2014 International Year of Family Farming Campaign Officially Underway
2014 has been rendered the “International Year of Family Farming" as a recent teleconference kicked off the initiative
According to a recent National Farmers’ Union (NFU) news release, NFU President Roger Johnson and members of the U.S. national committee to promote the United Nations’ (UN) “International Year of Family Farming” (IYFF) have officially kicked off events, aiming to raise the worldwide profile of family and smallholder farming.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States describes the goal of the IYYF as an effort to “reposition family farming at the center of agricultural, environmental and social policies in the national agendas by identifying gaps and opportunities to promote a shift towards a more equal and balanced development.”
Roger Johnson says in the NFU release, “NFU is pleased to lead the U.S. efforts as a part of the global initiative that the UN is commencing today. In the United States and around the world people are further and further removed from family farming and where their food, fuel and fiber are produced. This initiative is critical to the future of our industry.”
Many countries have formed committees in wake of the UN deeming 2014 the “International Year of Family Farming.” The United States executive committee includes 25x’25, the Alliance to End Hunger, American Farmland Trust, the Consumer Federation of America, the National Cooperative Business Association and National Farmers Union.
The “International Year of Family Farming” has officially begun, as family farming will be placed at the center of agricultural, environmental, and social policies in national agendas across the globe.