@article{Hazell:42254,
      recid = {42254},
      author = {Hazell, Peter B.R. and Poulton, Colin and Wiggins, Steve  and Dorward, Andrew},
      title = {The Future of Small Farms for Poverty Reduction and  Growth},
      address = {2007},
      number = {568-2016-39018},
      series = {2020 Discussion Paper},
      pages = {52},
      year = {2007},
      abstract = {The people operating small farms in developing countries  have to cope with the risks of these small
businesses and  have long faced heavy challenges. Today, these challenges  are particularly severe,
and the aspirations of young  people on small farms have changed. Globalization and the  integration
of international markets are stimulating  intense competition, offering some opportunities but also  new
risks. In light of these pressures and others, many of  the world’s millions of small farmers are simply not
making  it. Indeed, half of the world’s undernourished people,  three-quarters of Africa’s malnourished
children, and the  majority of people living in absolute poverty live on small  farms.
The transformation of the small-farm economy is one  of the biggest economic challenges of our
time. For some,  it entails growth into specialized, market-oriented farms;  for others, part-time farming
combined with off-farm rural  jobs; and for others, a move out of agriculture. The  pathways of transformation
differ by region and location  and will take decades. Policy must take a long-run view to  support
and guide this process efficiently, effectively,  and in social fairness. The role of women farmers and  their
livelihoods requires particular attention.
In this  paper, Peter Hazell, Colin Poulton, Steve Wiggins, and  Andrew Dorward address several
crucial questions. Do small  farms in fact have a future? In what situations can small  farms succeed?
What strategies are most appropriate for  helping to raise small-farm productivity? The authors  review
both sides of the debate over the future of small  farms before coming to their conclusions. Coming
down  firmly on the side of policy support for small farms, they  point to small farms’ significant potential
for reducing  poverty and inequity. They also clarify the differing roles  of and needs for small farms in
different country contexts  and spell out a policy agenda for promoting small-farm  development.
This discussion paper is based on a literature  review and the deliberations of an international  workshop,
“The Future of Small Farms,” organized by the  International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
2020  Vision Initiative, the Overseas Development Institute  (ODI), and Imperial College London in Wye,
England, from  June 26 to 29, 2005. (A proceedings volume for this  workshop is available from  IFPRI,
www.ifpri.org/events/seminars/2005/smallfarms/sfproc.asp.)
We  hope that this discussion paper will help stimulate renewed  attention among many stakeholders—
including policymakers,  researchers, the private sector, and nongovernmental  organizations—to
small-scale agricultural development.  Healthy and productive small farms could serve as a  crucial
mechanism for achieving the poverty and hunger  Millennium Development Goals.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/42254},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.42254},
}