The other day, I received a reminder from Burwinkel Farms about the "yummy fruits and vegetables" still available for the summer season. Burwinkel operates a stand around the corner from my home and they specialize in sweet corn!!
By the time I got the message though, it was late and darkness was soon descending. Burwinkel's stand would be packed up and long gone for the day. So I visited the website instead.
Burwinkel's is a small family-run farm in Ohio. They have been around since the time of Woodrow Wilson's presidency. But even their vast experience cannot spare them from the difficulties weather brings their way. As Burwinkel's says: "We do our best but mother nature does not always cooperate making it difficult at times as a small family farm."
These are words shared by farmers across the globe. Whether it's in Ohio or far away in Haiti or Afghanistan, the small farmers face challenges sometimes beyond their control. Drought may hit, or in the case of Pakistan, floods can destroy crops and ruin the land.
There is a battle now ongoing in Pakistan to reach at least 6 million flood victims with food aid. Following this will be another struggle to rebuild the agriculture devastated by the flooding. In some countries, like Pakistan again, farmers face the risk of natural disasters coupled with armed conflict.
Even when relative calm is present, the small farmers in developing countries need a great deal of help to jump start their operation. This is a predominant theme that is part of the Roadmap to End Global Hunger.
The Food and Agricultural Organization’s Director-General Jacques Diouf says: “Small-scale farmers need access to high-quality seeds, fertilizers, feed and technologies to be able to boost productivity and production. And their governments need economic and policy tools to ensure that their countries’ agriculture sectors are both more productive and more resilient in the face of crises.”
Article comments
1 - Jean Serge Picard
This is pure propaganda to attract more funds from donors. I am a farmer in Haiti and I can assure you that WFP, CRS and the rest are destroying local incentives and driving the peasants out by flooding the country with cheap imported foods.