Off the Shelf: Innovation in family farming for sustainable agriculture Terri Raney, Editor The State of Food and Agriculture Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN ICABR 18 June 2013 Ravello

The State of Food and Agriculture Editor-in-Chief

Planning for The SOFA 2014 Innovation in family farming for sustainable agriculture

Why a SOFA on agricultural innovation? World population is growing. Incomes are rising. Demand for food is growing. Poverty and hunger is still pervasive. The natural resource base is more and more constrained and at risk of degradation and climate change.

Food consumption to 2050 (Kcal/person/day) Source: FAO, 2011

Real food prices increasing?

Hunger is widespread and persistent

… with stark regional disparities Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2012). Decrease of more than 100 million each in East and Southeast Asia

… and increasingly complex malnutrition problems

Small family farms are crucial to the challenge

Systems at risk of degradation and climate change

Sources of production growth Source: FAO, 2011

Yields much higher on irrigated land … very scarce in SSA Source: FAO.

Strong competition for water in some regions Source: FAO.

Fertilizer use is very low in SSA

Ensuring sustainable productivity growth in family farming requires: Generating and sharing technologies and practices in and for family farms Reforming policies and institutions to remove constraints and promote the use of practices and technologies for sustainable productivity. Facilitating access of family farms to market incentives as a driver and a source of innovation. Promoting innovation capacity among family farms.

The technical challenge of sustainable productivity growth Productivity growth stagnation and gaps. Increasing stress on the natural resource base. Climate change threatens traditional practices. Ag. R&D and extension services to meet old and new challenges.

The socio-economic challenges of ensuring access to technologies and practices More inclusive to meet needs of small farms. Markets and value chains as a driver of innovation. Overcoming constraints to adopt practices with positive private returns: – High short term opportunity costs – Financial constraints – Risk aversion

Promoting innovation capacity among family farms Individual innovation capacity (education, training, gender gaps) Collective innovation capacity (ability of farmers and others to organize effectively to access markets, information, technologies etc.) Broader enabling environment (policies, institutions, governance etc.)

How you can help Research on various aspects of the challenge Examples of policy, institutions, incentives for innovation Case studies of successful adoption of sustainable practives

For more information … The State of Food and Agriculture 2013 Food systems for better nutrition FAO‘s major annual flagship publication. Available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese #sofa2013

Resources The State of Food and Agriculture 2013: Food systems for better nutrition (June 2013) World agriculture towards 2030/50 (2012) The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources (2011) Background papers for the “Food Security Futures” conference (FAO and IFPRI)

Land expansion potential, concentrated in certain regions Source: GAEZ-v3.0 in Fischer et al 2011.

High fertilizer use in East Asia; South Asia and Latin America will follow suit Source: FAO.

Natural Resources for Food Production: Water The FAO projections indicate that the global demand for water withdrawals from agriculture will increase by 11% from a 2006 baseline to 2050 By 2050, more than half the world’s population will live in countries with severe water constraints Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, 2007

Systems at risk densely populated highlands in poor areas; small holder rainfed farming in semi-arid tropics; densely populated and intensely cultivated areas in the Mediterranean basin intensive rainfed cropping in temperate climate; irrigated rice-based systems; crops depending on irrigation by groundwater; rangelands on fragile soils; deltas and coastal areas; periurban agriculture.