Small farms in Northern Europe are found alongside some of the largest - and in some cases, most industrialised - farms in the whole of Europe.
SALSA is an EU Horizon 2020 project that set out to assess the current and future role of small farms and related small food businesses (suppliers, processors, distributors) in achieving sustainable Food and Nutrition Security (FNS). SALSA studied small farms in 30 reference regions in 20 countries - 25 regions (at the so-called NUTS3 administrative level) in Europe and 5 regions in Africa.
SALSA est un projet Horizon 2020 de l'UE qui visait à évaluer le rôle actuel et futur des petites exploitations agricoles et des petites entreprises alimentaires associées (fournisseurs, transformateurs, distributeurs) dans la réalisation d'une sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle (SNA) durable. SALSA a étudié de petites exploitations dans 30 régions de référence dans 20 pays : 25 régions (au niveau administratif dit NUTS3) en Europe et 5 régions en Afrique.
Les petites exploitations agricoles du nord de l’Europe côtoient certaines des exploitations les plus grandes – et dans certains cas, les plus industrialisées – de toute l’Europe.
The State of Food and Agriculture 2014: Innovation in family farming analyses family farms and the role of innovation in ensuring global food security, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. It argues that family farms must be supported to innovate in ways that promote sustainable intensification of production and improvements in rural livelihoods. Innovation is a process through which farmers improve their production and farm management practices.
“Business as usual” is no longer an option for a food-secure future. Pastoralism can be an innovative system: a time-tested, undervalued alternative to high-input and resource-intensive farming, and a valuable lesson for the much needed evolution towards ‘farming with nature’, with largely-untapped potential for income growth and employment in marginal areas.
The publication is a part of the FAO work to assist the member countries in reforming their national Extension and Advisory Services (EAS). It highlights the main elements and provides concrete guidelines for the policy makers to make EAS demand-driven, i.e. responsive to diverse needs and demands of rural producers, including the most vulnerable groups, women and youth etc.
The Water Resources Department, Government of Maharashtra, responsible for building infrastructure and delivering water to farmers and other users, has so far created irrigation potential of about 5.3. million hectares and the current utilization is about 76%. About 5000 Water User Associations (WUAs) have been established to manage the water supply within their designated areas. However, the water use efficiency and productivity is adversely impacting the overall water security of the state.
FAO has been promoting the use of ICTs in agriculture and has focused on ICT innovation for improving agricultural production and enhancing value chains. This publication is an effort to share success stories on the use of ICTs for agriculture and rural development. This publication showcases a few case studies where innovative use of emerging technologies together with capacity development has brought about rich dividends.
The Korea National University of Agriculture and Fisheries (KNUAF)'s innovative program is helping South Korea overcome issues relating to its ageing rural population while simultaneously developing elite human resources to establish and promote a highly competent agriculture sector. Since its inception, the KNUAF has been producing young highly competent professionals to manage its high tech agriculture either as entrepreneurs or farm managers.