Smallholders in the global South are confronted with new opportunities and risks emanating from globalized markets of agricultural goods. In Kenya, large-scale export-oriented horticulture farms, cultivating fruits, flowers and vegetables, were by and large established in the 1980s. In Laikipia County, the farms have grown to be the most important employers tying the region into global markets....

This paper describes the participation of smallholders in commercial horticultural farming in Kenya and identifies constraints and critical factors that influence their decision to participate in this industry by selling their produce. The study employs panel survey data on smallholder producers of both international (export) and domestic market vegetables and controls for unobserved heterogene...

The quality of planting material is one of the key factors that determine the success of tree farming and reforestation activities. In the Philippines, low quality seedlings are commonly used in smallholder plantings for reasons such as the limited supply of high quality seedlings and smallholders’ lack of awareness of the benefits of using high quality planting stock. The ACIAR-funded seedling...

Many of the problems associated with the delivery of quality veterinary services to smallholders in Africa are attributed to the complexity of the provision of animal health care (AHC) in sub-Saharan Africa. In this region, a holistic and analytical approach is needed to determine area-specific requirements for sustainable, and thus quality, AHC. This study examines three components of the anim...

For economic development to succeed in Africa in the next 50 years, African agriculture will have to change beyond recognition. Production will have to have increased massively, but also labour productivity, requiring a vast reduction in the proportion of the population engaged in agriculture and a large move out of rural areas. The paper questions how this can be squared with a continuing comm...

Smallholder participation in agricultural markets in Mozambique has been historically very low. The majority of rural smallholders are subsistenceoriented, devote the majority of their labor and assets to agricultural activities and rely on crop production for over two thirds of their total household income. Household survey results indicate that the poorest 40% of smallholders sell very little...

Genetic improvement of planting material (in a broad sense) is an important component of agricultural growth for nations and regions in the process of economic development. Asia’s Green Revolutions in rice and wheat are perhaps the best-known examples of dramatic agricultural growth associated with crop genetic improvement. Most experts agree that no such seed-based revolution has occurred in S...

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) endemic regions contain three-quarters of the world's FMD susceptible livestock and most of the world's poor livestock keepers. Yet FMD impact on smallholders in these regions is poorly understood. Diseases of low mortality can exert a large impact if incidence is high. Modelling and field studies commonly find high FMD incidence in endemic countries. Sero-surveys t...

Available online xxxx Smallholder livestock keepers represent almost 20% of the world population and steward most of the agricultural land in the tropics. Observed and expected increases in future demand for livestock products in developing countries provide unique opportunities for improving livelihoods and linked to that, improving stewardship of the environment. This cannot be a passive proc...

Smallholding in the cocoa sector has been seen as a hindrance to production and productivity growth due to the ageing of the cocoa farmers, limited access to credit, low level of education and low adoptability of innovations. In order to curb this, policy makers have resorted to implementing policy instruments that encourage the extension of small rural farms into larger farms, thereby undermin...