The 2014 International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) aimed to “raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farming by focusing the world’s attention on its significant role in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.” The Nepal Agricultural Cooperative Central Federation (NACCFL) was selected as the Secretariat for the IYFF in Nepal. As the Secretariat, NACCFL’s role was to support the formation of crucial committees for the IYFF (National Implementation Committee Nepal, National Directive Committee Nepal and Advisory Committee), and facilitate implementation of the on-ground IYFF strategy in Nepal, amongst others.

Image credit: USAID

In 2017, the General Assembly of the UN adopted the Decade of Family Farming (DFF) 2019-2028 in order to improve the position of family farmers in all five continents. This Declaration of the DFF ensures the continuity of the successful IYFF-2014 process by advancing the implementation of public policies and facilitating the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. NACCFL will continue to provide administrative and policy support for the successful implementation of the DFF. It recently participated in the VI Global Conference on Family Farming entitled: ‘A Decade to improve the lives of Family Farmers.’ The event held between March 25 to 29, in the city of Derio-Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain, brought together representatives from Farmers Organisations, Civil Society organisations, Governments, International Organisations, Research Centres and Cooperatives. Incidentally, the V Global Conference,  Let’s Build the Future: Family Farming, was held in Derio, Biscay, in 2015 and paved the way to implementing the successful IYFF+10, an initiative that has led to the adoption of the DFF 2019-2028.