Family farming

Family farming: according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), “Family farming encompasses all family-based agricultural activities, in relation to many aspects of rural development.

Family farming makes it possible to organize agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral or aquaculture production which, under the management of a family, relies essentially on family labor, both men and women.” According to experts, a family farm is one in which :

• only family members work full-time: they are not bound by wage relationships, but by domestic ties.
• work creates strong links between the family and the farm;
• part of the production is consumed by the family itself: family farms certainly supply markets, but self-consumption is also a product of this work;
• family capital: it is inseparable from the family estate.

To contribute to the development of family farming and the improvement of farmers’ living conditions, Solidar Suisse Burkina Faso strengthens producers’ capacities through training in water and soil conservation/soil defense and restoration (CES/DRS) techniques such as: Zaï, stone cordons, manure pits, half moons, agroecology through the production of “Bokashi” organic fertilizer. In addition, Solidar Suisse Burkina Faso strengthens farmers’ capacities by providing them with agricultural equipment.