Growth and Social Protection - Background Resources
Small Farms Debate
'Small farmers can be a driving force in cutting hunger and poverty worldwide'
was a key message to G8 leaders from development specialists at The Future
of Small Farms research workshop held in Wye in June 2005.
Participants at the workshop, jointly organised by IFPRI, ODI and Imperial
College London, concluded that investment in small farm agriculture could
help to raise the rural poor out of poverty and catalyse wider economic
growth.
However, the challenges small farmers in developing countries face include
globalisation - especially the dramatic rise of supermarkets even in poor
countries - low world market prices for major agricultural commodities
and the expected negative impact of climate change. In Africa, these challenges
are compounded by the spread of HIV/AIDS. In addition poor farmers are
widely dispersed and have no effective political voice so are usually
economically neglected.
But we should not give up on this task according to Dr Peter Hazell, Director
of the Development Strategy and Governance Division of IFPRI and workshop
organiser. Possibilities for alternative livelihoods within the non-farm
sector do not look optimistic for the next decade or so and there are
plenty of good investment opportunities within small farms which are good
for both growth and poverty reduction.
The workshop participants agreed that:
- Public investment in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and support services is needed to unleash the inherent power of small farmers.
- In many African countries such investment is contrained by the capacity and quality of state institutions through which it would be channelled. These institutions have to be reformed to increase their accountability to farmers organisations and the private sector.
- Donors must think carefully how aid can be used to encourage such reform programmes. The danger is that large increases in aid could remove incentives for recipient governments to undertake real reform.
- The role of the state in providing key support to small farmers needs
to be redefined. Structural adjustment programmes have led to state
withdrawal from ensuring that small farmers have fair access to high
quality seeds, fertilizers, technical advice and credit and marketing
services and have left a vacuum which in most poor African countries
has not been filled by the private sector. The state should perform
a proactive role in collaboration with farmer organisations and private
sector to 'kick-start' the markets and increase private sector involvement.
Further Reading
Livelihoods
Connect - Agriculture and Natural Resources - Growth and Poverty - Hot
Topic
See:
The
Future of Small Farms webpage (papers and background material from
the Research Workshop held at Withersdane Conference Centre, Wye from
26-29 June 2005, Wye, organised by the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI/2020 Vision Initiative), the Overseas Development Institute
(ODI), and Imperial College London.
and in particular the following papers from that workshop:
The Role Of Agriculture And Small Farms In Economic Development, Peter
Hazell
Small-Farms, Livelihood Diversification and Rural-Urban Transitions: Strategic
Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa, Frank Ellis
The Future of Small Farms: New Directions for Services, Institutions and
Intermediation, Colin Poulton, Andrew Dorward and Jonathan Kydd
Also from 'New Directions for African Agriculture' IDS Bulletin Vol 36,
No 2:
'Success Stories from African Agriculture:
What are the Key Elements of Success?', Steve Wiggins
'Livelihoods Research Findings and Agriculture-led
Growth', Godfrey Bahiigwa, Ntengua Mdoe and Frank Ellis
