News from Africa
Family farming is the focus of World Food Day on 16 October, coupled with the theme: ‘Feeding the world, caring for the earth’.
According to a 2014 report by GRAIN, an international non-profit organization reveals that small farms produce most of the world’s food which affirmed the claim – Family farming feed the world.
In African countries, especially Kenya, small farmers operate 16% of agricultural land, but provide 55% of agricultural output, including: 97% of potatoes, 88% of vegetables, 83% of fruits and berries and 80% of milk.
This shows that small peasant family farms are the bedrock of global food production. The bad news is that they are squeezed onto less than a quarter of the world’s farmland and such land is under threat.
The report also revealed that small farmers are often much more productive than large corporate farms, despite the latter’s access to various expensive technologies. For example, if all of Kenya’s farms matched the output of its small farms, the nation’s agricultural productivity would double. Continue reading Africa: Family Farming On Focus During World Food Day →