The World Rural Forum (WRF) with the financial support of the European Union and in collaboration with FAO is organising the exchange session, titled “UNDFF Action Plans: a pathway for food systems transformation in Africa”.  The online event will be held on the 23rd of June 2021 at 11:00 GMT+2 (Madrid, Spain). The event will be broadcast with simultaneous interpretation in English and French. Registration is open through the following link.

In the framework of the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028, this exchange session will explore the different opportunities and challenges in the development and implementation of UNDFF National and Regional Action Plans. The event will combine several presentations and a plenary discussion to share experiences, inspire participants and encourage collaboration and coordination of relevant actors to implement the UNDFF 2019-2028 in Africa. It will bring together representatives of National Committees of Family Farming, farmers organizations, government officials, regional intergovernmental organizations, FAO, IFAD country/region offices, research institutions, NGOs, European Union Delegations and other cooperation agencies from 23 countries of Africa.

The Call for proposals 2021 for the National Committees of Family Farming Challenge Fund is now open for applications.

The NCFF Challenge Fund is implemented by the World Rural Forum (WRF) with the financial support of the European Union (EU) through the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (INTPA).

The objective of the Call is to strengthen the capacities of the NCFF to promote and participate in the development of UNDFF National Action Plans towards sustainable food systems in selected EU INTPA priority countries.

The projects should be implemented in the year 2021. The fund will only finance activity costs that occur between 1 January 2021 and 1 December 2021.

The grant requested per project will be a minimum of 10,000 EUR and a maximum of 30,000 EUR.

Please find attached the following documents that explain how to take part in this call:

• Call for proposal 2021- National Committees of Family Farming Challenge Fund: guidance for applicants.
• Application Form

The deadline for submissions is Monday, March 22, 2021 at 9:00 am (local time in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain). Applications with supporting documents should be sent to the following email address:

challengefund@ruralforum.org

For further details, please do not hesitate to contact us in the above mentioned address

Best wishes to all,

WRF Secretary

The purpose of this report is to offer the reader a global overview of the progress made in the development of National and Regional Action Plans of the UNDFF 2019-2028 and to share lessons learned and good practices, which may serve as an inspiration to other countries and other agents committed to Family Farming, the UNDFF 2019-2028 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. These good practices bring key elements to promote policy dialogue in the elaboration and implementation of Action Plans, strengthen the existing policy framework to support Family Farming, and facilitate the implementation and subsequent monitoring of the plans.

In the first two years, significant progress has been made in the implementation of the UNDFF 2019-2028, with 7 National Action Plans on Family Farming approved. There is a huge mobilization of multiple agents – governments, family farmers’ organizations, National Committees of Family Farming (NCFF), FAO and IFAD, etc., that are promoting the UNDFF 2019-2028 agenda in at least 47 countries and 7 subregions of Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The main stakeholders welcome the progress made, although they consider that it is necessary to accelerate the process to achieve the expected results and contribute firmly to creating an enabling policy environment for the development of Family Farming. Efforts should be oriented towards enhancing policy dialogue and collaboration between governments, family farmers’ organizations, NCFF, FAO, IFAD, etc.; a stronger mobilization of technical and financial resources to support the elaboration and implementation of UNDFF Action Plans; and last but not least, the strengthening of the capacities of the main stakeholders involved, especially family farmers’ organizations, to participate in the elaboration of the UNDFF Action Plans 2019-2028, the follow-up of the implementation and the dissemination of the plans among family farmers.

The crisis generated by the covid-19 has put on the table the need for States to strengthen their local food systems based on Family Farming. The UNDFF 2019-2028 Action Plans on Family Farming are an opportunity and a concrete instrument to foster policy dialogue and “build back better” with measures and actions to support Family Farming and advance towards more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems and the achievement of the SDGs.

There are very useful lessons learned, good practices and solutions developed by governments, family farmers’ organizations, National Committees of Family Farming, FAO and IFAD, etc. that can leverage and inspire the development of UNDFF Action Plans in other countries and regions.

We wish you a fruitful reading.

The UNDFF 2019-2028 is a concrete instrument for defining short, medium and long-term measures and actions to improve the resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness and viability of family farming and provides a framework for collaboration by facilitating the implementation of these measures.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020. The organizations that organise the Global Civil Society Coordinating Committee (WCC) for the United Nations Decade of Family Farming met on December 3 to analyse the progress made to date in implementing the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028 (UNDFF), and also define the main challenges or priorities for the coming year 2021. The WCC is made up of family farming and rural development organizations that are highly representative of all the continents and have been supporting the process of strengthening family farming for eight years.

In this virtual session, the main progress made in implementing the Decade of Family Farming Agriculture was discussed in this complicated context marked by the strong impact of the health, economic and social crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic on food systems, family farming and their livelihoods.

The UNDFF 2019-2028 calls on the countries to build public policies and legislative frameworks in favour of family farming, in the context of the different realities. This process of defining actions at the country level is carried out especially through the definition of National Plans (NAPs) for the Decade of Family Farming and a target of 100 NAPs has been set for the year 2024.

The year 2020 began with a strong mobilization of actors to work on these National and Regional Plans of Action for the Decade of Family Farming. Although these processes were paralyzed or slowed down for a few months, they have been resumed with force to generate policies, programs and regulatory frameworks that provide a medium- and long-term response to the crisis generated by the covid-19, with a focus on viable, sustainable and resilient family farming. Seven National Plans for the Decade of Family Farming (NAP) have been approved in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Indonesia, Nepal and the Gambia, while another four countries are in the process of drafting them.

The mobilization of stakeholders in more than 35 countries is very important, with more than 1500 organizations and entities involved, including family farming organizations, government institutions, academia, international organizations, etc. Many of these mobilization processes are carried out by the 35 National Committees for Family Farming (NCFFs).

Therefore, during the meeting of the WCC, the importance of continuing to strengthen the technical and financial capabilities of the NCFFs was recalled. The meeting also reviewed some global products that are being developed, such as the Family Farming Public Policy Training Program (developed jointly by FAO and IFAD) and the Road Map for the Empowerment of Women, in which many family farming organizations have participated.

The WCC organizations agreed to prioritize for next year, the third year of the Decade’s implementation, the dissemination of the UNDFF 2019-2028 among farmers themselves, accelerating the definition and broadening the means for the implementation of National and Regional Plans, and strengthening the spaces for inclusive dialogue for the construction of public policies. Similarly, it is considered a priority to hold high-level events that continue to place family farming at the top of the international agenda and position it as a response to the major challenges and commitments of humankind.

It is important to share the lessons learned in order to ensure the proper implementation of the Decade of Family Farming and thus enable knowledge among the main actors, ensuring that the Decade continues to be firmly committed to improving the quality of life in rural areas, and therefore, in urban areas.

There is a need to move from theory to concrete actions of the UNDFF 2019-2028, to be implemented in the territories, in order to ensure sustainable and viable Family Farming that is capable of responding to the crises of the present and the future. The crisis of covid-19 could lead more than 130 million people into poverty, and the concrete actions of the Decade, the commitment and political dialogue among the various actors, placing Family Farming and the UNDFF 2019-2028 as the main response to the major global challenges -such as covid-19, climate change, the sustainable food systems addressing Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030 (SDGs), can make a great contribution.

Mediante una Declaración de Intenciones firmada con el FRM, el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación de España reafirma la importancia del apoyo a la agricultura familiar para el cumplimiento de la  Agenda 2030 y se compromete a fomentar también la implicación decidida de otros Gobiernos en el Decenio de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura Familiar, para trabajar conjuntamente en la mejora de  la calidad de vida de las zonas rurales. 

Lunes, 5 de octubre de 2020.- A través de la firma de una Declaración de Intenciones, celebrada virtualmente el pasado 1 de octubre, el  Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación de España y el Foro Rural Mundial establecen su colaboración para trabajar conjuntamente hacia el cumplimiento del ODS 2 “Hambre Cero”, a través de la implementación del Decenio de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura Familiar (DNUAF) 2019-2028.

“La crisis generada por la COVID-19 ha impactado fuertemente en los medios de vida de millones de agricultores y agricultoras familiares de todo el mundo, interrumpiendo su ciclo de producción o el acceso a los mercados y provocando graves riesgos para la seguridad alimentaria de muchos territorios. Se precisa una implicación decidida de los Estados en apoyo a la agricultura familiar, generando un futuro digno y sostenible para las zonas rurales”, indica Martin Uriarte, Presidente del Foro Rural Mundial.

El Gobierno de España y el Foro Rural Mundial coinciden en la necesidad de apoyar la agricultura familiar para contribuir en la consecución de casi todos los objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, y el Decenio de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura Familiar, declarado por las Naciones Unidas (Resolución A/RES/72/239), es el marco ideal para hacerlo.

El DNUAF 2019-2028 es un instrumento concreto para definir medidas y acciones de corto, medio y largo plazo que mejoren la resiliencia, sostenibilidad, inclusividad y viabilidad de la agricultura familiar y ofrece un marco de colaboración facilitando la implementación de estas medidas.

La Secretaria de Estado de Cooperación Internacional, Ángeles Moreno, afirmó durante la firma de la Declaración de Intenciones que con esta Declaración el Gobierno de España muestra su compromiso firme con la Agenda 2030 y aspira a convertirte en agente clave internacional en la adopción de políticas públicas que impulsen la agricultura familiar y los modelos sostenibles del campo.

La implicación de los gobiernos es esencial para elaborar, mejorar y aplicar políticas públicas en favor de la agricultura familiar. Con esta Declaración de Intenciones, se busca animar y estimular a otros Estados, a implicarse de forma activa en el Decenio para la Agricultura Familiar y a mostrar su compromiso común para fomentar la agricultura familiar como base de los sistemas alimentarios sostenibles y del desarrollo endógeno, contribuyendo de manera decidida al cumplimiento de la Agenda 2030.

La Declaración promueve también el rol activo de la AECID (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo) en la implementación del Decenio para la Agricultura Familiar.

AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR Y AGENDA 2030

La Agricultura Familiar tiene un rol muy significativo en el cumplimiento del ODS2 “Hambre Cero”: Poner fin al hambre, lograr la seguridad alimentaria y la mejora de la nutrición y promover la agricultura sostenible. Todo ello sin olvidar que la Agricultura Familiar está también fuertemente vinculada a otros objetivos y metas, siendo un elemento transversal para abordar 8 de los 17 ODSs: ODS 1: Pobreza cero (meta 1.4); ODS 5: Equidad de género (meta 5.a); ODS 6: Agua limpia y saneamiento (meta 6.4); ODS 11: Ciudades y comunidades sostenibles (meta 11.a); ODS 12: Consumo y producción responsable (metas 12.3 y 12.a); ODS 13: Acción por el clima (meta 13.1); ODS 14: Vida submarina (meta 14.b); ODS 15: Vida de ecosistemas terrestres (metas 15.1, 15.2, 15.3 y 15.4).

La Resolución oficial del DNUAF (A/RES/72/239) reafirma explícitamente el vínculo del Decenio con la Agenda 2030, y alienta a todos los Estados a elaborar, mejorar y aplicar políticas públicas de Agricultura Familiar y compartir sus experiencias con otros Estados, e invita a los gobiernos y a todos los interesados pertinentes a que apoyen de manera activa la implementación del Decenio para la Agricultura Familiar durante los próximos diez años.

El FRM insiste en que la respuesta a la crisis actual generada por la COVID-19 en los medios rurales nos ofrece una enorme oportunidad para repensar las políticas agrarias, y poner los medios y los recursos que aseguren el futuro de la agricultura familiar. El DNUAF nos ofrece un marco ideal para hacerlo a través del compromiso y el diálogo político entre los diversos actores.

April 3, 2020.- The World Rural Forum-WRF calls on family farming organizations, National Committees of Family Farming (CNAF) and other dialogue platforms to collect, share and give voice to the proposals and emergency measures they are requesting or proposing at the national or sub-national level, to ensure that family farming continues to play the role guaranteeing the food safety during this time of crisis caused by COVID-19 and immediately afterward.

Even before the crisis generated by COVID-19, family farming faced enormous challenges in access to land, credit, economic viability, climate change, while 821 million people suffered from food and nutritional insecurity.
Although there are many uncertainties about the evolution and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scenario that is drawn is, in any case, of increasing challenges for family farming.

In addition to the immediate health crisis, there are short, medium and long-term impacts on food systems, and especially on family farmers, who are at the center of these food systems.

Family farmers are acting with enormous responsibility, being the cornerstone in feeding the entire population. At the same time, the crisis is causing serious problems for family farmers due to the breakdown of numerous distribution channels and access to markets, difficulties in getting supplies, increasing fuel prices, etc.

Undoubtedly, this crisis is demonstrating the strategic importance of having, in each of the territories, a solid family farming, the basis of sustainable food systems and the development of rural areas.

In this context, the WRF is collecting emergency proposals/measures that family farmers’ organizations, NCFF and other dialogue platforms are requesting or proposing at the national or sub-national level, in order to share them and give them voice. These proposals can be sent by email to WRFSecretary@ruralforum.org.

#BuyLocal, buy family farming products.

#NowMoreNever support, value and trust family farming.