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Supporting Small ScaleThe declaration of 2014 as the IYFF is an opportunity for IFAD and Slow Food to join forces and promote the discussion of policies that enable the sustainable develop- ment of agricultural systems based on family farming, rural communities and indig- enous peoples. It is a chance to advance the concerns, interests and visions of family farmers among policy makers, public institutions and the private sector. It is also an opportunity to highlight the fact that despite their size, small farms make a significant contribution to feeding the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. Yet paradoxically, family farmers also make up a large proportion of the 842 mil- lion malnourished people in the world today. Rural areas are home to three-quar- ters of the world’s extremely poor people – many of whom are small-scale food producers. These communities are both vital to the future of humanity and acutely vulnerable to phenomena such as climate change. This is why, together with a wide variety of partners, IFAD invests in rural people and the transformation of the areas in which they live and work.13