Governance Fragmentation Shapes Family Farming Implementation for Sustainable Rural Development in Indonesia and the Philippines

<title>Abstract</title> <p>Family farming is increasingly recognised as a key component of sustainable rural development, food security and inclusive agricultural transformation. Yet national action plans and supportive legislation do not by themselves ensure effective implementation. Because family farming policies span multiple sectors and levels of government, their success depends on institutional capacity to coordinate actors, resources and delivery mechanisms within fragmented governance systems. This article examines how governance fragmentation shapes the implementation of family farming policies in Indonesia and the Philippines through a two-level comparative documentary analysis. First, it analyses national governance architectures developed under the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF). Second, it examines two IFAD-supported programmes: Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Support Services (YESS) in Indonesia and Rural Agro-enterprise Partnerships for Inclusive Development and Growth (RAPID) in the Philippines. The analysis identifies two distinct forms of governance fragmentation. Indonesia illustrates territorial-regulatory fragmentation, where implementation depends on translating national commitments across decentralised governance systems. The Philippines demonstrates functional-vertical fragmentation, where implementation relies on coordinating multiple institutions, stakeholder groups and delivery mechanisms within an established policy framework. In both cases, implementation remains constrained by coordination challenges, financing limitations and uneven institutional capacity despite strong policy commitments. The article contributes to sustainability governance and rural development scholarship by showing how different forms of governance fragmentation shape the implementation of cross-sectoral family-farming policies. It argues that effective family-farming support depends not only on policy recognition but also on the institutional capacity to coordinate governance arrangements across sectors and administrative levels. These findings offer practical insights for strengthening implementation capacity, policy coherence and sustainable rural transformation in complex governance systems.</p>