The Future of Small Farms: Trajectories and Policy Priorities

While smallholder development has, in the past, led to reductions in poverty and hunger, does this still apply in today’s more globalized world? This paper reviews the debates on the contemporary role of agriculture in development and the case for small farms in light of the rise of supermarkets, lower commodity prices and liberalized trade, agricultural research funding, environmental change, HIV/AIDS, and changing policy ideas. Although the answers vary greatly by context, for many low-income countries, smallholder development remains a key option. The policy agenda, however, has changed. In addition to providing public goods, the growing challenge is to overcome market failures, which is largely a matter of institutional innovation.