Small farmers produce most of the food that we consume globally. But North and South, smallholder producers are leaving the land and food production is becoming increasingly the concern of big business.

Does it matter?

A growing body of opinion says YES. Seventy-five per cent of the world's poorest people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture to survive. At IFAD, we believe the small farmer is central to the reduction of global poverty and hunger.

On  31 March fourteen international panelists considered the most salient issues confronting small farmers today in the IFAD-supported debate “Failing the farmer?” on BBC World. 

Produced by TVE for BBC World in cooperation with IFAD.

E-mail us your thoughts on this important issue after the debate.

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List of participants

Kevin Cleaver
Assistant President, IFAD – and farmer
Working to enable small farmers, we can ‘slow down’ the migration from rural to urban areas.

Pedro Sanchez
Director of Tropical Agriculture, Earth Institute, Columbia University
The crucial factor is to fertilize the soil and manage water supplies. GM is a political issue, with no proven risk.

Paul Nicholson
European co–ordintor, La Via Campesina
Via Campesina coined the expression and is working to promote ‘food sovereignty’ (national food security).

Makanjuola Olaseinde Arigbede
Union of Small and Medium Scale Farmers of Nigeria – and farmer
Smallholder farmers labour on their farms, not merely to feed their beleaguered families but entire nations, despite the great obstacles placed in their way at all levels.

Simeon Greene
Relationship Director, Windward Banana Development
Without Fair Trade, the Windward Islands would be out of the banana market. They’re able to survive because consumers in the UK have taken the decision to buy Fair Trade Produce.

Esther Penunia
Secretary General, Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA)
Farmers tend to be poorly organized – only 10 per cent are organized into farmers’ groups. So, although they represent a large constituency, they have little influence politically. This must change!

Peter Robbins
Ex-commodities trader, author and activist
Liberalization and the collapse of international commodity agreements has led to the impoverishment of farmers in producing countries. We need to reinstate international commodity agreements.

Duncan Green
Head of Policy, Oxfam
Oxfam is now looking to develop policy on the wider agricultural debate – not just on trade. Specifically we’re looking at how to support and empower farmers.

Norah Olembo
Executive Director, Africa Biotech Stakeholders Forum
The big issue is acceptance. Worldwide this type of science has been seen as humans tampering with God’s work. Science becomes hard for ordinary people to comprehend, but one can move a gene from one plant to the other. It’s all about education. We have not seen any harm to humans.

Andrew Bennett
Biotechnology Marketing Lead, Europe-Africa, Monsanto
Each year the global population grows by more than 70 million and agriculture is required to produce more food with limited land and water resources. But biotechnology can help. Over the next decade biotechnology promises to deliver products that address land and resource limitations, with qualities such as drought tolerance, as well as deliver products with direct consumer benefits.

Crawford Falconer
Agriculture Chairman, World Trade Organization (WTO)
International trade works if you have the right social and economic policies in place within countries already. Countries can't isolate themselves forever. 

Louise Fresco
Professor, Sustainable Development, University of Amsterdam
Small farmers around the world are leaving the land because life is too hard and they need other sources of income as well. Globalization brings opportunities for the developing world, but markets will not take care of poor people.

Catherine Kainja Kaluluma
Minister for Education, Government of Malawi

Anthony Gooch
Head, Media and Public Diplomacy, European Commission