2015-06_WFO_Farmletter_ENG_web

WFO F@rmletterEDITORIALMaurizio MartinaITALIAN MINISTER OF AGRICULTURAL, FOODAND FORESTRY POLICIESEXPO:THE FARMERS’PERSPECTIVEAA new model for thefuture developmentcan only go along withsmall-scale agriculturalgrowth and innovation.That is wherewe have to play ourmost important game, putting into placepolitical measures to fight and winover hunger and poverty.Expo is an event for farmers of all regionsof the world. They are the realprotagonists, those who have to besupported by the new global food policy.Our message is clear: work to ensurea future to everyone; and we haveto start from farmers in order to build anew world policy of development.The Milan event represents an occasionto gather, meet others and shareideas, and it is of utmost importance toinvolve farmers.They are the essence of the Exposition,the cornerstone of the primary sectoron the international level.We are talking about an army of morethan 500 million people producing themajority of global food, 80% in terms ofvalues, occupying 70-80% of businessterritory in this sector.Furthermore, on a sample of 570 millionworld farms, 90% are run by an individualor a family and rely on familylabour. These statistics from the reportThe State of Food and Agricolture (Sofi)released by FAO during the WorldFood Day, are at the basis of the debatecarried out during the World AgriculturalForum at Expo Milan 2015. Oneof the most important event of the last6 months of this universal exposition,at which more than 115 countries, 50ministries, 370 delegates and even the27 non-participating countries such asPakistan, South Africa and Australia,have taken part.It was a chance to introduce to theWorld the “Charter of Milan”, the documenton commitment and responsibilitiesthat will represent the ethicand cultural heritage of the event thattakes place in Milan.We proposed four challenges:1) a new relationship betweenecology and agriculture2) the support to family agricultureincome3) further innovation for smallproducers4) concrete legislations to ensurefair marketsItaly proposed itself, with a positive feedbackfrom all the other Countries, toact as a guide for a global reflection onthe future of the Planet.A future that encompasses granted,healthy and safe access to food for all,that inevitably requires a sustainableproduction.By 2050 the Earth will host a populationof almost 9 billion individuals, ifwe don’t manage to set a new developmentmodel within the next years,we will have to face even more severegeopolitical imbalances, than we havetoday.These six months of Expo will help usfind the most viable solution.9