Small Farms, Small Food Businesses and Sustainable Food Security

19 March - 19 April 2018. SALSA Online  e-conference. (SALSA: Small Farms, Small Food Businesses and Sustainable Food Security).

Reference: Background document to the FAO email conference - 14Mar2018A.pdf
The first e-conference was to support and give input to the SALSA project

A second online conference was started on 19th of March:

1. Cooperation between small farmers; 
2. Contributions of small farmers to the resilience of the food system; 
3. Past strategies and policies for small farmers to overcome their main challenges; 
4. Strategies and policies which would allow small farmers to address challenges in the future; 
5. The way food supply chain businesses might contribute to small farmers; 
6. How policies can affect small farms’ activities and decision making

Who is expected to participate?

• The virtual discussion is intended to draw the attention of researchers, educators, students and a wide spectrum of food chain/food system actors and entrepreneurs, as well as policy makers and administrators at multiple levels, on the role of small farms within a larger context. 
• The e-conference is also open to all who wish to share their insights and discuss “The Role of Small Farms Within a Larger Context of Food Security”.
• While the participation in the e-conference remains free and voluntary, all participants are encouraged to actively contribute with their experiences.

Background: The SALSA Project 

• The project “Small Farms, Small Food Businesses and Sustainable Food Security” (SALSA, www.salsa.uevora.pt/en/) aims to provide a better understanding of the current and potential contribution of small farms and food businesses to sustainable FSN. 
• Supported by the EU funded Horizon 2020 program
• A coalition of 16 European and African partners are collaborating in assessing the role of small farms and small food businesses in delivering a sustainable and secure supply of affordable, nutritious and culturally adequate food. 
• The four-year SALSA project began in April 2016.

Related:

20 March 2018. The 2018 Global Food Policy Report is now availalbe. Thisreport looks at the impacts of greater global integration – including the movement of goods, investment, people, and knowledge – and at the potential impacts of current anti-globalization pressures. The report reviews the events of 2017, and asks how global integration – through trade, investment, migration, open data, developed country policies, and governance – can be harnessed to benefit our global food system. The 2018 report also presents data tables and visualizations for several key food policy indicators, including country-level data on hunger, agricultural spending and research investment, and projections for future agricultural production and consumption.

Drawing on recent research, IFPRI researchers and other distinguished food policy experts consider a range of timely topics:

• How can the global food system deliver food security for all in the face of the radical changes taking place today?
• What is the role of trade in improving food security, nutrition, and sustainability?
• How can international investment best contribute to local food security and better food systems in developing countries?
• Do voluntary and involuntary migration increase or decrease food security in source countries and host countries?
• What opportunities does greater data availability open up for improving agriculture and food security?
• How does reform of developed-country farm support policies affect global food security?
• How can global governance structures better address problems of food security and nutrition?
• What major trends and events affected food security and nutrition across the globe in 2017?

Table of Contents

1. Chapter 1 Food policy in 2017-2018: Progress, uncertainty, and rising antiglobalism [Download]
2. Chapter 2 Food security: The global food system under radical change [Download]
3. Chapter 3 Trade: The free flow of goods and food security and nutrition [Download]
4. Chapter 4 Investment: International investment and local food security [Download]
5. Chapter 5 Migration: Tightening borders and threats to food security [Download]
6. Chapter 6 Knowledge and data: Achieving food and nutrition security through open access [Download]
7. Chapter 7 Developed country policies: Domestic farm policy reform and global food security [Download]
8. Chapter 8 Global institutions: Governance reform for food, nutrition, and agriculture [Download]
9. Chapter 9 Regional developments [Download]
10. Annex Food policy indicators: Tracking change [Download]