Multiple pathways towards achieving a living income for different types of smallholder tree-crop commodity farmers

Y R Waarts,V J Ingram,D Heriyanto,V Janssen,D Onduru,S Tin Aprillya,L Courbois,A N’Guessan,R Aryeetey,D Bakker

doi:10.1007/s12571-021-01220-5

Abstract

Many sources indicate that smallholder tree-crop commodity farmers are poor, but there is a paucity of data on how many of them are poor and the depth of poverty. The living income concept establishes the net annual income required for a household in a place to afford a decent standard of living. Based on datasets on smallholder cocoa and tea farmers in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Kenya and literature, we conclude that a large proportion of such farmers do not have the potential to earn a living income based on their current situation. Because these farmers typically cultivate small farm sizes and have low capacity to invest and to diversify, there are no silver bullets to move them out of poverty. We present an assessment approach that results in insights into which interventions can be effective in improving the livelihoods of different types of farmers. While it is morally imperative that all households living in poverty are supported to earn a living income, the assessment approach and literature indicate that focussing on short- to medium-term interventions for households with a low likelihood of generating a living income could be: improving food security and health, finding off-farm and alternative employment, and social assistance programmes. In the long term, land governance policies could address land fragmentation and secure rights. Achieving living incomes based on smallholder commodity production requires more discussion and engagement with farmers and their household members and within their communities, coordination between all involved stakeholders, sharing lessons learnt and data.

Highlights

Introduction to the new approachA new assessment approach to assess the potential of farmers to earn a living income, and design short‐ and medium‐term interventions that address drivers of pov‐ erty A first step in intervention design is to assess which smallholder commodity farmers in a certain area and value chain have the potential to earn a living income based on their current conditions, and which do not, and why this is the case
3.2 Impact of interventions on household income and poverty levels based on several review studies, information from these different studies can be found in Appendix 1
A systematic review on cash transfers to individuals or households, reported that six out of nine studies found a significant impact on poverty measures (Bastagli et al, 2016), and concludes that in many cases the impact is not big enough to have an effect on aggregate poverty levels, and that long term effects are not clear3

Summary

Introduction

A new assessment approach to assess the potential of farmers to earn a living income, and design short‐ and medium‐term interventions that address drivers of pov‐ erty A first step in intervention design is to assess which smallholder commodity farmers in a certain area and value chain have the potential to earn a living income based on their current conditions, and which do not, and why this is the case This can be a complex task because multiple factors influence the potential for farmers to earn a living income. This approach was developed based on our empirical research work in commodity s ectors as well as the literature, and inspired by the ‘pathways to prosperity’ report (Shakhovskoy et al, 2019) It presents the key determinants influencing the ability of farmers to earn a living income and it can be used in different smallholder commodity contexts.

Methods

Results

Conclusion