[en] In this study, the impacts of small-scale farmers on food security enhancement were estimated in three dimensions of food availability, food access and food utilization. In the current study, a systematic review and meta-analysis have been performed to synthesize results from 75 original articles. It includes the pooling of data that quantitatively investigate whether or not causal links characterized in the original articles remain valid across a broader scope of the literature. The findings show that farmers who are small-scale in natural/physical capital would lead to higher median food production and agricultural productivity, compared with small-scale farmers in financial capital, at about 19% and 15%, respectively. Meta-regression results indicate that small-scale farmers in natural/physical capital have significantly positive effects on the average agricultural productivity, food income and biofortification. By contrast, farmers who are small-scale in financial capital have negative effects on food security. The influential role of these small-scale farmers should also be considered since food insecurity leads to socio-economic implications. Therefore, it is recommended to cultivate higher value crops, to participate in various income-generating activities such as fisheries and forestry, and to pay agricultural credits. The effect of the size of small-scale farmers on global food security is very useful for policymakers to plan for a world without hunger.
Disciplines :
Agriculture & agronomy
Author, co-author :
Azadi, Hossein ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Modélisation et développement ; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic ; Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania ; Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Ghorbani, Mehdi; Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
Tan, Rong; School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Witlox, Frank; Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium ; Department of Geography, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia ; College of Civil Aviation, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China
Language :
English
Title :
Contribution of small-scale farmers to global food security: a meta-analysis.
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