How do small farms contribute to food and nutrition security? Linking European small farms, strategies and outcomes in territorial food systems

Abstract

Despite a longstanding literature on small farm-households, there is limited consideration of small farms' role in food and nutrition security (FNS) at territorial level. The purpose of this study is to provide insights about how small farms contribute to FNS at different territorial scales, by focusing on farmers' strategies and consequential FNS outcomes. Analysis is based on two years (2017-2019) of field work done with farmers and food system actors in SALSA reference regions culminating in a workshop done with research partners. We find that small farms deliver food and nutrition security and other socioeconomic and environmental outcomes for the farmhousehold, at local, regional and global levels. The regional level is shown to be critical for small farms, as it provides the scale at which their diversity is realised. Understanding this diversity is a goal for both research and for effective support mechanisms for small farm integration, and the multiple public and private functions small farms can deliver should be higher on the policy agenda.

Farm diversification as a potential success factor for small-scale farmers constrained by COVID-related lockdown. Contributions from a survey conducted in four European countries during the first wave of COVID-19

“…Small farms have been claimed for some time to contribute to food and nutrition security, not only in the Global South, but even at local and regional levels in largely industrialized regions such as Europe [ 13 , 14 ], in spite of their decreasing numbers [ 11 ]. In this paper we focused on small-scale farmers who participated in a number of short food supply chains (SFSCs) in four European countries (Estonia, Hungary, Portugal and Romania) to better understand how the level of diversification, both in terms of production and marketing channels, contributed to their success during the first wave of COVID.…”

Backyard Agricultural and Farm Activity as an Option of Socioeconomic and Food Improvement in the Rural Towns of the Municipality of Guasave, Sinaloa

“…These sustainable production schemes, as well as in communities in Europe [8], contribute to food, nutritional and socioeconomic security of rural communities. The forms of production in rural communities in Guasave, as well as in other regions of Africa, are determined by their historical and geographic context [6,7].…”

“…In Ghana, in addition to producing food, it improves household income and generates expenditure savings [7]. In Europe, small farms contribute to food and nutritional, as well as socioeconomic, security [8]. In times of economic hardship for the world, such as the one we are going through because of Covid-19, backyard food production is an alternative to produce healthy food [9].…”

From agricultural supply chains to food system transformation : Tracing the impact of private sector activities on food systems in developing countries

“…In a similar vein, quality upgrading starts with knowledge brokerage on suitable production and postharvest practices (Chengat Maldonado-Siman et al, 2014) but is ultimately dependent on wider cooperation with other food system partners (Le et al, 2020;Prinsen et al, 2020;Supapunt et al, 2021). Little attention is found for socio-economic and environmental outcomes at regional and global levels (Galli et al, 2020).…”