THIRD WORLD NETWORK INFORMATION SERVICE ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Dear Friends and Colleagues
Small Farms More Productive and Biodiverse Than Large Farms
Worldwide, 84% of farms are less than 2 hectares in size. A meta-analysis reviewed 118 studies conducted over 50 years across 51 countries to assess how farm size affects outcomes other than food production.
The research team found that small farms have higher yields than large ones do, perhaps owing to the increased availability of family labour. Smaller farms also tend to have more crop diversity, as well as higher non-crop biodiversity at the farm and landscape scales than large farms. That’s probably because, compared with industrial farms, modest farms rely less on insecticides, cover more-diverse landscapes and have more field edges between crops and non-cultivated land. They are also roughly as profitable and resource-efficient as large farms.
The authors suggest that supporting small farms boosts food production while providing important humanitarian and ecological benefits.
With best wishes,
Third World Network
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Item 1
HIGHER YIELDS AND MORE BIODIVERSITY ON SMALLER FARMS
Ricciardi, V., Mehrabi, Z., Wittman, H., James, D., Ramnakutty, N.
Nature Sustainability
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00699-2
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00699-2
25 March 2021
Abstract
Small farms constitute most of the world’s farms and are a central focus of sustainable agricultural development. However, the relationship between farm size and production, profitability, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions remains contested. Here, we synthesize current knowledge through an evidence review and meta-analysis and show that smaller farms, on average, have higher yields and harbour greater crop and non-crop biodiversity at the farm and landscape scales than do larger farms. We find little conclusive evidence for differences in resource-use efficiency, greenhouse gas emission intensity and profits. Our findings highlight the importance of farm size in mediating some environmental and social outcomes relevant to sustainable development. We identify a series of research priorities to inform land- and market-based policies that affect smallholders globally.
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Item 2
SMALL FARMS OUTDO BIG ONES ON BIODIVERSITY — AND CROP YIELDS
Nature
29 March 2021
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00825-2
Large-scale farms account for most of the global food supply, but smallholdings protect species and are just as profitable.
Small farms tend to be more productive and biodiverse than large ones, and are roughly as profitable and resource-efficient.
Worldwide, 84% of farms are less than 2 hectares in size. Many policymakers and scientists argue that these smallholdings outperform large industrial operations — which provide the bulk of the world’s food — on a range of environmental and socioeconomic measures. Vincent Ricciardi and his colleagues at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, analysed 118 studies conducted over 50 years across 51 countries to assess how farm size affects outcomes other than food production.
The team found that small farms have higher yields than large ones do, perhaps owing to the increased availability of family labour. Smaller farms also tend to have more crop diversity, as well as higher non-crop biodiversity. That’s probably because, compared with industrial farms, modest farms rely less on insecticides, cover more-diverse landscapes and have more field edges between crops and non-cultivated land.
The authors suggest that supporting small farms boosts food production while providing important humanitarian and ecological benefits.