie there is always a place for urban
farming. It might move and open up new
areas, but it remains. The two systems
will complement each other in providing
enough food.

Marketing
More than rural farmers, urban farmers
can choose to produce for national,
regional and even international markets.
Marketing channels for agricultural food
products are found through intermediation
of middlemen, supermarkets and buyers
for international markets. In Ghana,
farmers’ organisations are small, but
they are registered and supported by

16 | ileia
 Presentations - Edith van Walsum

Edith van Walsum:

Knowledge networking at crossroads

Edith van Walsum is director of ileia and From History to Future

commemorated ileia’s 25 th birthday. She
Ileia started publishing its magazine in
proudly looked back on ileia’s 25 years
1984. At that time, it had a circulation of
of knowledge sharing and expertise
500 copies. Today the global edition of the
development in sustainable agriculture.
magazine and its seven regional editions
The organisation supports agriculture that
in different parts of the world reach out
is socially just, economically sound and
to more than 50,000 subscribers and
ecologically sustainable. It started with
to many more readers in 154 countries.
the dream to build an alternative to green
Since its initiation, the magazine
revolution thinking, which was at its peak
has been a platform for knowledge
in the mid 1980s. ileia encouraged the
exchange between practitioners. Over
use of local skills and resources rather
the years, thousands of authors and
than chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It
hundreds of thousands of readers have
promoted LEISA as an inclusive, practical,
been contributing, sharing, using and
non-dogmatic concept. By focusing
validating practical experiences. Ileia’s
on entrepreneurial
‘Women are at the focus has always been on small-scale
skills and innovation,
family farmers, though the scope has
it has gone beyond heart of family farming’ widened over the years. In the early
subsistence farming;
years, farmers’ agricultural practices
it has a market
and the use of local inputs were central,
orientation and is broader than organic
and this was embodied in the term
agriculture alone. Twenty-five years
LEISA: Low External Input Sustainable
of global exchange of local knowledge
Agriculture.
shows the vitality and promises of this
approach for the years to come. ileia’s
network is locally rooted and globally
Farming Matters
connected. Resilience and diversity are The scope has widened and this is
key words now, as they have been in the reflected in the contents of the Magazine.
past. Today, in 2009, we are leaving the

17 | ileia
name LEISA behind us, as we feel it
has become too narrow a term. LEISA
practices are not an aim in themselves
but one of the means towards an end.
Family farmers are solution providers and
it is important to put them central. This
has been the reason for ileia to change
the name of LEISA Magazine into Farming
Matters.
Locally rooted, globally
connected
Farming Matters, the renewed magazine,
also demarcates a milestone in the growth
18 | ileia
process of ileia’s network. Previously
ileia’s regional partners in Latin America,
Africa and Asia sourced many of the
articles for their regional editions of
LEISA Magazine from the global edition,
whereas they now source information
predominantly at regional level and feed
the global team with this information. The
global edition will from now onwards focus
more on global issues and trends, and will
link these to local experiences and needs.
To celebrate this milestone, the network
has renamed itself as the AgriCultures
network, and adopted the motto: Locally
rooted, globally connected.
The network’s magazines are used in a
variety of settings, e.g., educators use it
as a source of inspiration for teaching,
farmers use technical ‘how to’ articles and
are debating articles in meetings, and a
Tanzanian MP has been referring to the
magazine during Parliament sessions. In
Brazil the magazine is part and parcel of
the agro-ecology movement.
Family farming is women’s
farming
Family farming is women’s farming to
a large extent. Globally, the number
of female-headed households in rural
areas is increasing because of death,
migration and desertion of women by
men. Reflecting on the effects of food
and financial crises, several AgriCultures
partners noted the trend of migrants
returning home from cities to rural areas.
It was mainly women who had been
keeping the farms going while their male
relatives had gone to the cities; these
women had to suddenly accommodate
‘extra’ family members. This illustrates
the resilience of family farms in dealing
with sudden changes, and also shows
that women are the backbone of this
resilience.
today’s global challenges; this means
that we should reach different target
audiences and develop new ways of
collaboration. Collaboration with research
in validating sustainable agriculture
practices, and an active engagement
with policy are crucial. The formation of
a Sustainable Agriculture Alliance with
five other Dutch organisations (ETC,
Heifer Netherlands, Agro Eco Louis
Bolk, RUAF and Both Ends) is a step
in this direction. Further strengthening
of the global AgriCultures Network and
engaging in new global partnerships
are equally important. In the coming
years the AgriCultures network will seek
new partners in the Arab world, Eastern
Europe/Central Asia and, last but not
least, in Western Europe.

Women farmers are often not educated,

which poses a special challenge to the
magazines of how to address them.
In China, the partner CBIK organises
Farmer Field School reading groups.
In Peru, ETC Andes uses other media
than magazines (e.g. radio and video)
in addressing women, who rarely read
magazines because of illiteracy. In the
coming years, ileia also plans to work
more with rural journalists who write
articles in local newspapers, which reach
more men, women and youth in their own
local languages.

New partnerships
ileia believes that a wider global
acknowledgement of the role of family
farming is required in the context of

19 | ileia
 Workshops - Latin America

Paulo Petersen:
Latin America: The agro-ecology movement

The workshop started with a short video to Paulo Petersen this diversity is due
showing some interviews with some of the to historical processes in the region:
participants at the agro-ecology congress the fight of peasants for land reform,
held in Curitiba, Brazil, in November the modernization processes of the
2009. The remarks in the video on this 1960s and 1970s, the role of the Church
congress and the meaning of the South against the dictatorships of the time, the
American agro-ecology movement were democratization and decentralisation
complemented by Roberto Ugas (la Molina processes going on since the 1980s, and
University in Lima, Peru) and Paulo the ‘expressions of resistance’ which are
Petersen (AS-PTA in Brazil). seen nowadays (against, for example,
GMOs and globalization).
The movement
The Latin American agro-ecology Exchanging knowledge
movement represents many organizations The movement is a range of efforts
and networks, as well as individuals and and initiatives giving value to a set of
representatives of local, regional and experiences. What brings these persons
national governments. All of them work with and organisations together is their
different aims and objectives: some aim at interest in exchanging knowledge, and in
strengthening farmer organisations, others participating in a broad debate on the role
look at biodiversity or Intellectual Property of agriculture in contemporary society.
Rights. There are conceptual differences Documentation and systematization
between those who have a processes play a key role,
strict ‘organic’ focus and those through which practitioners, or
Small farmers have
with a broader perspective, the ‘owners’ of an experience,
while even greater differences the expertise in agro- become activists. Translating
in involvement, interest or ecology, and state and a field-based programme into
commitment between the
commercial farmers can a political discourse can be
various national governments an example for other regions
can be observed. According learn a lot from them. of the world, also for Europe.

20 | ileia
The focus of the movement is broader
than the technical aspects of agricultural
production. Besides family farmers, other
interest groups are included, for instance
consumers, exporters of agricultural
products (organic products go abroad) and
people migrated from another region and
keeping on to food traditions from home.

Role of the government

Governments actively participate in the
Latin American movement, but sometimes
interacting with the government ‘is not
the solution, but rather the problem’. The
best environment in which to promote
agro-ecology is democracy. All efforts
should aim at reinforcing this democracy:
strengthening the civil society, but also
reinforcing the state and its institutions
and ensuring an adequate balance of
power. An important question is on the
role of the younger generation: they will
be responsible for feeding the world in
2050. Many young people are already
participating actively, as was clearly seen
in the Curitiba meeting itself. However
the larger picture is that many youths are
losing interest in agriculture, as in other
parts of the world.

A magazine in the movement

Magazines are playing a key role in
linking individuals and organizations
to the agro-ecology movement, and in
forming networks at different levels. The
AgriCultures network’s niche lies in the
documentation of experiences, and in
building knowledge from practice. This
is what helps increase the linkages and
the exchange of opinions, ideas and
information. Farming Matters and the
regional editions should not be external
magazines, but be part of the movement
and complementing each other. By
stimulating people to write, and by
developing a documentation culture, the
Agricultures network can empower the
movement.

21 | ileia
 Workshops - Asia

Indro Surono, Malla Reddy, Qian Jie:

Asia: can family farmers feed Asia?

Asia is immense and diverse. In three transfer rights. The state-run system has
different presentations, some answers and accelerated the development of Chinese
backgrounds were given to the question of agriculture, but this resulted in high input
whether family farmers can feed Asia. agriculture, loss of agro-biodiversity, high
prices of seeds and genetically-modified
China crop species. It is largely family farmers
Qian Jie, director of CBIK, an NGO in in China, who are producing 20% of food
south-west China working on food security of the world. They focus on the industrial
and land issues, said in her presentation way of producing, like western farmers
that the political lead question in China (also in majority family farmers). However
with regards to agriculture is safety of a considerable percentage of Chinese
food. The environment is polluted. There farmers lives in mountainous regions; these
is unhealthy competition because of illegal farmers continue to follow more varied and
production methods and practices in localised practices. Interestingly, farmers
grassroots markets. After the polluted milk plant different crops for the market and for
and other scandals, Chinese people now themselves.
have become interested. According to Qian
Jie, the massive outcry of urban consumers India
for healthy food is driving a process Malla Reddy, director of NGO Accion
towards more sustainable production. Fraterna in Anantapur, focused in his
The Ministry has apologised and is in the presentation on the Green Revolution,
process of setting up a Quality which has been a mismatch
Control system. for India because of its high
The growing demand costs and the displacement of
Land policies in China have for food asks for farmers depending on rain-fed
shifted from a household- intensification in less agriculture. Agriculture is a
responsibility contract system livelihood: it employs people,
favourable rain-fed
to a system of multiple it is diversified and integrated.
ownership and the possibility to agricultural regions Instead of improving the

22 | ileia
existing system, India embarked on a problems and relations of dependency and
borrowed system. This has led to a crisis debt of family farmers. A more localised
in agriculture and to suicides of around approach to ensuring food security would
100,000 farmers who did not know how to make more sense than continuing to
get out of their debts. subsidize rice and wheat production,
which are water-intensive crops. The
Food self-sufficiency is receding and organic movement in Indonesia and other
most of the powerful forces promote countries is still small, but growing. While
technical solutions. But climate change, many young farmers are turning their back
livelihood, poverty and food supply have towards modern industrial agriculture,
to be addressed in an integrated way: organic agriculture is emerging as an
food miles, imports and exports need to alternative. The increased awareness
be reduced. Sustainable land and water of consumers in booming Asian cities
management and appropriate technologies (in China reinforced by the polluted milk
are the only alternative. scandals) may become an important driver
of sustainable/organic agriculture in the
Indonesia coming years.
Indro Surono (former president of the
Indonesian Organic Agriculture Alliance)
and Shintia Darwina (editor of Petani
Magazine) stated that industrial farming
has in fact no future in Indonesia. The
Green Revolution with its lending for
technical packages and building up
debts has been a traumatic experience
for farmers. Yet the Government keeps
subsidising inputs. Land conversion is still
on-going to meet the food demands. Young
villagers are not interested in agriculture.
Policymakers and researchers have been
brainwashed in intensification with a few
simple ingredients, as a simple and easy
recipe. But in reality intensification is
wasteful. In Indonesia, the term ‘organic’
stands for a new way of agriculture. Now
230,000 hectares are under some sort of
organic agriculture. ‘If all food becomes
organic, you do not need to waste
resources on certification’, said Surono.
The organic movement is still small
compared to the established movement,
the nexus between government, industry
and research that is far more powerful.

Redefining food security in

Asia
As the Indian film Where is the monsoon?
also showed, government policies in Asian
countries have been focused on a limited
number of crops, leading to environmental

23 | ileia
 Workshops - Africa

James Nguo, Moussa Badji, Bara Gueye:

Africa: the future of family farming and the role of ITC

Increased land pressure access to land. An example from Niger

was brought up to show that organizing
Bara Gueye, director of IED Afrique pointed
people is not enough to improve food
out that the West African context of family
sovereignty. The most vulnerable are still
farming is characterised by an increased
left out. So family farming is not always the
pressure on land, due to a combined
answer, there is still hunger. Bara pointed
effect of increase in household size and
that a purely technical approach will not
external factors such as land grabbing
be enough to get more food produced, the
and conflicting interests of farmers/
problem is mainly political: empowered
pastoralists. The increased household size
famers can be more productive. The
does not necessarily mean that there is
discussion focused on the political side of
an increased workforce too: there is less
food sovereignty: only since the last two
land per worker. Households therefore
years (with the price hikes of 2007-2008),
must search diversity in economic
governments
resources. Migration is high, especially
have taken
by the younger generation who sees no Empowered farmers
the problem
future in farming. At the same time, there farm better
more seriously
is a growing demand for food from urban
and have
population. Family farming plays a crucial
dedicated resources and attention to it. But
role in supplying food to the cities. But
pastoralism has to be taken into account
their influence (to be promoted by better
too!
access to information) is needed to ensure
inclusive agricultural policies.
ICTs and mobile phones
Food sovereignty James Nguo, director of ALIN (Arid
Lands Information Network), shared
Food sovereignty is more than just food
some experiences with the use of ICTs in
security. Where food security focuses
Kenya. ALIN has set up some Commodity
on production and productivity, food
Resource Platforms, linking farmers’
sovereignty is about the right to food and
information on local commodities and

24 | ileia
market opportunities in the rest of the
country. The system is free for farmers,
but traders buy the information at a fee.
Compared to other marketing initiatives,
ALIN’s information channels are very
direct and up-to-date. ALIN uses people
in their regional knowledge centers (with
books, magazines, internet access, i-pods,
video’s and training facilities supported
by ALIN). They can directly communicate
with supermarkets and traders in towns.
The knowledge centers play an important
role: they attracts young people, i-pods
with ‘how to’ information can be lent by
farmers (many of them women) to look at
them at home, in their own time. One of
the knowledge centers was even officially
honored for its contribution to marketing.
Mobile telephony has huge potential in
Africa, having a mobile phone is like having
a bank account. This has changed the
money transfer system a lot.

Promote family farming

Both national corruption and international
agricultural and trading policies have a big
influence on the local situation, but can
hardly be managed at local level. Policy
commitment to promote family farming
and fairer international trade conditions
are needed. But there is a need to bridge
the wide gap between high level ideas
and policies, and the implementation of
these on the ground. The CADEP initiative
(NEPAD’s programme on the revitalisation
of African agriculture) is promising; the
family farming movement should use this
space for new initiatives.

25 | ileia
 CV speakers
Camilla Toulmin
Camilla Toulmin, economist, is director of
the International Institute for Environment
and Development (IIED) in the UK. Her
work has always focused on social,
economic and environmental development
in dry-land Africa. Through field research,
policy analysis and advocacy she has been
involved with people at many different
levels, from farmer and researchers to
national governments, NGOs, donor
agencies and international bodies.
K.S. Gopal
K.S. Gopal is founding father of the Indian
Centre for Environmental Concerns (CEC),
an organisation based in Hyderabad,
India that combines research, extension,
advocacy and innovation of processes and
environmental services. At this moment
he is deeply involved in the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act, a social
protection programme addressing rural
poverty by employment entitlements,
minimum wages, credits and other inputs.
26 | ileia
Olufunke Cofie
Olufunke Cofie is research scientist at the
International Water Management Institute
(IWMI) and Regional Coordinator of the
Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture
and Food Security (RUAF). She has over
ten years research and training experience
on various aspects of natural resource
management in dev eloping countries. She
started as a university lecturer in Nigeria
and Ghana and is now research scientist at
IWMI. Cofie has experiences in soil fertility,
soil and water management, agronomy and
agriculture-sanitation linkages.
Edith van Walsum
Edith van Walsum, rural sociologist,
is director of ileia in the Netherlands
since 2007. She worked as development
practitioner in West Africa and India for
15 years, was lecturer Gender studies
in Agriculture at Wageningen University
and worked as a consultant. Her special
interests are the empowerment of small-
scale farmers, particularly women,
and institutional learning processes in
sustainable agriculture.
 Colophon
Conference on the future of
family farming
ileia organised a conference on the
future of family farming on 15 December
2009 in Nieuwspoort in The Hague (the
Netherlands), on the occasion of its
25th anniversary. The objective was to
explore how family farming addresses
global problems like climate change and
food security, and to identify what other
stakeholders in agriculture should do to
give family farmers their due space, so that
they can actualise their potential.
The broader aim was to bring together
people working in the sector and present
ileia as a global knowledge broker in the
field of sustainable farming.
ileia’s mission is to find, document,
systematise, publish and widely share
relevant experiences in small-scale,
sustainable agriculture. Sharing knowledge
and practical experience empowers
farmers and fieldworkers, and contributes
to a wider recognition of small-scale family
farming in society.
ileia is part of the global AgriCultures
Network, whose member organisations all
gather and share knowledge on sustainable
small-scale farming.
For more information see www.ileia.org
27 | ileia
Contact information ileia
ileia – centre for learning on sustainable
agriculture
PO Box 2067
3800 CB Amersfoort
The Netherlands
Tel: 00 31 (0)33 4673870
Partners
ileia has collaborated with Schuttelaar &
Partners to organise this conference. This
consultancy firm has extensive experience
in the organisation of events and has
content expertise and an impressive
network in the field of food and global
developments.
Ileia’s two main donors, DGIS and Sida,
have been the main financial supporters
of this conference. The contribution of
the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature
and Food Quality (LNV) permitted ileia to
produce the films on sustainable dry-land
farming in India and on urban agriculture in
Ghana. Donations by several participants
at the ileia conference made it possible to
invite and support two special guests from
India: Narayana Reddy, organic farmer and
Malla Reddy from Accion Fraterna, an NGO
in Anantapur.
www.ileia.org