Giving Compass' Take:

• Here are some commonalities between small-scale community farm initiatives that have continued to secure a supply of food during the COVID-19 crisis.

• The three commonalities are organic methods, cooperatives, and heritage varieties. Where are there opportunities for donors to support or strengthen these initiatives? 

• Read more about the impact of COVID-19 on farmers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed both the strengths and limitations of globalization. The crisis has made people aware of how industrialized food production can be, and just how far food can travel to get to the local supermarket. There are many benefits to this system, including low prices for consumers and larger, even global, markets for producers. But there are also costs—to the environment, workers, small farmers and to a region or individual nation’s food security.

These costs have led many people to look once again at the benefits of small farms and locally produced fruits, vegetables and meat.

Of course, farmers on relatively small plots producing for local markets are the norm in developing countries. While it has many benefits, small-scale agriculture is far from idyllic. It often translates into low incomes and even poverty.

But it doesn’t have to.

There are many successful initiatives to help farmers raise their productivity and incomes, improve their communities, and amass capital to expand agricultural output and start small businesses. All of this can be done in an environmentally sustainable manner that builds resilience to external shocks, including climate change and even pandemics.

Small-scale farmers have continued to have a secure supply of food during this emergency as they predominantly live off what they grow on their own land.” These holistic community-based development programs also improve health and sanitation, teach literacy and help develop local leaders who plan and advocate for their communities.

Successes in farming communities in Nepal, India, East and West Africa, Guatemala, Peru, Burkina Faso, and several other countries hold lessons for those in the US who look to small farms as a way to build resilience and food security.

While each community success story is different, they have a few essential commonalities:

  • Organic Methods
  • Cooperatives
  • Heritage Varieties

Read the full article about global food supply during COVID-19 by Kate Schecter at Food Tank.