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The Future of Small Farms

© FAO / G. BizzarriSmallholder farms are both durable and integral to combating rural poverty. Because of the links between rural livelihoods and poverty, the non-governmental sector has been especially concerned about the future of smallholder farms, which the World Bank defines as farms smaller than two hectares.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) asserts that, despite falling numbers in some parts of the world, there are still over 500 million small farms globally, and they are expected continue to dominate the landscape of developing countries—at least for the next few decades.

Most small farmers want only to feed their families, to produce food for others at a fair price, and, essentially, to earn a living by the fruits of their labor. But it’s more and more difficult to run a small farm today. Increasing costs of fertilizers and other expenses, rapidly fluctuating prices for goods, precarious export markets, land degradation, impacts of weather and natural disasters, poor infrastructure, and economic pressure applied by larger companies all impede the profitability of the world’s small farmers.

Trade barriers are another major hurdle. Earnings of those working on farms in low-income countries have been depressed due, in part, to the fact that more prosperous countries provide subsidies that protect their own farmers, which drives prices down elsewhere. Shutting developing countries out of rich country markets via the imposition of import tariffs is another common practice.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like Global Exchange and Oxfam long have lobbied for fairer trade rules that don’t automatically put developing countries at a disadvantage. (For more information on the fair trade debate, see the December 2005 issue of Perspectives.)

On top of all this, young people are leaving rural communities in droves to seek more economic opportunities in the cities. (See the World Bank interview in this issue for more information on rural to urban migration.)

Page 1 - Introduction Page 2 - The Global Food Supply Page 3 - The Future of Small Farms Page 4 - Is Bigger Better? Page 5 - The Debate over Seeds Page 6 - Examining Solutions

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