Abstract
Today, agroecology is more than a science; it is a movement that advocates for a sustainable redesign of the global food system. Some of its acknowledged protagonists plead for a redesign based on the support of and for small-scale farming because small farms are considered more sustainable than large farms. The present review explores the arguments that leading agroecologists use for justifying their preference for small (frequently peasant) farms. In this review, small farms are defined as possessing a mean agricultural area of maximum two hectares, being family-owned, emphasizing outdoor production, and annually producing at least two different crops or livestock. Peasant farms are defined as subsistent small farms in developing countries. The review includes an overview of the current state of small farms and their most severe challenges. Agroecological publications of the last thirty years were scanned for arguments that sustain the hypothesis that small farms are more sustainable. It was found that there are no studies that directly compare the sustainability of farms based on their size. Instead, most studies cited to confirm the sustainability of small farms compare farms that differ in terms of both, size and farm management. Hence, it is likely that the reason for the advanced sustainability of small farms is their management, not their size. The assertion that small farms are a priori more sustainable than large ones is not supportable. Misleading use of the term “small farms” may impede the efforts of agroecology to stimulate sustainable food production.
Highlights
Reference lists of all articles identified in the first step were screened in order to find additional publica-Agroecology is a scientific discipline, an agricultural practice, tions that address the review question
Today, agroecology is more than a science; it is a movement that advocates for a sustainable redesign of the global food system
Some of its acknowledged protagonists plead for a redesign based on the support of and for small-scale farming because small farms are considered more sustainable than large farms
Summary
The essence of my study is that yes, small farms are more sustainable—but this depends on everything but their size. The present article is based on a comprehensive critical. Before justifying this statement, I would like to highlight two review of agroecology literature addressing the review quesconsiderations: (1) Peasant farms are a particular segment tion of whether (and why) small farms are more sustainable of small farms. The review was conducted in three steps: that apply for all small farms and those which only apply for In the first step, potentially suitable articles were identipeasant farms. Having lived for years in a peasant farming fied, and their abstracts were reviewed. Only acacommunity, I question everything but the sustainability of peas- demic papers written in English that addressed the review ant farms and consider them the most important source of question directly in the title or abstract were considered.
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