Understanding the long‐term strategies of vulnerable small‐scale farmers dealing with markets' uncertainty

Bathfield, Benjamin; Gasselin, Pierre; Garcı́a-Barrios, Luis; Vandame, Rémy; López-Ridaura, Santiago

doi:10.1111/geoj.12142

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“… Douxchamps et al, 2015 , Tittonell, 2014 ), and/or decision-making processes (cf. Chopin et al, 2015 , Bathfield et al, 2016 ), representing combinations of structural and functional variables.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate smart agriculture, farm household typologies and food security

López-Ridaura

Frelat

Wijk

et al. 2018

Agricultural Systems

119

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One of the great challenges in agricultural development and sustainable intensification is the assurance of social equity in food security oriented interventions. Development practitioners, researchers, and policy makers alike could benefit from prior insight into what interventions or environmental shocks might differentially affect farmers' food security status, in order to move towards more informed and equitable development. We examined the food security status and livelihood activities of 269 smallholder farm households (HHs) in Bihar, India. Proceeding with a four-step analysis, we first applied a multivariate statistical methodology to differentiate five primary farming system types. We next applied an indicator of food security in the form of HH potential food availability (PFA), and examined the contribution of crop, livestock, and on- and off-farm income generation to PFA within each farm HH type. Lastly, we applied scenario analysis to examine the potential impact of the adoption of ‘climate smart’ agricultural (CSA) practices in the form of conservation agriculture (CA) and improved livestock husbandry, and environmental shocks on HH PFA. Our results indicate that compared to livestock interventions, CA may hold considerable potential to boost HH PFA, though primarily for wealthier and medium-scale cereal farmers. These farm HH types were however considerably more vulnerable to food insecurity risks resulting from simulated drought, while part-time farmers and resource-poor agricultural laborers generating income from off-farm pursuits were comparatively less vulnerable, due in part to their more diversified income sources and potential to migrate in search of work. Our results underscore the importance of prior planning for development initiatives aimed at increasing smallholder food security while maintaining social equity, while providing a robust methodology to vet the implications of agricultural interventions on an ex ante basis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate smart agriculture, farm household typologies and food security

López-Ridaura

Frelat

Wijk

et al. 2018

Agricultural Systems

119

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“…Another example is the shift in strategies among small‐scale coffee growers in Guatemala (Bathfield et al . , this volume). The basic transformation of the economic system from large‐scale landowners to small‐scale farmers has shifted the vulnerability, where the small farmers must now contend with and compete in the international coffee market with fluctuating commodity prices.…”

Section: Examining Root Causesmentioning

confidence: 92%

Resilience to What? Resilience for Whom?

Cutter

2016

Geographical Journal

252

135

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The discourse on disaster resilience and vulnerability entails diverse research and policy communities each assigning different meanings to the concepts, which in turn influences their measurement and implementation in decision‐making contexts. This invited contribution introduces a themed section with five independently submitted papers on the broad topic of vulnerability and resilience. The distinctive geographical focus on the historical development of vulnerability and resilience and their contemporary manifestations is illustrated by the five internationally focused case studies presented in the themed section.

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“…disease emergence in coffee) is important for improving the food security status and reducing poverty of those farm types. Coffee farmers in the region had already experienced prices crashes in the early 2000s and, as Bathfield et al (2013Bathfield et al ( , 2016 pointed out, different strategies were implemented by coffee farmers in the region to cope with the crisis, such as farm and market diversification (e.g. the Cooperativa Guaya'b gathering and commercializing coffee and honey), accessing niche markets such as organic production or, when possible, extending the area under coffee.…”

Section: Targeting Alternatives For Improved Food Securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Food security and agriculture in the Western Highlands of Guatemala

et al. 2019

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Food security is a major challenge in Guatemala, one of the poorest countries in the world. Food insecurity is concentrated in the Western Highlands of Guatemala (WHG) where indigenous communities have been the main victims of social, political and economic marginalization. In this study we characterize the diversity of farming households in the WHG, identify the main sources of food for different types of farm households and assess their food security status through a simple, yet robust, potential food availability indicator. Based on a large and rich dataset of nearly 5000 farm households, our results show the diversity of farming systems in the region, dominated by maize and coffee production, as well as the large differences in their potential food availability. In our model, 52% of farm households in the WHG did not have the means to attain sufficient energy from their agricultural activities. In general, diversified maize-based, coffee-based and specialized coffee farm households had larger proportions of potentially food secure households with 60%, 83% and 74% food secure households, respectively. This contrasted with farm households specialized in maize production and resource-constrained households where there were a greater proportion of households were food insecure. The analytical framework presented here, combining a typology of farm households and their livelihoods with the analysis of their food security status, provides a useful approach for better targeting development interventions towards combating hunger, poverty and malnutrition.

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Understanding the long‐term strategies of vulnerable small‐scale farmers dealing with markets' uncertainty

Cited by 8 publications

References 34 publications

Climate smart agriculture, farm household typologies and food security

Climate smart agriculture, farm household typologies and food security

Resilience to What? Resilience for Whom?

Food security and agriculture in the Western Highlands of Guatemala

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