speech on Farmer rights
Answers
A Very Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen!
Today, this gathering has been pronounced here for showing our gratitude and respect for the very precious part of our country that is the Great Indian Farmers and I am feeling very lucky to be a part of this event. This is one of the most auspicious events that I have ever attended in my life. Indian Farmers are the one of the biggest reasons of our country’s pride. They are the soul of our country. This event is nothing but a way to show and give them the love and respect they deserve.
When we hear the word “FARMER”, the first thing that generally comes in our mind is hard work and dedication. They are probably the most hardworking people as equal as a soldier who is always ready to fight for the protection of the country. A farmer is a person who feeds himself and as well as his family by a very less amount of income even after working very hard and this is the fact of their world. Most of the times they are not even able to arrange food for their family because of the amount of money that they get from their blood, sweat and tears is not at all sufficient. They have to pay back several loans to money lenders or banks, provide education to their children, feed their family and fulfill many general necessities.
There were many cases where farmers have taken their lives or committed suicide because they find it difficult to arrange even complete meals for their families. They live the hardest life that we could not even imagine. Their distress of paying loans and providing meal for two times a day to their family leaves them with no option other than suicide because government’s focus on their problems is not sufficient. It feels really bad that a person even after doing a lot of hard work is not getting enough money to arrange food for his own family.
On behalf of the World Farmers' Organisation,
within the Farmers' Major Group, I would like to
congratulate the Inter Governmental session for
the big achievement reached so far with the
establishment of this complex and very important
process leading to the adoption of the Sustainable
Development Goals and their implementation in the
Post-2015.
We welcome very much the mentioning of food
security and sustainable agriculture in the goal
title 2, which reflects the close linkages between
sustainable development and agriculture. However,
we feel that the document can still be improved to
include a wider reference to the agricultural
sector.
Let me take this opportunity to share a few words
about the farmers.
In all countries, Farmers are a responsible
community of agropreneurs who work with other
stakeholders from around the globe in order to
foster food system stability; respect the
environment; acknowledge the rights of all farmers
to be entrepreneurs and gain appropriate incomes
and; respect the farming community’s diversity.
The United Nations have declared the year 2014 as
the International Year of Family Farming since
Family Farming is exactly the link between the
social, economical and environmental dimensions of
food security. More than half of the food needed
to ensure future global food security is produced
by family farmers. As of today, 90% of the world’s
food supply is provided by family farmers.
As the world population continues to grow, and the
projections are daunting: 9.2 billion in 2050, we
realize the importance of increasing food
production to feed all these people in a
sustainable way.
Moreover, farmers are contributors to the fight
against other global challenges like climate
change, the water management, the land erosion and
the rural employment. Engaging into these
processes requires better education, investment
and entrepreneurial skills that farmers need, in
order to enhance their role as food producers.
With the right knowledge, capacity building and
technical assistance, farmers can not only adapt
to environmental challenges and especially the
climate change, but also contribute to its longterm mitigation, simultaneously ensuring global
food security.
Farmers, because of their close relationship with
the land, have an inner knowledge of agricultural
products, their characteristics and their
nutrition factors. Farmers, better than everybody
else, are capable of selecting and producing the
highest quality food possible. Therefore, if we
want to achieve better global health conditions we
need to rely on farmers, their expertise and
knowledge.
In light of the above, we would really count on
you, excellencies, to ensure that farmers will be
given the right space in this unique process, as
well as the right opportunity to contribute to the
implementation of the Sustainable Development
Goals, as agents of solutions in all areas.
Thank you.