Family farmers. Source: Google.

Family farming is the process of farming which combines agriculture, livestock, forestry, aquaculture, fisheries and pastoral production managed and operated by the family members including men and women. Simply, it is a family based agriculture and is linked to several areas of rural development. In most of the developing and developed countries family farming has become predominant form of agriculture in food production. It is estimated to have 500 million family farmers in the world and they produce more than half of the food produced in the world totally relying on the family member's labor both men and women. They may be from small scale to medium scale to traditional communities, peasants, indigenous people, etc.

As we all know that, around 70% of the impoverished people live in rural areas and are totally practicing family farming for the food production. These farmers with poor access to natural resources, policies and technologies generally adopt a crop diversification based agriculture system and preserve locally produced and traditional food products , contribution to both food production and secure world's agro biodiversity. The use of traditional knowledge  and technique for food production and its consumption within family or marketing within local area is the key feature of family farming. Here, in face of many obstacles family farmers are engaged in sustaining local livelihoods and ensuring national or global food security.

Realizing the important role of family farmers in sustainable food production to let the world free from hunger and poverty, 2014 was designated as the International Year for Family Farming by United Nation with the objective of supporting development policies conducive to sustainable family farming, increasing knowledge, communication and public awareness, attaining better understandings of family farming needs, potential and constraints to ensure technical support and finally to create synergies for sustainability. This year is based on the positive dynamic approach, demonstrating to civil society and its numerous institutions, not only the challenges of family farming but also its contribution, real and potential , to the world's food to fight against poverty and to fulfill the millennium development goals.

Family farming is more than economic agrarian model as it provides the basis of sustainable food production addressing food security and food sovereignty and is the foundation of important cultural dimension of the local people. It is the fundamental  pillar for integral development of the global countries. It is the backbone of all the developing nation's economy occupying a place of pride in the field of national income, livelihood, employment, industrial raw materials and export.