An article in National Geographic stresses the importance of small-scale farmers to global food security.

While in the developed world, the focus of increasing food production is on multinational agribusiness, in the developing world it is small-scale farmers who hold the key to feeding an increasing population. More than 500 million family farmers produce at least 56 percent of the world's food.

“Using low-tech but sustainable agricultural techniques, [small-scale farmers] may be best poised to lead the way in adapting to a warmer world and ensuring the security of the global food supply,” says the article.

During 2014, which has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Family Farming, Food Tank released a report which shows how small-scale farmers are contributing to global food security through the use of more sustainable agricultural practices. These include growing a variety of indigenous plants which gains farmers 20 to 60 per cent higher yields than cultivating only one crop.

The article looks at the impacts of climate change and land degradation on crop yields, and how smallholder farmers are implementing low-tech agroecological approaches to build resilience. Such approaches include agroforestry, intercropping, the use of green manure and solar-powered drip irrigation systems.

Smallholder farmers are among the most threatened by climate change and the surging population. They need “additional tools to use better farming methods, better seeds, better fertilizer, more technical information to grow better crops," says Dan Glickman, Former U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary.

Read the full story: Family Farmers Hold Keys to Agriculture in a Warming World

Download the Food Tank report on family farms