ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the factors responsible for survival and success in farming among a sample of smallholders from the North Carolina Piedmont. It reviews the studies of smallholder survival and success and explains the methodology of the North Carolina study and the characteristics of the sample. Samples of small-scale farmers in three North Carolina counties were selected via a complex multistage procedure. Small-scale black farmers face problems based upon race. They also share with small-scale, white farmers problems which derive from their socioeconomic position. Several recent studies identify the adoptive strategies developed by small-scale farmers to survive in an often hostile environment. Shared characteristics of these farmers included preference for farming as an occupation, strong work orientation, access to land, and commitment to developing managerial skills, linkages with farm and non-farm organizations, strong family support, and definite goals. Logistic regression coefficients express the incremental effect of the exogenous variables on the logarithm of the probability of surviving in farming.
