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CC 178 2014
Blister pack
BU
Blister pack BU
Portugal · International Year of Family Farming
Mintage7,998
Issue date31 Oct 2014
PackagingBlister pack
Edge lettering5 Wappenschilde + 7 castles, evenly distributed
Market price€75.00
Issue occasion
The commemorative coin honours the International Year of Family Farming. The design shows typical tools of traditional agriculture as well as a chicken, pumpkins, a basket of potatoes, other vegetables and flowers. Arranged in a semicircle are the inscriptions “AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR” and “PORTUGAL”.
The design
In the centre of the coin design, tools typically used in traditional agriculture are depicted alongside agricultural products: a chicken surrounded by pumpkins, a basket of potatoes, as well as other vegetables and flowers. On the left, the issue occasion “AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR” (family farming) can be read in a semicircle, and on the right, also in a semicircle, the issuing country “PORTUGAL” followed by the year of issue “2014”. The mint mark “INCM” is located at the bottom left.
The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer ring of the coin.
The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer ring of the coin.
Background on the topic
The International Year of Family Farming was not a single event, but a themed year proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations for 2014. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) assumed responsibility for coordination. The aim was to give greater consideration in political debates to the role of family farms in food security, employment in rural areas and the management of natural resources.
A family farm was not understood merely as a small self-sufficient holding. The term referred to agricultural units managed by a family and relying predominantly on its labour. Depending on the regional context, the term also encompassed livestock farming, forestry, fishing and aquaculture. Topics included access to land, water, credit, advisory services and markets, as well as the transfer of farms and expertise to the next generation. The often less visible work of women and older family members was also part of this context.
For Portugal, the theme had a direct agricultural-historical connection. The country’s agriculture is structured differently from region to region. In the north and in parts of central Portugal, small, sometimes highly fragmented family farms were widespread, while larger holdings and farm units traditionally predominated in the south. Many smaller farms combined production for the market with supplying their own household. Migration from rural areas, the ageing of farm owners and economic pressure to adapt changed these structures over the course of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Since Portugal joined the European Economic Community in 1986, the support and market regulations of the Common Agricultural Policy have also influenced farms.
The coin issue thus referred, on the one hand, to an initiative of the United Nations. On the other hand, it related to a form of farming and way of life that shaped land use, village social structures and regional dietary practices in many Portuguese regions. The occasion was therefore suitable both as an international theme and for a specifically Portuguese connection.
A family farm was not understood merely as a small self-sufficient holding. The term referred to agricultural units managed by a family and relying predominantly on its labour. Depending on the regional context, the term also encompassed livestock farming, forestry, fishing and aquaculture. Topics included access to land, water, credit, advisory services and markets, as well as the transfer of farms and expertise to the next generation. The often less visible work of women and older family members was also part of this context.
For Portugal, the theme had a direct agricultural-historical connection. The country’s agriculture is structured differently from region to region. In the north and in parts of central Portugal, small, sometimes highly fragmented family farms were widespread, while larger holdings and farm units traditionally predominated in the south. Many smaller farms combined production for the market with supplying their own household. Migration from rural areas, the ageing of farm owners and economic pressure to adapt changed these structures over the course of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Since Portugal joined the European Economic Community in 1986, the support and market regulations of the Common Agricultural Policy have also influenced farms.
The coin issue thus referred, on the one hand, to an initiative of the United Nations. On the other hand, it related to a form of farming and way of life that shaped land use, village social structures and regional dietary practices in many Portuguese regions. The occasion was therefore suitable both as an international theme and for a specifically Portuguese connection.