CHALLENGES FACED BY FAMILY AGRICULTURE

CHALLENGES FACED BY FAMILY AGRICULTURE – SMALL FARMERS

SMALL FARMERS

Contextualization

In general, the challenges faced by family farming in Brazil, Kenya and Nepal due to a number of uncertainties, contradictions, disputes and opportunities regarding water policies, participation and impacts from mainly large users were discussed. The session identified that there is a need to change the current development model, which prioritizes commodities, concentrates land and standardizes produced products. One solution from Brazil stood out: “Community Supported Agriculture” (CSA), a solution resulting from social organization, without government mediation, which have brought good results to farmers who develop a direct commercial relationship with the consumer.

Recommendations

As recommendations, it was pointed out that external or immediate solutions do not solve the problems: we need solutions adapted to the needs of each local reality. Projects of Creole seed banks and cisterns and the valorization of local knowledge that is a result of the historical learning of the populations, should be encouraged. Training, exchange of experiences, dissemination of information and good practices favor the improvement of production and living conditions. The need for ongoing funding, support and incentive programs for family production was identified. Climatic variations and water scarcity compromise productive capacity, and the lack of incentives and support makes it difficult to continue activities. Another recommendation was that there is no way to cope with drought: we need to live with it or adapt to this process.

Conclusions

In conclusion, it was emphasized that the solution to water scarcity requires not only hydraulic works, such as increasing reservoir capacity, but also management and conflict resolution actions among the various users of water resources. Concentration of water and land is one of the important problems to be faced. Populations are users who need to have their needs met. It is necessary to act to fix the population in the countryside, with good living conditions, maintenance and income.