This article unpacks the reasons why smallholder farmers who grow food for a living are continuously but unsuccessfully struggling to feed their families. Drawing on qualitative research carried out from 2007 to 2008 with Ugandan smallholder farmers, the author demonstrates that while governments and similar institutions are concentrating on promoting modernisation of agriculture, smallholder farmers' efforts are concentrated on food sovereignty. This paper argues that there is a disjuncture between theory, policy and farmers' practices and experiences which have aggravated food insecurity of smallholder farmers. Based on the findings, this study concludes that for smallholder farmers to successfully provide food, theory and practice will have to draw their assumptions from smallholders especially regarding food sovereignty.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.