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A farmer requests weather information via SMS.

Six investments to help family farmers thrive in the next decade

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in Director General's corner.

A farmer requests weather information via SMS.
A farmer requests weather information via SMS.

Family farmers produce more than 80% of the world’s food, but often have the least amount of access to support.

As the UN Decade of Family Farming launched on May 29, 2019, I talked with Trevor Nicholls, CEO of the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), on this topic.

On an article published on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Food Sustainability Index blog, we propose six key actions that can help family farmers thrive in the coming decade:

  1. Invest in women and youth: Make family farming work for all
  2. Attract young farmers into tech-smart farming
  3. Make climate-resilient crops more accessible
  4. Share practical plant health advice with family farmers
  5. Help family farmers diversify and grow more from less land
  6. Translate national and global goals into practical farming support

Read the full article

farmers, smallholders

Rodrigo Ordóñez

Rodrigo Ordóñez was CIMMYT's Communications Manager. Since 2023 he is the Head of Communications & Knowledge Management at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), also part of CGIAR. ℹ️ Rodrigo Ordonez on LinkedIn