Smallholder farming family in a cabbage field in Honduras
Small farms produce almost half of the world’s food needs. © SDC/Fritz R. Staehelin

Smallholders and family farms play a key role in feeding the world's growing population and creating and preserving jobs in rural areas. They can also help to stem migration. In order to stay in business, smallholders need access to stable markets, infrastructure adapted to their needs, and access to education, training and financial and information services. The SDC helps them to adapt to change and to boost production in a sustainable way.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations  defines smallholders as small-scale farmers, pastoralists, forest keepers and fishers who manage areas of less than 10 hectares. Smallholder farms are characterised by family-focused motives and it is the families who are responsible for everything from production to farm maintenance. Part of what is produced is consumed by the family itself. Smallholder farming is about a third less productive than large-scale farming. Despite this fact – or indeed because of it – Switzerland is convinced that supporting smallholder and family farming contributes to alleviating world hunger and poverty.

The SDC's support for smallholders and family farms in developing countries mainly consists of assisting them to adapt to climate change, to changing available means and methods of production, as well as to new market demands in order to boost and improve their production.

Links

Documents

Current projects

Object 109 – 120 of 161

Rangeland Management project (RAMA)

01.10.2017 - 30.04.2030

The project will improve the livelihoods and food security of rural households by supporting communities to sustainably manage their rangeland resources. Poor and landless families depend on rangeland resources for livestock rearing and fuel and fodder collection. A growing population puts increased pressure on limited resources, while decades of conflict have weakened rangeland management systems. This has resulted in degradation of rangelands, which is exacerbated by the effects of climate change.


Partenariat scientifique entre 2iE Ouagadougou et institutions universitaires suisses

01.10.2017 - 31.12.2022

La maitrise de l’eau et l’accès à des sources d’énergie durables sont des facteurs nécessaires pour créer les conditions d’un développement humain durable en Afrique. Pour y parvenir la formation de cadres compétents et le développement de technologies et d’approches innovantes sont indispensables. Le partenariat avec 2IE y a contribué durant les années écoulées et les résultats atteints feront l’objet d’une capitalisation au cours de cette phase de désengagement qui est la dernière phase de ce partenariat.


Rangeland Management Project (RAMA)

01.10.2017 - 31.05.2022

Poor and landless families depend on rangeland resources for livestock rearing, fuel and fodder collection. A growing population puts increased pressure on limited resources, while decades of conflict and displacement have weakened rangeland management systems. RAMA will improve livelihoods and food security of rural households through empowering the communities to sustainably manage and use their rangeland resources in order to generate equitable benefits.


International Land Coalition (ILC)

01.09.2017 - 31.12.2021

Through a core contribution to the International Land Coalition, SDC supports a global network of 207 members in 64 countries in which civil society, intergovernmental organisations and academic institutions interact to trigger changes in policies and practices at country level toward a land governance putting people at its centre. With a targeted additional support to the Land Matrix, SDC contributes to an independent monitoring initiative on large scale land deals, promoting transparency and accountability.


Agricultural Services and Livelihood Improvement (ASLI)

08.08.2017 - 31.08.2021

Farming households in the Central Highlands of Afghanistan suffer from high levels of poverty and food insecurity. Their agricultural productivity remains low due to insufficient access to inputs and information. The Agricultural Services and Livelihood Improvement project aims to improve the livelihoods of poor rural families by strengthening the public extension system at subnational level to enable targeted, demand-driven agricultural service delivery.


Facility for Refugees, Migrants, Forced Displacement and Rural Stability (FARMS), SIGHT and HALEPP

01.08.2017 - 31.12.2024

With this contribution to the Facility for Refugees, Migrants, Forced Displacement and Rural Stability (FARMS) established by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in 2016, Switzerland will contribute to sustainable livelihoods for approximately 5000 Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The two co-funded projects will also support host communities, in particular poor smallholders breeding small ruminants (Jordan) and smallholders in the dairy sector (Lebanon) to increase their income and food security.


Support to WWF rattan initiative: "Sustainable rattan and bamboo supply chains in the Lao PDR”

01.08.2017 - 31.03.2021

Maintaining high biodiversity in agro-ecosystems contributes to poverty reduction in rural livelihoods. Better knowledge, tools and institutional arrangements are needed to support poverty alleviation and preserve biodiversity. Considering the current development context in Lao PDR, WWF supports the conservation and sustainable economic use of rattan and bamboo, aiming at improving the livelihood of upland farmers and enhancing the policy environment.


Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis (RVAA)

01.08.2017 - 31.03.2022

The project supports the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and its Member States in reducing vulnerability of households to disaster risks by increasing their preparedness for response and recovery and in strengthening their resilience. This will be achieved through institutionalising and sustaining vulnerability assessments and analyses systems that enhance emergency and developmental responses at national and regional levels.


Support to GRET bamboo initiative: “Strengthening the bamboo and rattan sectors in Lao PDR”

01.07.2017 - 30.04.2021

Maintaining high biodiversity in agro-ecosystems contributes to poverty reduction in rural livelihoods. Better knowledge, tools and institutional arrangements are needed to support poverty alleviation and preserve biodiversity. Considering the current development context in Lao PDR, GRET supports the conservation and sustainable economic use of bamboo and rattan, aiming at improving the livelihood of upland farmers and enhancing the policy environment.


LEB – Improved Water Resources Monitoring and Integrated Water Resources Management in the North of Lebanon

01.07.2017 - 28.02.2022

For over five years now, the Syria crisis is continuing to affect middle-income neighbouring countries. As a result, Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. The weak governance of the Government has been worsened with the burden of the refugees from Syria and Palestine who use the same overstretched infrastructure and public services. The project aims at enabling the water authorities to better manage the water sector for the benefit of the vulnerable communities in the North of the country.


A FONDS: Appui au FOnds Nationaux de Développement du Secteur agricole

01.07.2017 - 30.11.2022

Le Bénin a besoin d’un dispositif national pour le financement du secteur agricole. La DDC soutient l’Etat béninois et le secteur privé dans la mise en place de dispositifs communs et pérennes de financement du secteur. Le but est de renforcer la productivité, la compétitivité des productions agricoles et la résilience des systèmes de productions aux effets des variations climatiques. Ceci devrait contribuer à créer des emplois pour les jeunes.


Object 109 – 120 of 161