About

Active since 1964, SOS Faim is a belgian NGO that fights against hunger and poverty in Africa and Latin America by supporting family farming. Our action aims to accelerate the agro-ecological transition and to strengthen the economic and food autonomy of the peasant world.

OUR VISION : A WORLD WITHOUT HUNGER

828 million people in the world suffer from hunger, 50% of whom are peasants and their families who live mainly in developing countries. This is the paradox of hunger : while farmers feed the world, they are among its first victims.

Why such a paradox? Because they are poor. They do not have sufficient purchasing power to have access to sufficient food.

For SOS Faim, family farming is a model that allows farmers to have access, for themselves and for others, to food security and sovereignty.

Because a world without hunger is possible.

Our mission : to support family farming THROUGH agro-ecology

The overall objective of SOS Faim is to fight hunger and poverty by supporting family farming that respects people and their environment.

To achieve this, we give a central place to our local partners in the field, peasant movements and citizens, by acting on:

The development of family farming in Africa and Latin America through agroecology;
Access to rural and agricultural financing so that peasants themselves improve their food, economic and social situation in a sustainable way;
Defending sustainable food systems (from farmers to consumers) through advocacy;
Education for global and solidarity citizenship, through our awareness-raising actions in order to influence policies that have an impact on hunger and poverty in developing countries.

SOS Faim is convinced that family farming has the capacity to feed the world while preserving our planet.

Family farming to feed the world

The current agro-industrial model is showing its limits; we produce more food than we need to feed everyone, but nearly one billion people are going hungry. If hunger has that many victims today, how will we feed 9 billion people in 2050?

On the environmental level, the agro-industrial model also has many inconveniences: soil depletion, massive use of water reserves, land erosion, etc.

Family farming systems have immense potential to meet the challenges of food security, social equity and environmental sustainability:

- A guarantee of sustainable food : Family farming systems produce 70% of the world’s food and employ 40% of the population. Supporting them is therefore making a direct contribution to food security.

- An anti-poverty weapon : According to the World Bank, developing agriculture is two to four times more effective in fighting poverty than developing other sectors.

-Environmentally friendly : Family farming systems help protect biodiversity and sustainable natural resource use.

Our approach : partnership

We have no expatriates, we prefer to enter into partnerships: we work closely with local partners such as farmers’ organisations, producers’ associations or microfinance institutions.

We do not give handouts; rather we support our partners in their own actions to help people in the South become masters of their own destiny.