Smallholder family farms are central to rural development and poverty reduction in many developing countries. When farm households diversify their agricultural and economic activities, and when they recycle and renew resources, their livelihoods are more likely to be sustainable. Understanding smallholder farming systems is critical to successfully supporting farmers.

Research from Catholic Relief Services, USA, summarises lessons from their agricultural programmes and financial support services. The research argues that poor farmers hold many social and productive roles in balance to meet the challenging, dynamic nature of farming in risk-prone environments.

In their agricultural role, farm families are scientists, using trial and error to adapt traditional farming methods to modern challenges. They are also stewards of the environment and investors in land. Protecting and allocating resources are central to the small farm economy, as are distributing expenses and making wise investments.

In addition, farm families must manage a range of pressures from outside the farm, pressures which influence success or threaten survival.  To cope and respond, farmers act as consumers, opportunists and entrepreneurs. To prosper, farmers must respond to opportunities in the local community as well as global markets and trends.

• A resilient farm family grows and sells a variety of products throughout the year. This strategy guarantees an income, especially when prices decline or weather is unpredictable.
• Getting the harvest to markets and consumers requires farm families to understand transport systems and markets.
• This journey – the production-marketing chain – is critical and often poorly understood. However, once farmers learn the dynamics of this system, they can find new opportunities to increase their income.

The role of outside agencies is to support easily accessible production-marketing chains. Previously, well-meaning, non-governmental organisations have acted as ‘middlemen’, helping farmers bring their products to market. However, when the project ends, farmers often are left without the services they need. Changing the support process can avoid project failure. Useful lessons from the research include:

• Support trustworthy local entrepreneurs with investments and training to help them start responsible businesses.
• Assist farmers to identify where in the production chain they can make the most profit. 
• Teach farmers how to negotiate the best deals for their produce.
• Support farm families to find new ways to meet customer needs through growing new varieties or developing new products. 
• Strengthen the family’s understanding of basic market processes.
• Assist farm families to understand markets and develop pricing structures that make a profit.
• Teach them to calculate the costs of each activity in the production-marketing chain.

The research calls for improvements in the quality of development programmes through critical analysis and increased willingness to treat the problems of poor rural people as worthy of creative thinking. The complexity of small farms demands complete rather than partial responses. Only then will support systems move beyond the lessons of past successes and failures, catalyze positive, profound change and create resilient family farms on a large scale.

Source(s):
‘Going to Market: support in selling farm products’, Chapter Nine in ‘The Resilient Family Farm: supporting agricultural development and rural economic growth’, ITDG Publishing, by G. Burpee and K. Wilson, 2004

Funded by: Catholic Relief Services and USAID

id21 Research Highlight: 20 May 2005

Further Information:
Gaye Burpee
Catholic Relief Services
209 W. Fayette St.
Baltimore
Maryland
21201
USA

Tel: +1 410 951 7239
Fax: +1 410 234 3182
Contact the contributor: gburpee@catholicrelief.org

Catholic Relief Services, USA

Other related links:
'How can agricultural extension workers support small farmers?'

'The future for West African family farms'

'Food for thought: are West Africa’s family farms worth saving?'

'Changing agricultural support services to improve food security'

'Improving the efficiency of transport markets in sub-Saharan Africa'