Future Of Small Farms Research Articles

English

Diversification has been argued to be the future of small farms and more so in developing countries given its benefits to mitigating against risk, increase economic and social benefits. This study was built on an earlier study by Mpiira et al. (2021). 247 respondents were interviewed using pre-tested and semi-structured questionnaires in three districts of Central Uganda: Kiboga, Nakaseke and Sembabule. Using a cost-benefit analysis, net benefits from the adoption of a particular combination of GBTL technology were calculated. An Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model was used to determine factors that influence the net benefits accrued by cluster of farms. Findings show that the more diversified farm cluster 2 earns more from bananas and legume fodder while cluster 1 earns more from coffee. Cluster 2 farms earn about 4.3 million shillings annually from bananas and 2.3 million from coffee while cluster 1 farms earn an average of 1.6 million shillings from banana and 3 million shillings from coffee. The final net benefits are influenced by education level, gender and land control as well as level of coffee integration within the coffee-banana intercrop. We find significant differences between farm clusters in terms of diversification intensities by enterprise combinations and benefits. The findings point to the need for tailor-made enterprise combinations that fit the gender, space and location. Key words: Farm diversity, profitability, technology, Uganda.  

The future of small farms and small food businesses as actors in regional food security: A participatory scenario analysis from Europe and Africa

• Outcomes of 13 participatory foresight workshops are compared. • Small farms' and businesses' contribution to food security is important in three of the four considered scenarios. • Concerns on small farms and food businesses relate to the broader rural setting. • Weak collective action will hamper the adaptive capacity of small farms.

Nonfarm Activities and Household Production Choices in Smallholder Agriculture in Vietnam

Nonfarm Activities and Household Production Choices in Smallholder Agriculture in Vietnam

Diversification on Small Farms: An Empirical Investigation of Panel Data for 2001–10

Pakistan’s agricultural sector has experienced restructuring over the last decade, from changes in land markets to the move toward nonagricultural labor markets. However, agriculture remains one of the most important sources of livelihood, accounting for 45 percent of the country’s workforce. It is also a key policymaking area, but the role of small farmers in poverty reduction is still being examined. The future of small farms cannot be viewed in isolation, that is, without taking into account their synergies with nonfarm rural activities. We measure the impact of diversifying sources of livelihood on household income and consumption among small farms in rural Pakistan. Using a balanced panel of 2,058 households from the Pakistan Panel Household Survey (2001–10), we find that both consumption and income are (i) significantly higher for households that have diversified their sources of income and (ii) diversified households also plant greater varieties of crops. These results suggest that nonagricultural activities tend to complement agricultural activities with a view to improving welfare in a rural economy.

The future of small farms in Asia

Farms throughout Asia are predominantly small. By nature, small farms use labour‐intensive production methods. The question arises as to the viability of small farms in the face of the rapidly increasing wage rate in most Asian countries. There is also indication that the production efficiency of small farms has declined relative to large farms in many Asian economies, indicating the increasing disadvantage of small farms in Asia. Therefore, this study argues that unless new policy measures are taken to expand farm size, Asia as a whole is likely to lose comparative advantage in agriculture and become an importer of food grains in the future.

The Future of Small Farms: New Directions for Services, Institutions, and Intermediation

Efficient pre- and post-harvest services are essential if small farms in high potential areas are to intensify production, contribute to economic growth, and reduce poverty. They also matter if small farms in marginal areas are to manage their natural resource base, in the face of growing population pressure and climate change. Difficulties that smallholders face in accessing services are reviewed, showing how incentives for commercial delivery of services to smallholders differ between staple food, traditional cash crop, and high value product supply chains. The major challenge in service delivery to smallholders in much of Africa concerns coordination of service development and delivery. Different forms of intermediary institution for achieving such coordination are examined.

The Future of Small Farms: Trajectories and Policy Priorities

Summary While smallholder development has, in the past, led to reductions in poverty and hunger, does this still apply in today’s more globalized world? This paper reviews the debates on the contemporary role of agriculture in development and the case for small farms in light of the rise of supermarkets, lower commodity prices and liberalized trade, agricultural research funding, environmental change, HIV/AIDS, and changing policy ideas. Although the answers vary greatly by context, for many low-income countries, smallholder development remains a key option. The policy agenda, however, has changed. In addition to providing public goods, the growing challenge is to overcome market failures, which is largely a matter of institutional innovation.

The Future of Small Farms

Summary Interest in agriculture for growth and poverty reduction reawakened in the early 2000s made all the keener by the sudden rise in cereals prices on world markets in 2007–08. But is it still possible to drive agricultural growth through small farms, as happened in the green revolution? Whether small farms have a future was debated at a workshop held in Wye, United Kingdom, in June 2005. It concluded that small farm development is not just desirable for poverty reduction, but also feasible, even in changing circumstances and particularly those of more concentrated supply chains with more demanding buyers. That said, while much that needs to be done is straightforward, such as provision of public goods, fostering the institutional innovations to allow small farmers to deal with the emerging supply chains will require patient work, tailored to specific circumstances. The future of all smallholders may well not lie in farming, but the measures to stimulate the rural nonfarm economy and provide jobs for those leaving farming—a favorable rural investment climate, provision of public goods, institutional development—are largely the same as those for agricultural development as well.

Introduction to the special issue “small farms: decline or persistence?”

AbstractThis issue of Agricultural Economics contains articles from a seminar entitled “Small Farms: Decline or Persistence?” held at the University of Kent. This issue includes nine papers selected from more than 50 papers presented at the seminar. Articles published use a range of econometric and simulation methods to provide a suite of case studies. Topics studied range from such fundamental issues as what constitutes a small farm to recent trends in the diversification of small farms and their integration into modern globalized food chains. Several papers emphasize the link between agricultural policy development and the future of small farms.