Innovation to overcome subsistence agriculture on family farms in developing countries: The role of The Catholic Church

In poor countries agriculture is practiced for mere subsistence occupying 70-80% of population; then, families have too small amounts of proper foodstuff to avoid malnutrition and to rise their income. Except for emergency, the problem cannot be solved with bringing food from abroad, but it requires a local agricultural development including: increasing of crop productivity, improvement of food processing and conservation techniques (providing more and wider variety of food), besides better consciousness of hygienic and nutritional rules. The current level of underdevelopment requires that any intervention will include the population and addresses simultaneously to all the above aspects. The Church, is yet involved in healthy services and education in developing countries: now it is called to activate also the rural development. Their existing parish organisations can take part of this task, encouraging farmers to form themselves into associations, which can gradually realize the agricultural innovations within the small holder farmers.