smallholder farmers

This blog adresses the new market opportunities for small-scale farmers. The author argues that the demand from urban consumers who are buying food from newly available chain stores is swelling and huge quantities of food are bought in supermarkets. While innovations in urban or vertical farms have a niche role to play, the overwhelming majority of this food will be sourced domestically from rural areas. As such, growing urban markets offer a significant new economic opportunity for farmers. »

This working paper (PDF) from CGIAR synthesizes the most up-to-date knowledge on actions and institutions that bolster smallholder farmers’ climate resilience, drawing upon research from agricultural systems across CGIAR’s diverse portfolio. The adaptation measures are identified as taking place above the level of farmers’ practices on the field. »

The Smallholder Diaries (PDF) provide a deep view of how smallholders are affected by the agricultural cycle and manage their money in response to its ebbs and flows, as well as point to ways that financial service providers might better meet smallholders’ needs. »

This Report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development (APPG) give recommendations on how to support and scale up smallholder agribusiness development in sub-Saharan Africa. This report represents a summary of the wide variety of case studies, evidence and learning presented to the APPG. Enabling the development of small-scale agri-enterprise is a long-term venture and will only be realised in an inclusive way if women, who represent 70% of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, are specifically targeted. »

The analysis in this article uncovers the drivers for the variation in household food availability in sub-Saharan Africa. It suggest that targeting poverty through improving market access and off-farm opportunities is a better strategy to increase food security than focusing on agricultural production and closing the yield gaps. The analysis builds on data from 93 sites in 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, across contrasting agro-ecologies and calculated a simple indicator of food availability. »

In attempting to achieve household food security for smallholder farmers, synergies and tradeoffs exist between cash cropping, food cropping and food security. Available evidence on the impact of cash cropping on food security shows mixed results. The objective of this paper was to assess the impact of export horticulture farming on food security of smallholder farmers in Kenya in two provinces in different agro-ecological zones with different resource and infrastructural endowments, crop growing and marketing conditions. »