Smallholder Farmers: Demographics, Global Context, and Vital Role - Small-Scale Farmers - 9/23 - lecture Slides notes

Introduction and Critical Thinking Prompts

Course Context: CDAE 1020, Fall 2025, focusing on Smallholder Farmers.
Instructional Guidelines:
- Do not rely solely on lecture slides or weekly readings.
- Require citations for information.
- Avoid mere summarization; instead, engage critically with interesting contexts.
- Encouraged to think about and take interest in the world.
Key Themes for Critical Thinking:
- Population dynamics: Immigrants, migrant labor.
- Socio-economic factors: Power, prices, profits, equity.
- Worldview and Governance: Politics, government shutdowns, military rationale, social assistance programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

Key Questions for Understanding Farmers

Demographic Profile of US Farms: What are the characteristics of farms and farmers in the United States?
Smallholders and Farming Systems: Who are smallholders, and how do their farming systems compare to those in the US?
Livelihoods Framework: How does the concept of livelihoods aid in understanding different categories of farmers?

Farming in the United States: A Demographic and Economic Overview

Number of Farms (US):
- $2012$ Census of Agriculture: $2,109,303$ farms (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service).
- $2017$ Census of Agriculture: $2,042,220$ farms (Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service).
Trends in Farm Numbers:
- $2002 ext{ to } 2007$ : Net increase of $+75,810$ farms nationwide.
- $2007 ext{ to } 2012$ : Net decrease of $-95,489$ farms nationwide.
- $2012 ext{ to } 2017$ : United States showed a 'Negligible Change' in the number of farms, with regional variations (some areas had significant decreases, others slight increases).
Land in Farms:
- Figure $3$ (Land in Farms, $2017$ ) shows varying concentrations of land in farms across states, ranging from less than or equal to $10.0$ million acres to greater than $40.0$ million acres.
- Figure $4$ (Percentage Change in Land in Farms, $2012 ext{ to } 2017$ ) illustrates state-level changes, mostly showing decreases (e.g., -6.1 ext{%} in some states, with a few showing slight increases).
Farm Size Dynamics (2007-2012):
- Large Farms (2,000 acres or more): Net increase of $+1,814$ farms.
- Small Farms (Less Than 50 Acres): Net decrease of $-39,949$ farms.
- Trend from $1997 ext{ to } 2017$ (Figure $10$ ): While the number of farms between $1-49$ acres showed a general decline, farms in larger size categories (e.g., $1,000$ or more acres) generally increased or remained stable over this period.
Average Farm Size (1850-2012):
- Historically, the average farm size in the US has significantly increased, while the number of farms has decreased since a peak around the mid- $20^{th}$ century. Land in farms peaked earlier than the number of farms and has since declined.
- The graph shows farms (million), land in farms (billion acres), and average farm size (hundred acres) over this period, indicating a consolidation trend.
Agriculture in the US Economy:
- $1945$ :
  - 16 ext{%} of the total labor force was employed in agriculture.
  - Agriculture's share of total GDP was 7 ext{%}.
- $2012$ :
  - Only 1.01 ext{%} of the total labor force consisted of farm operators.
  - Agriculture's share of total GDP was 1 ext{%}.
- Farmer Demographics: The average age of a principal farm operator was $57.5$ years as of $2017$ (Source: USDA).

Global Farming Context and Comparison with the US

Global Farm Sizes (2011 Data, Source: World Bank):
- Mean Size (hectares, ha):
  - USA: $178$ ha
  - Central America: $10.7$ ha
  - South America: $112$ ha
  - Europe: $32$ ha
  - Sub-Saharan Africa: $2.4$ ha
  - North Africa and West Asia: $4.9$ ha
  - South Asia: $1.4$ ha
  - Southeast Asia: $1.8$ ha
  - East Asia: $1.0$ ha
- Percentage of Farms Less Than $2 ext{ha}$ :
  - USA: 4 ext{%} (significantly lower than other regions)
  - Central America: 63 ext{%}
  - South America: 36 ext{%}
  - Europe: 30 ext{%}
  - Sub-Saharan Africa: 69 ext{%}
  - North Africa and West Asia: 65 ext{%}
  - South Asia: 78 ext{%}
  - Southeast Asia: 57 ext{%}
  - East Asia: 79 ext{%}
Worldwide Farm Size Distribution (Lowder et al. 2016):
- Data from $460$ million farms in $111$ countries indicates a global predominance of very small farms:
  - 72 ext{%} of farms are less than $1$ ha.
  - 12 ext{%} are between $1 ext{ and } 2$ ha.
  - 10 ext{%} are between $2 ext{ and } 5$ ha.
  - Only 1 ext{%} are over $20$ ha.
Geographic Distribution of Farm Size (Samberg et al. 2016):
- A global map indicates that 'Very small' (mean less than $2$ ha) and 'Small' (mean $2-5$ ha) farms are highly prevalent in many parts of Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
- 'Very large' (mean over $50$ ha) farms are more common in regions like North and South America, and parts of Australia and Russia.
Workforce Employment in Agriculture (2010):
- Maps illustrate that many Sub-Saharan African and parts of Asian countries have over 40-60 ext{%} (and even > 60 ext{%}) of their workforce employed in the agricultural sector.
- In contrast, North America, Europe, and Australia have less than 5 ext{%} of their workforce in agriculture.
Agricultural Output - Total Value (USD):
- China's agriculture sector GDP exceeds $1$ trillion USD.
- Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have agricultural GDPs of less than $1$ billion USD (Sources: IMF; CIA World Factbook).
Agricultural Output - Percentage of GDP:
- The US derives approximately 1 ext{%} of its GDP from agriculture.
- Countries like Sierra Leone derive a significantly higher proportion, around 48 ext{%}, highlighting agriculture's crucial role in their economies (Source: CIA - The World Factbook).

Global Poverty and Food Security

Rural Poverty: Approximately 70 ext{%} of the world’s poor live in rural areas.
Definition of Food Insecurity (FAO): "when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life."
Prevalence of Undernourishment (2005-2022, FAO):
- World: Showed an initial decrease from 12.1 ext{%} in $2005$ to 7.5 ext{%} in $2017$ , but then increased to 9.3 ext{%} in $2021$ before slightly decreasing to 9.2 ext{%} in $2022$ .
- Africa: Consistently the highest region, increasing from 19.2 ext{%} in $2005$ to 19.7 ext{%} in $2022$ . Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly high, remaining around 22.5 ext{%} in $2022$ .
- Asia: Decreased from 13.9 ext{%} in $2005$ to 8.5 ext{%} in $2022$ , though Southern Asia had an increase recently.
- Northern America and Europe: Maintained a prevalence of undernourishment of less than 2.5 ext{%} across the entire period ( $2005-2022$ ).
SDG Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) Progress: Projections indicate that the world is significantly off-track to achieve zero hunger by $2030$ . The number of undernourished people globally (especially in Africa and Asia) is projected to remain high or even increase despite earlier optimistic forecasts.

The Importance and Vulnerability of Smallholder Farmers

Defining a Smallholder:
- There is no universal definition, but they are generally considered farms that primarily rely on their own labor rather than permanent hired help and operate with scarce resources.
- Examples of definitions:
  - Tanzania: Farms between $25 ext{ sq meters}$ and $20 ext{ ha}$ of land under production, and/or with $1-50$ head of cattle, $5-100$ goats/sheep/pigs, or $50-1,000$ chickens/ducks/turkeys/rabbits.
  - Brazil: Family farms smaller than $4 imes$ the local "modulo fiscal" (which ranges from $5-110 ext{ ha}$ ), primarily using family labor, deriving most income from the farm, and managed by the owner.
  - United States: Family farms owned by the operator and related individuals, with 'small farms' typically making no more than $250,000$ in gross annual sales.
Global Significance of Smallholders (Sources: IFAD; IFPRI UNEP; McKinsey):
- Prevalence: Approximately $500$ million farmers globally (85 ext{%} of the world’s total) cultivate less than $2$ hectares of land.
- Poverty and Food Insecurity: These smallholders represent about half of the world's food-insecure population, three-quarters of Africa's food-insecure children, and the majority of people living in absolute poverty.
- Food Supply: Smallholders are crucial for global food supply, providing roughly 70 ext{%} of Africa's food and about 80 ext{%} of the food consumed in both Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Economic Contribution (Sub-Saharan Africa): More than 60 ext{%} of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa are smallholder farmers, and approximately 23 ext{%} of the region's GDP stems from agriculture.
Smallholder Landholdings (Africa and EU, Swaminathan et al. 2013):
- Africa (14 WCA-FAO countries): A significant majority of agricultural holdings are small:
  - 53.4 ext{%} of holdings are less than $1$ ha.
  - 22.0 ext{%} are between $1 ext{ and } 2$ ha.
  - These small farms, however, account for a much smaller share of the total agricultural area (e.g., < $1$ ha holdings make up 11.0 ext{%} of total area).
- European Union (EU-27): Similarly, a large number of small holdings exist, but they represent a smaller proportion of the total agricultural area:
  - 50.1 ext{%} of holdings are between $0 ext{ and } 2$ ha.
  - These holdings constitute only 4.4 ext{%} of the total agricultural area.
  - Larger farms (> $100$ ha) represent only 2.7 ext{%} of holdings but compromise 49.0 ext{%} of the total agricultural area.
Value and Vulnerability of Smallholders:
- Societal Value:
  - Supply around 80 ext{%} of food consumed in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
  - Act as primary conservers of agrobiodiversity.
  - Maintain and apply invaluable indigenous knowledge.
- Vulnerabilities: Despite their critical role, smallholders are often highly vulnerable due to:
  - Poverty.
  - Lack of access to essential resources, information, and technology.
  - Food and nutrition insecurity.
  - Impacts of climate change.
  - Tenuous land access.
Smallholder Livelihood Pathways and Challenges:
- The model presented categorizes rural citizens' livelihood strategies, including different types of farmers (Resilient Subsisting, Vulnerable Subsisting, Intensified Commercial, Traditional Commercial, Consolidated Commercial), and rural services (Micro & Small Service Entrepreneur, Agrovet), as well as rural labor and urban migration.
- Rural citizens, including farmers, may migrate to urban areas at any point, indicating the precariousness of their livelihoods.
- Increasing resilience and agency among vulnerable groups is a key objective, often by supporting "farming as a business" or strengthening rural services and labor markets.