ABSTRACT

Four-fifths of the developing world’s food is produced on about half a billion small farms, supporting more than at least one billion people (International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD] 2012). Smallholder farmers live and earn their livelihoods in the world’s most ecologically and climatically vulnerable landscapes-hillsides, drylands, and floodplains-and rely on weather-dependent natural resources. They are at the forefront of the world’s efforts to deal with climate change and environmental degradation. These women, men, and young people face enormous difficulties. Yet they are themselves among the poorest and least foodsecure people on Earth. In developed countries, smallholder farmers cannot compete with large commercial farms producing bulk products and have to focus on “niches” in the urban market, increasingly being framed in terms of ecosystem services that go beyond the production of food.