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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 6, Issue 4 (Suppl)
Agrotechnology, an open access journal
ISSN: 2168-9881
Agri 2017
October 02-04, 2017
allied
academies
10
th
International Conference on
AGRICULTURE & HORTICULTURE
October 02-04, 2017 London, UK
What this world needs is smarter farmers
Marc van der Sterren Kleopatra Chira
Farming Africa, Netherlands
S
mallholder farmers are the most important people in the world. They produce 80 percent of all the food in the world,
and almost 100 percent of our healthy food. Nevertheless they are widely neglected by the public, the media and most
important: the people and organizations who rule this world. To keep up the demands for a growing world population and
further increases in demand for high-protein food, the FAO estimates that food production will need to increase by about 60
percent. The main increase needs to come from smallholder farmers in developing countries. 80 percent of all hungry people
depends on some sort of farming. If those people produce a bit more, the world food problem is solved. For most subsistence
farmers in Africa it’s possible to double or even to multiply their production. This means they can even produce for the growing
cities in and outside Africa. In 2016 the United Nations ratified 17 sustainable development goals. The aim is to end all forms
of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind. With the empowerment of
smallholder family farmers through providing them access to independent information we can both keep up the demands for
a growing world population and reach all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The new publication SMARTER FARMERS is the
start of a campaign which urges world leaders to focus on the empowerment of smallholder farmers by access to independent
information.
marc@farmingafrica.netAgrotechnology 2017, 6:4(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2168-9881-C1-028