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The digitization of agriculture is widely discussed today. But despite proven benefits, its acceptance in agricultural practice remains low. In small-structured areas, this trend is even more pronounced. There are even known cases where farmers initially purchased and used technology, but then stopped using it due to lack of profitability or other reasons. Interestingly, despite extensive research on precision agriculture technologies (PATs), the processes of adoption and phase-out with their associated economic impacts have never been studied. This paper provides a methodological framework for evaluating the economics of PAT deployment, taking into account changes during the period of use; the framework provides decision rules for determining the appropriate time to phase out technology. Using a selected PAT, a farm model, and defined entry and exit scenarios, it was shown that farms with outdated technology and farms with retrofittable technology are at a significant economic disadvantage during implementation compared to farms already using technology suitable for site-specific fertilization or farms relying on the use of a contractor. And even in the event of a phase-out, the two disadvantaged starting conditions face significantly greater uncertainties and costs. Moreover, the decision to phase out in time is difficult, as making an informed and fact-based decision is not possible after the first year of use. Therefore, it is advisable that farmers are not only accompanied before and during phase-in, but also receive professional support during use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugarcane trash is a source of biomass available for energy generation. However, this potential has not been explored in the South African small-scale sugarcane sector. The current trash management practices of farmers, especially, pre-harvest burning, have huge negative environmental implications. Sustainable management of sugarcane trash could help address several challenges in the sugarcane industry including the high cost of irrigation. Therefore, this study is meant to assess small-scale growers’ trash management practices and their implications on greenhouse gas emissions. It also ascertains the potential for using sugarcane trash in the co-generation of electricity. The study was conducted in two communities in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provinces with 330 small-scale farmers. A probit regression was used to determine factors that influence farmers’ trash management practices. Other analyses such as estimations of the amount of available trash, burning emissions and potential energy from sugarcane were informed by previous studies. The findings showed that pre-burning of sugarcane is a common practice among smallholder producers in South Africa. However, some farmers have attempted to move away from this practice opting to leave their sugarcane in the field or use it for compost. The farmers’ burning of sugarcane releases an estimated 0.08 tCO2-e per ha into the atmosphere. In total, the estimated greenhouse gas emissions from sugarcane burning of all small-scale growers in the two provinces are 725 tCO2-e per annum. The findings also revealed that having more land, poor endowment with psychological capital, lack of access to extension, limited resources, and working in silos compound the practice of burning sugarcane. The estimated energy potential from small-scale sugarcane producers in the country, using a 50 % recovery efficiency and 36 % energy conversion efficiency is 150,323.3 MWh. The study proposes several recommendations for improving trash management practices and initiating the co-generation of electricity from trash in the small-scale sugarcane industry.

This investigation explores the effectiveness of hot air-drying and ambient ventilation techniques in enhancing the storage quality of Khao Dok Mali 105 paddy rice within small-scale barns in Northeast Thailand. Through comprehensive analysis of moisture and temperature dynamics, the research revealed that an optimized main air pipe system significantly reduces moisture content from 25% db to a desirable 16% db, outperforming alternative systems. Spatial assessments within the barn highlighted the importance of placement, showing that front sections achieved lower moisture levels. This underscores the need for uniform moisture distribution and temperature management to prevent quality degradation. Notably, after 84 h of drying, variations in moisture content across different barn locations emphasized the critical role of environmental control. These insights pave the way for advancing grain storage practices, focusing on strategic ventilation and environmental monitoring to ensure rice quality over time. This study not only challenges traditional methods but also offers significant practical implications for optimizing small-scale rice storage, providing a pathway towards sustainable post-harvest processing in resource-constrained environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forests of Central Africa constitute the continent's largest continuous tract of forest, maintained in part by over 200 protected areas across six countries with varying levels of restriction and enforcement. Despite protection, these Central African forests are subject to a multitude of overlapping proximate and underlying drivers of deforestation and degradation, such as conversion to small-scale agriculture. This pilot study explored whether transboundary protected area complexes featuring mixed resource-use restriction categories are effective in reducing the predicted disturbance risk to intact forests attributed to small-scale agriculture. At two transboundary protected area complex sites in Central Africa, we used Google Earth Engine and a suite of earth observation (EO) data, including a dataset derived using a replicable, open-source methodology stemming from a regional collaboration, to predict the increased risk of deforestation and degradation of intact forests caused by small-scale agriculture. For each complex, we then statistically compared the predicted increased risk between protected and unprotected forests for a stratified random sample of 2 km sites (n = 4000). We found varied effectiveness of protected areas for reducing the predicted risk of deforestation and degradation to intact forests attributed to agriculture by both the site and category of protected areas within the complex. Our early results have implications for sustainable agriculture development, forest conservation, and protected areas management and provide a direction for future research into spatial planning. Spatial planning could optimize the configuration of protected area types within transboundary complexes to achieve both forest conservation and sustainable agricultural production outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores factors influencing smallholder farmers’ attitudes towards integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). ISFM is paramount to improve soil fertility for sustainable agricultural productivity, especially in contexts where smallholder agriculture is an important local livelihood and economic activity, as in many countries of the Global South. Alongside the development and availability of new technologies to enhance soil fertility, smallholder farmers’ attitudes towards these innovations in specific contexts are key to determining the extent and outcomes of their uptake. A better understanding of these is thus essential to inform measures to increase ISFM practices among smallholder farmers.

This article reviews the literature on the social dynamics influencing small-scale agriculture in South Africa. These include three primary factors: the trans-local character of livelihoods; the role of social hierarchies of gender, age and marital status in allocating rights and responsibilities at home; and the ceremonial economy. South African land reform policies must recognise these local practices of distribution and social reproduction as integral to people's livelihood strategies. By doing so, land reform can move beyond the narrow emphasis on productivity and 'self-reliance,' instead focusing on aligning policies with the strategies of the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses how climate changes are intersecting with other environmental and social pressures to affect farmers in the Lombardy region of the central Italian Alps. Alpine areas are particularly susceptible to climate change. Natural sciences studies have documented widespread changes to weather, landscapes, and ecosystems in the Alps caused by climate and social changes, yet studies of the impact of the changes on Alpine farmers and farming practices are limited. Through semi‐structured interviews and participant observation with 40 farmers, the study demonstrates that farmers have noticed changes to the weather, ecosystems, and landscapes caused by climate and social changes. The changes are both directly affecting farming practices and intersecting with other pressures facing mountain farmers. The impact of climate change on Alpine farms varies—across even short distances—depending on the microenvironment and microclimate of the farm, the farm's degree of market integration, the personal characteristics of individual farmers, the type of agricultural activities practised, and the unique social history of the valleys under study. The article provides a window into small‐scale farming in the Alps today. As farmers respond to climate changes, they do so in a context where they are also facing myriad other challenges, some more pressing than climate change. Climate policies and programs should recognise these simultaneous challenges and be flexible to local differences in the impact of and farmer responses to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although substantial literature has discussed the centrality of traditional maize agriculture to food security and culture in Mexico, little attention has been paid to how small-scale Mexican farmers classify their seeds and foods. This article draws on ten months of ethnographic field work about maize agriculture in San Miguel del Valle (San Miguel), a Zapotec community in Oaxaca, Mexico. Local agriculture in San Miguel no longer provides the majority of locally consumed food, but it still fundamentally shapes life in the community. I describe how residents categorize their foods and crops based on locality and knowledge about production. The term criollo, commonly used to refer to native crop varieties, is used to express adherence to local standards of production. Ideas about chemicals are important in residents’ evaluations of quality. The ways in which residents discuss their lands and foods in Zapotec reflect relationships between locally produced foods, health, and the human body. The value of local production for San Miguel residents entails not just the origin of foods, but also production standards, the ability to know how the food was produced, and perceived effects on health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture, like many occupations, is a gendered activity. In the DR Congo, productive agriculture is generally the attribution of men and food-producing agriculture of women. Seed selection and conservation is subject to the same gendered distribution, whereby women select, sow, harvest, and save seeds for food crops. However, faced with numerous contextual shocks, more and more women farmers are no longer able to save their seeds from one season to the next. Therefore, they turn to external actors to obtain seed, that are generally produced according to Congolese seed regulations. These are based on international standards, inherited from colonisation and modern science. However, the logic of this regulation is productivist, favouring the development of a seed sector driven by the male gender. Moreover, its exogenous dynamics ignore the ancestral knowledge of peasants, and more specifically, of women peasants.

This investigation explores the effectiveness of hot air-drying and ambient ventilation techniques in enhancing the storage quality of Khao Dok Mali 105 paddy rice within small-scale barns in Northeast Thailand. Through comprehensive analysis of moisture and temperature dynamics, the research revealed that an optimized main air pipe system significantly reduces moisture content from 25% db to a desirable 16% db, outperforming alternative systems. Spatial assessments within the barn highlighted the importance of placement, showing that front sections achieved lower moisture levels. This underscores the need for uniform moisture distribution and temperature management to prevent quality degradation. Notably, after 84 h of drying, variations in moisture content across different barn locations emphasized the critical role of environmental control. These insights pave the way for advancing grain storage practices, focusing on strategic ventilation and environmental monitoring to ensure rice quality over time. This study not only challenges traditional methods but also offers significant practical implications for optimizing small-scale rice storage, providing a pathway towards sustainable post-harvest processing in resource-constrained environments.

The forests of Central Africa constitute the continent’s largest continuous tract of forest, maintained in part by over 200 protected areas across six countries with varying levels of restriction and enforcement. Despite protection, these Central African forests are subject to a multitude of overlapping proximate and underlying drivers of deforestation and degradation, such as conversion to small-scale agriculture. This pilot study explored whether transboundary protected area complexes featuring mixed resource-use restriction categories are effective in reducing the predicted disturbance risk to intact forests attributed to small-scale agriculture. At two transboundary protected area complex sites in Central Africa, we used Google Earth Engine and a suite of earth observation (EO) data, including a dataset derived using a replicable, open-source methodology stemming from a regional collaboration, to predict the increased risk of deforestation and degradation of intact forests caused by small-scale agriculture. For each complex, we then statistically compared the predicted increased risk between protected and unprotected forests for a stratified random sample of 2 km sites (n = 4000). We found varied effectiveness of protected areas for reducing the predicted risk of deforestation and degradation to intact forests attributed to agriculture by both the site and category of protected areas within the complex. Our early results have implications for sustainable agriculture development, forest conservation, and protected areas management and provide a direction for future research into spatial planning. Spatial planning could optimize the configuration of protected area types within transboundary complexes to achieve both forest conservation and sustainable agricultural production outcomes.

The emergence, spread, and persistence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a pressing global concern. Increased promotion of commercial small-scale agriculture within low-resource settings has facilitated an increased use in antimicrobials as growth promoters globally, creating antimicrobial-resistant animal reservoirs. We conducted a longitudinal field study in rural Ecuador to monitor the AMR of Escherichia coli populations from backyard chickens and children at three sample periods with approximately 2-month intervals (February, April, and June 2017). We assessed AMR to 12 antibiotics using generalized linear mixed effects models (GLMM). We also sampled and assessed AMR to the same 12 antibiotics in one-day-old broiler chickens purchased from local venders. One-day-old broiler chickens showed lower AMR at sample period 1 compared to sample period 2 (for 9 of the 12 antibiotics tested); increases in AMR between sample periods 2 and 3 were minimal. Two months prior to the first sample period (December 2016) there was no broiler farming activity due to a regional collapse followed by a peak in annual farming in February 2017. Between sample periods 1 and 2, we observed significant increases in AMR to 6 of the 12 antibiotics in children and to 4 of the 12 antibiotics in backyard chickens. These findings suggest that the recent increase in farming, and the observed increase of AMR in the one-day old broilers, may have caused the increase in AMR in backyard chickens and children. Small-scale farming dynamics could play an important role in the spread of AMR in low- and middle-income countries.

Specialization of agriculture in the Colombian Andes has increased smallholder vulnerability to climate change and global price fluctuations and has also affected the socio-economic and environmental conditions. Promoting sustainable agriculture in the region requires a holistic understanding of complex agroecosystems. This study identifies and analyzes the main challenges for agriculture and possibilities for agroecological transition of small-scale farms in Guachetá, Colombia. Using the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE), 10 elements of agroecology and core performance criteria were evaluated on seven farms. Several key actors were then interviewed, to triangulate data and understand current challenges and possible future pathways. It was found that drier climate and variations in rainfall patterns pose major challenges to current production systems. Limited possibilities for participation in land governance, lack of interest in agriculture among young people, and lack of access to markets hinder the development of sustainable agriculture. Current specialized practices in dairy and potato production are associated with reduced agricultural biodiversity and dependency on agrochemicals, leading to weak synergies and low profitability within agroecosystems. Implementation of agroecological principles and practices such as crop and income diversification and promoting joint action in agricultural development could help overcome sustainability issues in Guachetá. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As digitalization in the agricultural sector has intensified, the number of studies addressing adoption and use of digital technologies in crop production and livestock farming has also increased. However, digitalization trends in the context of small-scale farming have mainly been excluded from such studies. The focus of this paper is on investigating the sequential adoption of precision agriculture (PA) and other digital technologies, and the use of multiple technologies in a small-scale agricultural region in southern Germany. An online survey of farmers yielded a total of 2,390 observations, of which 1,820 operate in field farming, and 1,376 were livestock farmers. A heuristic approach was deployed to identify adoption patterns. Probable multiple uses of 30 digital farming technologies and decision-support applications, as well as potential trends of sequential technology adoption were analyzed for four sequential points of adoption (entry technology, currently used technologies, and planned short-term and mid-term investments). Results show that Bavarian farmers cannot be described as exceedingly digitalized but show potential adoption rates of 15–20% within the next five years for technologies such as barn robotics, section control, variable-rate applications, and maps from satellite data. Established use of entry technologies (e.g., automatic milking systems, digital field records, automatic steering systems) increased the probability of adoption of additional technologies. Among the most used technologies, the current focus is on user-friendly automation solutions that reduce farmers' workload. Identifying current equipment and technology trends in small-scale agriculture is essential to strengthen policy efforts to promote digitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionIntegrating the heterogeneity of small-scale agriculture with the regulation, material, and non-material contributions is key to complementing the rural-support policy instruments. The objectives of the present study were to analyze the diversity of agricultural types of management in small-scale maize agroecosystems and discuss their implications for nature's contributions in the region of Valles Altos, México.MethodsThe methodology was conducted by constructing an agricultural management typology with multivariate statistical analysis for 112 small plots interviews. The operationalization of regulation, material, and non-material nature's contributions was based on the definition and counting of cultural elements from agronomic management for each class of contribution.ResultsThe results indicate three different types of agricultural management defined mainly by the type of seed, the destination of harvest, and the type of tillage. This management diversity is guided by farmers' motivation to achieve food self-sufficiency or generate income from grain sales. Each management type has a unique provision of regulation, material, and no material contributions defined by the use of the native seed, use of stover, and management diversification.DiscussionThe integration of farm typology methods and nature's contributions framework reveals that it is critical to establish new incentives that include the biological and cultural diversity of agroecosystems and the individual motivations of farmers. This may help conserve the natural and cultural values of agriculture and design appropriate incentives for small-scale agriculture.

Gender mainstreaming has been prioritised within the national agricultural policies of many countries, including Nepal. Yet gender mainstreaming at the national policy level does not always work to effect change when policies are implemented at the local scale. In less-developed nations such as Nepal, it is rare to find a critical analysis of the mainstreaming process and its successes or failures. This paper employs a critical gender analysis approach to examine the gender mainstreaming efforts in Nepal as they move from agricultural policies to practices. The research involved a structured review of 10 key national agricultural policy documents, 14 key informant interviews, and two focus group discussions with female and male smallholder farmers. Results suggest that gender mainstreaming in national agricultural policy and practice has largely failed. The creation of the Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) section within the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development is paradoxical to gender-responsive agricultural innovation because it has received limited human and financial resources with an expectation for women to manage this policy development in informal and largely unrecognized ways. At the regional and local levels, implementation of fundamental gender equity and social inclusion procedures—such as gender-responsive planning and budgeting—has become staff responsibility without requisite formal training, gender sensitization, and follow-up. In Nepal, women as smallholder farmers or agricultural labourers are recognized as a vulnerable group in need of social protection, but the welfare approach to gender mainstreaming has achieved little in terms of gender equity, social inclusion, and agricultural sustainability. This paper concludes that what is generally missing is a systemic transformation of gender roles and relations in agriculture, with policies that would support rural women's empowerment through the provision of economic and political rights and entitlement to productive resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even more than 30 years after the introduction of precision farming technologies and studies of their benefits in terms of productivity gains and environmental improvements, adoption rates, especially for variable-rate technologies, are very low. In particular, in smallholder areas, farm managers are reluctant to adopt these technologies. Therefore, this study identifies factors that hinder or facilitate adoption from an economic perspective. Using a model-based sensitivity analysis with three farms of different sizes (11 ha, 57 ha and 303 ha), it is shown that larger farms have higher resilience to external factors due to economies of scale. In addition, it is clarified that the certainty of obtaining additional benefits with GPS guidance systems can explain the higher adoption rates in farming practice, although the additional benefits (per hectare and year) are much lower for this technology than for variable-rate technologies. Small farms (>30 ha) are by no means excluded from the use of digital technologies, as it is shown that the influence of learning costs on profitability is very low, low subsidies can lead to a drastic reduction in the minimum farm size and the presence of low-cost technologies is an efficient solution which allows small farms to participate in the digital transformation of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So far, only few results are available regarding the social consequences of digital technologies for everyday work in small-scale agriculture. At the same time, farmers often have little information to assess what to expect after investing in digital technologies. However, information on possible consequences becomes more and more relevant to support farmers in a targeted way and to increase acceptance. This article examines the possible consequences using the technology assessment approach, taking Baden-Württemberg as an example. For this purpose, we conducted 38 qualitative expert interviews and analyzed them qualitatively and content-wise. The results show technology- specific social consequences (e.g. for work, family) and possible solutions for (family) farms in small scale agriculture. They provide useful information for industry, trade, politics, education, and consulting.

Land use change has been identified as a cause for biodiversity loss and has significant effects on pollinators and their interactions with plants. Interaction network analyses complement diversity estimators by providing information on the stability and functionality of the plant-pollinator community in an ecosystem. However, how land use changes affect insect diversity, and the structure of their plant-insect interaction networks, could depend on the intensity of the disturbance but also may be a matter of scale. Our study was carried out in a tropical highland landscape dominated by intense, yet diverse, small-scale agriculture. We studied the effects of land use, at a landscape scale, and local cover and plant ecological descriptors, at a local scale; on diversity descriptors of insect pollinator communities, the abundance of the most frequent flower visitors, and their interaction networks. Seminatural vegetation favored insect flower visitors at both scales. At the landscape scale, human settlements positively influenced bee diversity, and seminatural areas favored the abundance of frequent hoverfly and bumblebee species. At the local scale, bare soil cover negatively influenced honeybee abundance while flower-rich covers positively related to bumblebee abundance. Only local scale variables had influence on network metrics. Bare soil cover was related to higher network specialization, probably due to a low rate of honeybee interactions. Flower-rich covers negatively influenced network connectance but favored modularity. These results suggest that flower resources, provided by weed areas and flowering crops, promote a high rate of interactions between trophic levels and a non-random structure in the interaction networks that may be helping to sustain network stability. Our results highlight the role of seminatural vegetation, at both scales, in maintaining stable insect pollinator communities and interactions in heterogeneous agricultural landscapes of the tropics.

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Chinampería, a jeopardized precolonial agricultural practice, persists in the Xochimilco wetland, Mexico City. Agroecological chinampa production is a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site, and contributes to the sustainability of both the urban wetland and the city. The 'chinampa-refuge' model (CRM) is a transdisciplinary effort to strengthen traditional agroecological practices and ecological restoration. Through an inter/transdisciplinary research framework, we addressed the model's role in the sustainability of this socio-ecosystem concerning four significant drivers of the wetland's transformation. The CRM has improved water quality locally, increased the suitable habitat for native aquatic biodiversity, and supported traditional agroecological practices, thus improving the quality and safety of food products. However, there are clear challenges regarding production and commercialization, some of which may be addressed through the strengthening of the social organization and collective action. However, other challenges are beyond the reach of chinampa producers' efforts and the CRM, but are decisive in changing the degradation trends. In order to address these challenges, urgent and participatory government actions are needed based on the recognition of the causes of wetland degradation and the role of traditional chinampa production in its sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of digital technologies is expected to impact the social sustainability of agriculture, in particular in the case of small and mid-sized family farms in Western Europe. Goal of this research was to assess these impacts, however widely accepted impact assessment schemes of social sustainability are missing. Against this background, a qualitative, two-stage Delphi survey was conducted in order to identify relevant impact categories of the adoption of digital technologies in family-operated small-scale farms of South-West Germany. The participating experts stated, for example, that the adoption of digital technologies on the farm could mean that new business models can be based on the use of digital technologies. However, they also stated that digital technology could overburden farmers, which could hinder digitization in this sector as a whole. Data protection and data security were also issues ranked highly important by the participants in the Delphi Process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries with small-scale agriculture have yet to exploit the untapped potential of agricultural mechanization. This is because of the misconception that mechanization is often seen as unworthy in small-scale agriculture. The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of agricultural mechanization in China and to provide evidence on how smallholder farmers can access agricultural machinery. A narrative approach was employed to conduct an in-depth analysis of the policies, strategies, and trends associated with agricultural mechanization development. The findings showed that: (1) the establishment and development of mechanization for smallholder agriculture is an evolutionary process that strongly opposes leapfrogging (technocratic behavior) and making large jumps; (2) the foundation of mechanization development should rely on a self-reliance system; (3) an appropriate mechanization theory is the key to inducing the rapid growth of mechanization in small-scale agriculture; (4) the successful application of agricultural machinery requires strong, target-oriented, and pro-farmer policies with effective leadership strategies. We present the key lessons on policy and institutional aspects for countries with small-scale agriculture and who are in the initial stages of agricultural mechanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Burundi, many subsistence farmers employ mixed cropping systems in an attempt to provide food for their families in an environment with high risks, few safety nets and limited storage options. In this paper, we studied the crop portfolios that minimize energy and macronutrient deficiency. We accounted for yield variability, seasonality and storage availability. A mathematical programming approach was applied to four different farm types (based largely on farm size) to predict optimal mixes of crops for farmers to achieve the household year-round supply in calories, fats and proteins. The models predicted that farmers could best cover their household needs in terms of calories, fats and proteins by growing fewer crops in a more optimal combination. Bananas and cassava appear in the crop portfolios as sources of energy; growing beans add proteins to the diets and groundnuts and/or soybeans will supply the needed fats. Crop portfolios differ by farm type and change when yield variability and storage is accounted for. Some of the portfolios predicted by the models have a more diverse crop combination and include maize, rice and/or peas additional to the crops mentioned above. Results also highlighted the benefits of basic storage infrastructure in overcoming seasonal shortages. Nevertheless, even if they would choose to apply the proposed crop portfolios, farms with very small land size in Burundi will continue to struggle to supply sufficient food for the family. Further refinement for micronutrient supply, diet quality, food preferences and market purchases may change these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural expansion into subtropical and tropical forests causes major environmental damage, but its wider social impacts often remain hidden. Forest-dependent smallholders are particularly strongly impacted, as they crucially rely on forest resources, are typically poor, and often lack institutional support. Our goal was to assess forest-smallholder dynamics in relation to expanding commodity agriculture. Using high-resolution satellite images across the entire South American Gran Chaco, a global deforestation hotspot, we digitize individual forest-smallholder homesteads (n = 23,954) and track their dynamics between 1985 and 2015. Using a Bayesian model, we estimate 28,125 homesteads in 1985 and show that forest smallholders occupy much larger forest areas (>45% of all Chaco forests) than commonly appreciated and increasingly come into conflict with expanding commodity agriculture (18% of homesteads disappeared; n = 5,053). Importantly, we demonstrate an increasing ecological marginalization of forest smallholders, including a substantial forest resource base loss in all Chaco countries and an increasing confinement to drier regions (Argentina and Bolivia) and less accessible regions (Bolivia). Our transferable and scalable methodology puts forest smallholders on the map and can help to uncover the land-use conflicts at play in many deforestation frontiers across the globe. Such knowledge is essential to inform policies aimed at sustainable land use and supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the post-apartheid era, agricultural support has been focused on small-scale farmers. Although the support manifests through an array of initiatives, the largest expenditure is on land reform and the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP). However, the impact has been minimal, with few farmers benefiting. This systematic literature review study argues that the design of the government initiatives directed at small-scale farmers contains loopholes that allow the manifestation of certain behaviours explainable by three theoretical concepts from the field of economics of information, namely adverse selection, moral hazard, and opportunistic behaviour. After a comprehensive review and discussion of these concepts, we identify, through a systematic literature review, cases that illustrate the behaviour explained by these concepts within CASP and in the land redistribution programme. Our findings show that agents (service providers, farmers, and government officials) involved in the process of rendering support to small-scale farmers act on these existing loopholes in a manner that is beneficial to themselves. We recommend that efforts be made to minimise such behaviours in order to reduce transaction costs and improve the effectiveness of the support initiatives. We also identify potential future research avenues and how they can be approached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Market orientation have increasingly been adopted to tackle food insecurity. • Social exchange theory – a theory for understanding social behaviours. • Market orientation strengthens market-based exchange relationships. • Market orientation disrupts traditional exchange relationships. • Alternative policy that enhance market and non-market based relationship is needed. In recent decades, small-scale farmers' market orientation approaches have increasingly been adopted to tackle the problem of food insecurity. However, little is known about how this affects other non-market exchange relationships. The present paper addresses this knowledge gap using qualitative data gathered from small-scale farmers at three selected sites in northern Ethiopia. We took a social exchange theory perspective to examine how resource exchanges have altered after-market orientations in rural communities. The results indicate that, in addition to the benefits for better-off households, integration into the market economy improves the bargaining power and autonomy of middle-income groups as well as the physically fit younger generations. The results also suggest that market orientation generates new livelihood opportunities and market-based relationships, which in turn facilitate the formalisation and transformation of local institutions. On the other hand, market orientation has adverse impacts on traditional practices of resource exchange – such as labour for labour, oxen for labour, labour for harvest/yield, or labour for food – or the exchange of other services. Our results indicate that because these in-kind resource exchange relationships have been replaced by monetary transactions, the poor have become even more vulnerable. The policy implication is that while promoting market-driven approaches to food security, complementary mechanisms must be put in place to empower those living in the most vulnerable conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the effect on rural livelihoods of the displacement of people in Chilonga communal area in Zimbabwe. Various studies in Africa, including Zimbabwe, have shown that land displacements happen where the political elite, in collusion with multinational companies and powerful individuals, take advantage of weak land governance systems particularly in communal areas to displace people. Lack of title over land, which is mostly vested in the state, makes communal areas most vulnerable to displacement. This is evident in the current case study of Chilonga, where various statutory instruments have been enforced to evict people. The Chilonga displacement, enforced by the state to accommodate large-scale lucerne farming, ignores that land is a source of livelihoods and identity for communal area dwellers. It has also shown that people from communal areas have limited freedom to resist displacement that curtails access and use of land. We argue that the Chilonga case study illustrates our contention that, where African land governance is weak, political elites and their connections use it to achieve narrow interests regardless of the impact on communal area dwellers through displacement and loss of livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even more than 30 years after the introduction of precision farming technologies and studies of their benefits in terms of productivity gains and environmental improvements, adoption rates, especially for variable-rate technologies, are very low. In particular, in smallholder areas, farm managers are reluctant to adopt these technologies. Therefore, this study identifies factors that hinder or facilitate adoption from an economic perspective. Using a model-based sensitivity analysis with three farms of different sizes (11 ha, 57 ha and 303 ha), it is shown that larger farms have higher resilience to external factors due to economies of scale. In addition, it is clarified that the certainty of obtaining additional benefits with GPS guidance systems can explain the higher adoption rates in farming practice, although the additional benefits (per hectare and year) are much lower for this technology than for variable-rate technologies. Small farms (>30 ha) are by no means excluded from the use of digital technologies, as it is shown that the influence of learning costs on profitability is very low, low subsidies can lead to a drastic reduction in the minimum farm size and the presence of low-cost technologies is an efficient solution which allows small farms to participate in the digital transformation of agriculture.

Africa is highly vulnerable to changes in global climatic conditions due to its low adaptive capacity and sensitivity to changes in climatic variables, particularly in the agricultural sector. A key attribute of studies on climate change coping strategies and adaptation mechanisms in Africa is that they lack local specificity. Within a discourse dominated by large-scale attempts to measure the extent of climate change and its impacts with methods drawn from physical and biological sciences, there is little focus on how locally-specific knowledge and practices help communities to cope with effects of adverse environmental conditions on their agriculture at the farm level. From a sample of 115 respondents drawn from South Africa and Kenya and through interviews, discussions and interactions, this paper demonstrates that local residents deploy their indigenous knowledge in predicting seasonal weather and rainfall patterns, determining wind speed and direction, preserving grains for planting purposes and various traditional farming support systems to lessen the impacts of climate change on their agricultural activities. The paper concludes that merging local knowledge with modern science in Africa could help develop a syncretic agronomical knowledge amongst farmers in handling climate change.

In this paper we present a situated analysis of the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the life of small-scale farmers and agricultural laborers in India, Algeria, and Morocco. We draw on data collected through phone interviews since April 2020. Inspired by feminist scholars, we analyze our findings thinking with—and entangling—the concepts of intersectionality, resilience and care. We firstly document the material impacts of the lockdown measures, focusing particularly on the experiences of single women farmers and laborers, whose livelihood and well-being have been notably compromised. Secondly, we unfold how different agricultural actors have come up with inventive ways to respond to the unexpected situation which they are facing. In doing so, we highlight the importance of considering the multiple and entangled socionatural challenges, uncertainties, and marginalizations that different agricultural actors experience, as well as the transformative potential of their inventive practices, which are often motivated and informed by notions of care.

Smallholders in the North Macedonia face different constraints in accessing to finance. Various formal institutions, mechanisms and support programmes were established to increase the external capital consumption by farmers, but still smallholders remained underserved with appropriate finance. The aim of this study is to determine the priorities of the smallholders in choosing their best alternative of financial sources under different financing incentives. The Analytical Hierarchy Process, as a multi-criteria decision making technique, enabled prioritisation in the complex financial decision- making, considering multiple conflicting criteria at once. The results show that the smallholders mostly need finance to support investments in farm modernization, followed by the need of investment capital for adaption and mitigation of negative climate change effects and environment protection. In order to meet these needs, smallholders mostly prioritise the national institutions for providing financial support in agriculture. Especially important for the smallholders is the National Rural Development Programme and IPARD Programme that follow complex procedures, and thus, these funds have a relatively low utilisation rate. Another priority of smallholders is given to the direct credits by the National Development Bank that are currently unavailable to smallholders due to legal restrictions. Analyses of this kind, considering the bottom-up approach in valuing the smallholders’ opinions and needs of financing, are scarce in the practise, but they are very important in tailoring the financing offer and financial support measures in agriculture to the real needs of the smallholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing use of reclaimed water for irrigation in areas lacking access to advanced wastewater treatment and reclaimed water distribution systems calls for an examination of irrigation-site-based treatment technologies that can improve the quality of this alternative water source. To address this need, we investigated the impact of zero-valent iron (ZVI)-sand filtration on the bacterial community structure and functional potential of conventionally treated reclaimed water utilized in downstream applications. Over a 2-month period, reclaimed water was collected from a tertiary wastewater treatment plant in the Mid-Atlantic, U.S. and trucked to our greenhouse facility. The water was stored in rain barrels and then filtered through one ZVI-sand filter every 5 days. Filtrate was then subjected to enumeration, phylotyping, shiga toxin screening, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Escherichia coli. Aliquots of filtrate were also DNA extracted, and purified DNA was subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomic shotgun sequencing. The genera Dechloromonas, Desulfotomaculum, Leptonema, and Thermomonas, which contain denitrifying and sulfate reducing species, commonly used in bioremediation, and known to increase the inherent reactivity of ZVI, were significantly more relatively abundant in ZVI-sand filtered reclaimed water compared to reclaimed water. The concentration of E. coli in ZVI-sand filtered reclaimed water was significantly lower compared to that of reclaimed water, and cefoxitin- and tetracycline-resistant E. coli were undetectable after ZVI-sand filtration. ZVI-sand filtration reduced the occurrence of human as well as plant pathogenic genera (Aeromonas, Mycobacterium, Shewanella, Acidovorax, Agrobacterium, and Clavibacter) but increased the proportion of Azospira, a nitrogen fixing bacterial genera, in the microbial community. Our exploratory functional analysis showed a modest non-significant increase in the proportion of open reading frames for genes associated with iron uptake, oxidative stress, as well as defense and repair mechanisms after ZVI-sand filtration. These data indicate an iron rich environment in the filter causing an oxidative stress response by the bacterial community present in the reclaimed water. Our findings demonstrate that ZVI-sand filtration effectively filters conventionally treated reclaimed water. Longer-term, field-based studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the filter in agricultural settings and inform the development of future agricultural water reuse regulations.

Abstract Background Malaria is increasing in some recently urbanized areas that historically were considered lower risk. Understanding what drives urban transmission is hampered by inconsistencies in how “urban” contexts are defined. A dichotomized “urban–rural” approach, based on political boundaries may misclassify environments or fail to capture local drivers of risk. Small-scale agriculture in urban or peri-urban settings has been shown to be a major risk determinant. Methods Household-level Anopheles abundance patterns in and around Malawi’s commercial capital of Blantyre (~ 1.9 M pop.) were analysed. Clusters (N = 64) of five houses each located at 2.5 km intervals along eight transects radiating out from Blantyre city centre were sampled during rainy and dry seasons of 2015 and 2016. Mosquito densities were measured inside houses using aspirators to sample resting mosquitoes, and un-baited CDC light traps to sample host seeking mosquitoes. Results Of 38,895 mosquitoes captured, 91% were female and 87% were Culex spp. Anopheles females (N = 5058) were primarily captured in light traps (97%). Anopheles abundance was greater during rainy seasons. Anopheles funestus was more abundant than Anopheles arabiensis, but both were found on all transects, and had similar associations with environmental risk factors. Anopheles funestus and An. arabiensis females significantly increased with distance from the urban centre, but this trend was not consistent across all transects. Presence of small-scale agriculture was predictive of greater Anopheles spp. abundance, even after controlling for urbanicity, number of nets per person, number of under-5-year olds, years of education, and season. Conclusions This study revealed how small-scale agriculture along a rural-to-urban transition was associated with An. arabiensis and An. funestus indoor abundances, and that indoor Anopheles density can be high within Blantyre city limits, particularly where agriculture is present. Typical rural areas with lower house density and greater distance from urban centres reflected landscapes more suitable for Anopheles reproduction and house invasion. However, similar characteristics and elevated Anopheles abundances were also found around some houses within the city limits. Thus, dichotomous designations of “urban” or “rural” can obscure important heterogeneity in the landscape of Plasmodium transmission, suggesting the need for more nuanced assessment of urban malaria risk and prevention efforts.

While strategies to mitigate risks for foodborne illness and childhood diarrhea via sanitation and behavioral interventions have been explored, there is a dearth of knowledge about household practices regarding food production and use, livestock, and other sources of risk for foodborne illness in urban and peri-urban areas. The objective of this research was to increase understanding of household agricultural practices in Debre Berhan, Ethiopia in order to design targeted behavioral interventions to improve food safety and decrease diarrheal disease. A convenience sample of 21 teachers and parents were recruited for a mixed-methods pilot survey. The survey covered topical areas such as methods for growing, washing, and cooking produce, specifically focusing on practices in home vegetable gardens. Participants were also asked about fertilizers and manures used, animals on the property, and irrigation water sources. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and data were analyzed with SAS 9.2. The majority of participants (76.2%) reported growing some or all of their own food, and many used compost (62.5%) and manure (62.5%) as fertilizer. Uncomposted manure was used as fertilizer by half (50.0%) of respondents who reported the use of manure. Respondents most commonly reported raising chickens (23.8%), yet among those using manure, they most commonly reported using sheep or lamb manure as fertilizer (50%). Most (93.7%) respondents used municipal water to irrigate their crops, while none of the respondents reported using surface water to irrigate. Nearly all (95.2%) reported always washing their produce before eating it. Respondents most commonly requested education regarding how to more effectively grow produce. This study suggests that children and adults in Debre Berhan may have a high risk of exposure to pathogens via contact with uncomposted manure and multiple species of animals. Findings identify an opportunity for increased education in the topical areas of urban agriculture and diarrheal disease prevention. In particular, education regarding the safe utilization of manure as fertilizer could be included in agricultural extension programs. Additional research is needed to understand the extent of exposure via common household sources to pathogens that cause diarrheal disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on Central American migration has revealed the importance of journeys to the global North for rural sending communities. The outcomes of south–south journeys to nearby countries are less explored, although they are commonplace. We examine Nicaraguan rural residents' migration to other Central American countries, especially El Salvador, to understand this migration's impacts on agricultural systems and food security. Based on mixed‐methods fieldwork in north‐western Nicaragua, we find that rather than produce remittance landscapes, or an abandonment of agriculture, south–south migration is linked to the maintenance of small‐scale agricultural systems and thus food production. "Subsistence migration," or mobility to maintain small‐scale agriculture as a food security strategy, draws attention to how these less explored forms of migration in Central America help families to persist in agriculture in a context of worsening environmental and structural conditions. This article examines Nicaraguan rural residents' migration to other Central American countries, especially El Salvador, and resulting impacts on agricultural systems and food security. Findings indicate that rather than produce remittance landscapes, or an abandonment of agriculture, "subsistence migration" is linked to the maintenance of small‐scale agricultural systems and thus food production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dearth of technological progress in small-scale agricultural activities in sub-Saharan Africa has been majorly attributed to inappropriate innovations. This study employs the user-producer approach to recommend mechanisms to ensure the development of appropriate innovations for the sector. An analytical framework consisting of five types of policy actions which could foster the development appropriate innovations was developed from the approach to execute a qualitative analysis on a series of successful and failed attempts to mechanize small-scale oil palm fruit processing in Nigeria. The study revealed that initial technologies introduced failed because they were made to process other raw materials, were beyond the financial capability of processors and culturally incompatible. More successful innovations were found to be those developed in conjunction with processors. Recommended mechanisms include mandating and supporting research institutions to determine the needs of smallholders before R&D activities commence; funding the adoption and debugging of adopted technologies to further align technologies with smallholder needs; encouraging linkages among research institutions to enhance capabilities for problem solving; and increasing the number and types of research institutions in the sector to reduce the imposition of innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we used Landsat Earth observations and gridded weather data along with global soil datasets available in Google Earth Engine (GEE) to estimate crop yield at 30 m resolution. We implemented a remote sensing and evapotranspiration-based light use efficiency model globally and integrated abiotic environmental stressors (temperature, soil moisture, and vapor deficit stressors). The operational model (Global Yield Mapper in Earth Engine (GYMEE)) was validated against actual yield data for three agricultural schemes with different climatic, soil, and management conditions located in Lebanon, Brazil, and Spain. Field-level crop yield data on wheat, potato, and corn for 2015–2020 were used for assessment. The performance of GYMEE was statistically evaluated through root-mean-square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), mean bias error (MBE), relative error (RE), and index of agreement (d). The results showed that the absolute difference between the modeled and predicted field-level yield was within ±16% for the analyzed crops in both Brazil and Lebanon study sites and within ±15% in the Spain site (except for two fields). GYMEE performed best for wheat crop in Lebanon with a low RMSE (0.6 t/ha), MAE (0.5 t/ha), MBE (−0.06 t/ha), and RE (0.83%). A very good agreement was observed for all analyzed crop yields, with an index of agreement (d) averaging at 0.8 in all studied sites. GYMEE shows potential in providing yield estimates for potato, wheat, and corn yields at a relative error of ±6%. We also quantified and spatialized the soil moisture stress constraint and its impact on reducing biomass production. A showcasing of moisture stress impact on two emphasized fields from the Lebanon site revealed that a 12% difference in soil moisture stress can decrease yield by 17%. A comparison between the 2017 and 2018 seasons for the potato culture of Lebanon showed that the 2017 season with lower abiotic stresses had higher light use efficiency, above-ground biomass, and yield by 5%, 10%, and 9%, respectively. The results show that the model is of high value for assessing global food production.

Lost in the debates about the appropriate scale of production to promote agricultural growth in Africa is the rapid expansion of medium-scale farmers. Using Zambia as a case study, this article explores the causes and consequences of this middle-tier transformation on the future of small-scale agriculture. Combining political economic analysis with household survey data, this article examines the relationships between the growth in medium-scale farmers and changing conditions of land access, inequality, and alienation for small-scale farmers. Growth of medium-scale farmers is associated with high land inequality and rapid land alienation in high potential agricultural areas. This growth is shown to be partially driven by wage earner investment in land acquisition and is leading to substantial under-utilization of agricultural land. These processes are both limiting agricultural growth potential and foreclosing future options for an inclusive agricultural development strategy.

In Spring 2015, a series of earthquakes and aftershocks struck Nepal. The earthquakes caused significant changes in labor and land availability, cash income needs, and land quality. We examine how these post-earthquake impacts converged with ongoing agricultural shifts. Earthquake-related socio-economic and landscape changes specifically motivate the adoption of cardamom, Amomum subulatum, a high-value ecologically beneficial, and low labor commercial crop. We investigate reasons for the increased interest in cardamom post-earthquake, and challenges associated with it. We find that adopting cardamom serves as an important post-disaster adaptation. However, more broadly, unevenly distributed interventions coupled with the high capital costs of agricultural transition exacerbate social differentiation in communities after the disaster. Adoption is often limited to economically better off smallholder farmers. This paper extends previous research on disasters and smallholder farming by highlighting the specific potential of disasters to accelerate agricultural transitions and resulting inequality from the changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homegardens are socio-ecological systems playing an important role in the conservation of agrobiodiversity and socio-cultural processes in local contexts. From different bibliographical sources, we compiled and analyzed the available information about homegardens in Chile, mainly their composition, richness and plant uses. The information was analyzed according to the geographic zone: north (N), central-south (CS) and south (S) of Chile. We found 46 studies, which reported a total of 125 species cultivated belonging to 46 plant families in the country. The predominant uses of plants included food (54%) and medicine (23%). Based on the Jaccard Index, we found higher similarity between plant families cultivated for the zones CS and S (47%), followed by N and-S (31%). Fifteen families were cultivated exclusively in the N, nine only in the CS zone and three only in the S. From the 125 recorded species, at least 25 (20%) were cultivated in pre-Hispanic times (previous to 1541). Some species such as Chenopodium quinoa, Zea mays, Phaseolus coccineus, Solanum tuberosum and Capsicum annuum, were widely reported upon the arrival of the Spaniards, along with others already extinct like Madia sativa and Bromus mango. There is a poor knowledge on the diversity of plants cultivated in homegardens in Chile. Homegardens are places where traditional knowledge is actively generated and crucial for allowing the maintenance of plant species and associated socio-cultural processes. The current decline of small-scale agriculture in Chile could result in an erosion of both culture and agrobiodiversity associated with homegardens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smallholders are crucial for global sustainability given their importance to food and nutritional security, agriculture and biodiversity conservation. Worldwide smallholders are subject to expanded telecoupling whereby their social-ecological systems are linked to large-scale socioeconomic and environmental drivers. The present research uses the synthesis of empirical evidence to demonstrate smallholder telecoupling through the linkages stemming from the global-level integration of markets (commodity, labor, finance), urbanization, governance and technology. These telecoupling forces are often disadvantageous to smallholders while certain conditions can contribute to the potential sustainability of their social-ecological systems. Case studies were chosen to describe sustainability opportunities and limits involving smallholder production and consumption of high-agrobiodiversity Andean maize amid telecoupled migration (Bolivia), the role of international eco-certification in smallholder coffee-growing and agroforests (Colombia), smallholder organic dairy production in large-scale markets and technology transfer (upper Midwest, U.S.A.) and smallholders’ global niche commodity production of argan oil (Morocco). These case studies are used to identify the key challenges and opportunities faced by smallholders in telecoupling and to develop a conceptual framework. This framework specifies the integrated roles of global systems together with influential public and private institutions operating at multiple scales including the national level. The framework also integrates the local dynamics of smallholders' multiple land use units and their socioeconomic and environmental variation. Spatial spillover effects in smallholder landscapes are an additional element. This framework further establishes the un- Romantic, nonteleological and antifetishistic view of smallholders. It provides specific insights on the multilevel dynamics of smallholder telecoupling and potential sustainability opportunities that can strengthen livelihoods, biodiversity conservation and food and nutritional security. These insights are concluded to be valuable to environmental, agricultural and food scientists and scholars (both biogeophysical sciences and social sciences), policy makers, institutional analysts, development specialists and practitioners, social justice activists and others seeking to advance global sustainability including sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: One of the greatest current challenges to human society is ensuring adequate food production and security for a rapidly growing population under changing climatic conditions. Climate change, and specifically rising temperatures, will alter the suitability of areas for specific crops and cultivation systems. In order to maintain yields, farmers may be forced to change cultivation practices, the timing of cultivation, or even the type of crops grown. Alternatively, farmers can change the location where crops are cultivated (e.g., to higher elevations) to track suitable climates (in which case the plants will have to grow in different soils), as cultivated plants will otherwise have to tolerate warmer temperatures and possibly face novel enemies. We simulated these two last possible scenarios (for temperature increases of 1.3°C and 2.6°C) in the Peruvian Andes through a field experiment in which several traditionally grown varieties of potato and maize were planted at different elevations (and thus temperatures) using either the local soil or soil translocated from higher elevations. Maize production declined by 21%–29% in response to new soil conditions. The production of maize and potatoes declined by >87% when plants were grown under warmer temperatures, mainly as a result of the greater incidence of novel pests. Crop quality and value also declined under simulated migration and warming scenarios. We estimated that local farmers may experience severe economic losses of up to 2,300 US$ ha−1 yr−1. These findings reveal that climate change is a real and imminent threat to agriculture and that there is a pressing need to develop effective management strategies to reduce yield losses and prevent food insecurity. Importantly, such strategies should take into account the influences of non‐climatic and/or biotic factors (e.g., novel pests) on plant development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]