Smallholder farmers, agricultural sustainability and food security

Smallholder farms, particularly those between two and five hectares, produce 46% of the world's food and often exhibit higher land productivity and biodiversity than larger farms. While they are critical for global supply chains of products like coffee, cocoa, and tea, they face a 'yield gap'—ranging from 11% in East Asia to 76% in Sub-Saharan Africa—that could be closed through better access to modern agrifood chains and technology. In Africa, the adoption of climate-smart practices such as agroforestry and organic manure is heavily influenced by the availability of finance and credit. Smallholder agriculture is a primary economic driver in many developing nations, contributing 23% to the GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Smallholder farms of two to five hectares are highly productive, producing 46% of the world's food on approximately one-third of global agricultural land.
• Small-scale farms generally achieve higher land productivity than larger farms because they dedicate more land to food crops rather than fuel or animal feed, utilize family labor to reduce transaction costs, and employ higher intensities of seeds and fertilizers.
• There is a significant 'yield gap' in developing countries where yields could be increased through modern technology and optimized inputs; this gap is 11% in East Asia and up to 76% in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Smallholder farmers are dominant producers of several global commodities: they produce 73% of all coffee, 90% of cocoa, and more than half of the world's tea.
• Smallholder farms support higher crop and non-crop biodiversity than larger farms due to ecological management, including limited insecticide use and the maintenance of diverse land cover types like wetlands and forests.
• In Africa, the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices is primarily hindered by a lack of finance and credit, particularly for farmers with smaller land holdings.
• Smallholder agriculture is a critical economic pillar in Sub-Saharan Africa, where it employs up to 65% of the labor force and contributes 23% to the region's GDP.

APA

Team, Z. (2023). Smallholder farmers, agricultural sustainability and food security. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/smallholder-farmers-agricultural-sustainability-and-food-security/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. Smallholder farmers, agricultural sustainability and food security. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2023. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/smallholder-farmers-agricultural-sustainability-and-food-security/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=Smallholder farmers, agricultural sustainability and food security |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=6 November 2023 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/smallholder-farmers-agricultural-sustainability-and-food-security/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2023smallholder, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{Smallholder farmers, agricultural sustainability and food security}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/smallholder-farmers-agricultural-sustainability-and-food-security/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }