Commodities and Development Report 2015 – Smallholder Farmers and Sustainable
Commodity Development
UNCTAD/SUC/2014/5 :: 84 pages
Report: http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/suc2014d5_en.pdf

Introduction
The contributions of family farming to food security, poverty reduction and sustainable development were specifically recognized in 2014 when the United Nations General Assembly declared that year the International Year of Family Farming. Building on this momentum, this Commodities and Development Report focuses on smallholders. The Report aims at providing a convincing demonstration of the need for devoting more attention and resources to smallholders as a way of achieving the newly agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relating to poverty, nutrition, hunger and environmental sustainability.

It advocates that smallholders play a key role in the achievement of a more inclusive and socially as well as environmentally sustainable development path at the national and global levels. This Report is timely for three reasons. First, 2015 is a pivotal year for the international development agenda, marked by the final assessment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Additionally, the Report provides a useful reminder of the importance of smallholders in achieving the environmental sustainability agenda. The Report’s insights are also topical in the context of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21 in Paris in December 2015.

Second, concerns about food insecurity following the 2008 food crisis have led to a renewed interest in food security issues. As will be highlighted by the evidence provided in chapter 1, smallholder farmers have long been associated with the achievement of food security. While recognizing the multiple elements that constitute food security, the Report focuses on two of them: food availability and food access. Although the Report might not be of primary relevance to issues of nutrition security and malnutrition − the so-called “hidden hunger” − its thematic analysis would be informative for stakeholders of the United Nations Secretary-General’s initiative, the Zero Hunger Challenge (ZHC) launched in 2012, whose objective is to eliminate hunger during our lifetime. The Report’s findings are specifically of interest to two of the five elements of the Challenge, namely, “The sustainability of food systems” and “Attaining a 100 per cent increase in smallholder productivity and incomes.”

Third, the Report’s analysis and policy recommendations regarding the establishment of an enabling environment at the global level are relevant considering the ongoing agricultural negotiations under the Doha Round, including at the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in December 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya. Moreover, beyond this year’s events, the Report seeks to be a useful reference for policymakers and other stakeholders on smallholder issues as they embark on the implementation of the SDGs…

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Press Release
Business potential of smallholder farmers must be unleashed for sustainable development, report says
UNCTAD/PRESS/PR/2015/050
Geneva, Switzerland, (17 December 2015)
The world’s smallholder farmers manage just 12 per cent of all agricultural land, yet they produce more than 80 per cent of the world’s food (in value terms). They deserve more attention therefore from policymakers to unleash their full business potential, the UNCTAD Commodities and Development Report 2015 says. As global poverty affects smallholders disproportionately, achieving poverty reduction goals will require taking a fresh look at how policies must be designed and coordinated so as to cater to their needs.

Though there are marked differences by country and region in the average size of small farms, it is estimated that more than 90 per cent of the 570 million farms worldwide are managed by an individual or a family, and that mostly they rely on family labour. Estimates further show that about 2.5 billion people depend on agricultural production systems for their livelihoods. Smallholder farmers also play a key role in environmental sustainability objectives, including climate change mitigation, by protecting biodiversity in agriculture.

“It is now time for the international community to recognize the vital role smallholders play the world over in ensuring continued access to nutritious natural food and the achievement of global food security,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said. “I call on all development partners who have pledged to increase resources directed to the fight against climate change to devote special attention to smallholder farmers who are key players in sustainable agricultural practices.”…