ABSTRACT
Farm households, also called family farmers, smallholders, and peasants, are one of the most important social categories in the world. Their numerical importance in developing countries is estimated to be some 400 million households, accounting for about 1.6 billion people, 30 percent of the LDC population, and nearly one quarter of humanity (World Bank, 2007). China alone has 200 million smallholder farmers, accounting for almost all the farmers in the country. As can be seen in Table 22.1, at a world scale, 73 percent of all farms have an area inferior to 1 ha and 85 percent under 2 ha. In China, 93 percent of all farms are under 1 ha, as are 62 percent in India and 53 percent in Africa. In Europe, 30 percent of all farms are less than 1 ha. Even in South America, where farms can be very large, 54 percent of all farms are less than 10 ha, which is considered small there (Bélières et al., 2013). Clearly, at a world scale, smallholder farming dominates agriculture.
