COP 20 Briefing Paper:
The Crucial Role of Smallholder
Farmers for Food Security and
Eliminating Poverty in a Changing Climate
The population is growing – there will be 9 billion globally by 2050 – and the climate is changing. Around
seven out of ten people, nearly 4.7 billion, are fed with food provided locally, mostly by smallholder farms,
fishing or herding. There is an urgent need to improve the ability of farmers to produce more food whilst at
the same time adapting to a more variable and changing climate. The application of the principles of agroecology1 is a practical and equitable way of doing that, especially for smallholder farmers.
Most donors and agribusinesses are encouraging governments and investment in agriculture using high-tech
intensive mechanisation to increase productivity – i.e. intensive monoculture. Industrialised monoculture is
dependent on fossil fuels to achieve its high yields. This is not sustainable – not in terms of soil fertility and
productivity, nor in terms of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigating climate change.
Policies and programmes that promote intensification using new technologies and loans tend to bypass or
further marginalise smallholder farmers, particularly women, who often have less equitable access to services
and finance. Intensive input-based production has extra risks associated with the loans (debt), reliance on
external services, technologies and markets. This is illogical, because smallholder farmers are uniquely placed
to increase their productivity through agro-ecological practices which build on their local knowledge and
relationship with the land and environment.
Practical Action believes there should be:
 A reorientation of agricultural research and development:
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towards agro-ecology suited to resource poor and risk adverse smallholders
innovation practices which cogenerate appropriate technologies with smallholder farmers
incentives for private sector research and investment in low-carbon production practices
regulation to safeguard agricultural biodiversity and negative environmental impacts
 Recognition of the crucial role smallholder farming systems play as part of the solution for
national and global food securities
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this includes recognition of the social benefits that incremental improvements in smallholder
farming can provide (e.g. nutritious food and income security for the rural households)
 A change in the policy environment to promote agro-ecological practices
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improving the inclusion of smallholder farmers, particularly women, in market systems, and
incentives for agro-ecological services, inputs and products
support for private-sector delivery of agro-ecological extension services which promote
sustainable and profitable long-term business practices
The application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agro-ecosystems
We believe that promoting the principles of Technology Justice2 is fundamental to achieving food security and
eliminating poverty in a changing climate. Currently commercial and industrial interests dominate global
investment in agricultural research and innovation. As a result most agricultural research and development
fails to include small-scale producers and overlooks both their needs and knowledge.
The issues
1. The unique potential of smallholder farmers, especially women and indigenous communities, to
adapt to climate change, and deliver food where it is needed most (children and famine prone areas),
is not being sufficiently recognised in climate policy.
2. Smallholder farmers are the traditional custodians of the land and biodiversity – a role and right
which is not being safeguarded, recognised nor remunerated.
3. The current emphasis on serving the needs of large scale agri-business means that poor and
vulnerable smallholder farmers are often bypassed or further marginalised.
4. Research and development is skewed towards commercial input-dependent monoculture. This bias is
reinforced by both research financing and career incentives for researchers.
5. Our financial and market systems do not support investment by smallholder farmers in low-cost and
low-risk improvement in their production systems.
6. Liberalisation of trade in staple foods has undermined domestic markets and national food security. It
also favours the financial viability of large scale production.
7. The demand for cheap food for urban populations is being used as an excuse to expand the highly
lucrative system of mechanised mono-culture of a limited number of crops subsidised by fossil fuels.
Such production systems are not sustainable and are exacerbating climate change.
Policy makers need to recognise and address these issues and ensure the Global North meets its mitigation
commitments and addresses the causes of climate change; and the Global South improves its agricultural
productivity through better use of existing capacity and resources, including smallholder farmers, so they
benefit from agriculture and adapt to changing climates whilst contributing to national food security.
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The right to access the technologies one needs to live the life one values, so long as that does not prevent others now, or
in the future, from doing the same
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Smallholder farmers are essential for the global food system
Most developing countries already depend on smallholder farmers for national food security. 80% of all
Africa's farms are small plots, yet contribute as much as 80% of food production (IFAD, 2014). It is our
experience in over 15 countries spanning Africa, Asia and Latin America that the local knowledge and
manageable farm size of smallholder farms makes them well placed to use sustainable ecological approaches
to produce food and, with assistance to develop their knowledge and experience, adapt to climate change.
Smallholder farmers have a repository of indigenous and local knowledge which is vital for climate resilient
agriculture, for example:
o
Improvement of informal seed systems will ensure supply of traditional varieties which provide choice
and options for farmers to adapt to the changing climate and associated stresses, and to provide
nutritious food.
o
Pastoralists and indigenous communities have maintained an extensive range of breeds and have the
knowledge and skills to survive droughts and changing climates.
o
Local and indigenous knowledge of crops, livestock, forests and fisheries are resources that can
enable production to be optimised in a sustainable manner that is consistent with the local carrying
capacity and conditions.
Empowering smallholder farmers to better use
the land, agricultural biodiversity and
knowledge (skills and practices) they already
possess enables them to improve their
situation and, at the same time, make a
valuable contribution to local and national
food security. It enables them to become part
of the solution to extreme poverty, food
insecurity and climate change, rather than part
of the problem.
Improved adaptation by smallholder farmers
will reduce soil degradation caused by
extractive farming. It will improve productivity
and increase the attractiveness of agriculture
for the young. If the private sector invests in
agro-ecological services, inputs and products,
soil degradation can be reduced with longterm benefits for business resulting from
increased and sustained productivity of land.
If smallholder farmers can increase
productivity and provide their own households
with more secure and nutritious diets, then
health and the productivity of labour will be
increased. Policy makers need to make the
case for better food quality and long-term
security which will improve the resilience of
rural populations to hazards and shocks to
Case Study: Farmer Field Schools in Nepal and Bangladesh
Across Bangladesh and Nepal, over 70% of farmers live and work on
small plots, often in marginal areas. Most are under threat from the
impacts of climate change, including severe droughts and flooding.
Practical Action has worked to build agro-ecological practices and
technologies into existing farming practices with over 50,000
smallholder farmers.
Farmers appraise the effects
of climate change and share
knowledge, information, skills
and
practices
with
other
farmers and technicians who
can
provide
additional
information on how they
might respond.
Farmers and extension workers adapt technologies to meet the
changing needs of each community. Field schools have implemented
Integrated Pest Management, mulching, bund cultivation in saline
areas, intercropping, alternate wetting and drying in drought
affected areas (SRI), floating bed cultivation, and much more.
Adaptation processes have been able to improve the resilience,
quality and yields of land in areas where intensive mechanised
monoculture practices would fail to be effective, efficient and
sustainable.
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their farming systems.
Why agro-ecological farming is needed for food security and adaptation
Most of the extreme poor live in rural areas. This is why developing countries need national policies to
improve the rural economy, domestic markets and returns on agriculture for the poor. Supporting
smallholder farmers should be a major part of government strategies to eliminate poverty. This is why
smallholder rural farmers need fair market systems and information on agro-ecology to improve their ability
to make technology choices.
Improvement of farming through ecological, low-external-input practices can enable the very large number of
poor rural households to derive reliable benefits and returns from their agricultural activities. Low-externalinput farming using agro-ecological practices can improve food security, incomes and livelihoods for
households that cannot “step-up” through intensification of commercial production, or “step out” through
leaving agriculture for employment in other sectors.
Evidence is accumulating that fossil fuel based intensification (using mechanisation, inorganic fertilisers and
pesticides) is fragile, with short-lived improvements that often decline in time with long-term detriment to
the physical environment. Furthermore, mechanisation, agrochemical and finance based approaches to
increase production tend to benefit the more financially secure medium and large scale farmers who are
mostly men. In contrast, agro-ecological approaches are more accessible to the poor and women and
therefore can create improved opportunities for vulnerable or female headed households.
What is needed to make smallholder farming successful at scale?
Agro-ecological practices can help farmers minimise the chance of crop failure. Participatory approaches can
facilitate the combination of scientific knowledge with existing local and indigenous knowledge, and
disseminate knowledge effectively where it is most needed. They can enable farmers to gain the skills and
confidence they need to experiment and analyse options for adapting to climate change and improving
productivity. But this is not sufficient to make sustainable returns from farming. Farmers need equitable
access to markets so they can innovate and use their productivity to improve their financial security and
physical assets. Similarly, production technology and inclusive markets are not enough for resilience. Farmers
also need to be able to plan for, and cope with, external shocks and disasters. National governments and the
international community should take a systems approach to create policies and incentives for achieving
Technology Justice in agriculture so that research and innovation funding is channelled towards addressing
social and environmental needs.
1. Policies to build farmer capacity to improve agriculture through optimising natural systems, rather
than intensification of commercial monoculture to control natural systems.
2. Strategies to improve farmer organisations and institutions to enhance their bargaining power,
collectively access inputs or services (e.g. finances, weather forecasts, insurance, market & technical
information). Also to collectively market their products, thus delivering the benefits of small-scale
production at the scale necessary for commercial market access.
3. Innovation in appropriate technologies. Policies and practices which support and facilitate the
development of technologies appropriate for smallholder farmers to make the best use of the land
and for pastoralists to best tend to their animals. Policies are needed to enable open access to these
technologies and to ensure they are developed in cooperation with local communities.
4. Investment in knowledge systems that connect formal sources of knowledge (e.g. National
Agriculture Research Systems and Meteorological Services) to indigenous and local knowledge of
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farmers and communities and to consolidate learning. ‘Knowledge systems’ include the building of
capacity to make decisions and services to support the provision and use of information.
5. Build the capacity of governments, development agencies and agricultural service providers to
facilitate inclusive markets – i.e. create markets that work for the poor. In the short term this
includes ensuring an enabling investment environment for agro-ecological and low-external input
practices targeted at smallholder farmers, particularly women.
6. National and international policies that encourage production for local and domestic markets. This
requires governments to address the inequalities in the global markets so small scale and large scale
producers compete equally. This is a difficult and long-term challenge as it requires the removal of
subsidies, unfair taxation and tariffs. International trade agreements should consider the
environmental impacts of large scale production and transportation. Such externalities act like
subsidies and should be included in the cost of production.
The role of companies in an economy is to improve efficiency and innovation. In agriculture this
should not simply mean reducing costs (e.g. using fossil fuels to achieve economies of scale). Policies
should be in place so that efficiency in agricultural business includes sustainability.
Case Study: Integrated Water Resource Management in Sudan
Eighty percent of the population in Sudan rely on natural resources
for farming, herding and agricultural trade. Deepening cycles of
drought are destroying the traditional rain-fed livelihoods and
affecting groundwater availability. This has led to increasing labour
demands for water collection by women as they are forced to travel
to more distant locations.
Practical
Action
has
integrated agro-ecological
technologies into existing
practices
25,000
with
Relevance
to
the
UNFCCC:
mitigation, adaptation, and loss &
damage
The effects of climate change are already being
felt by the most marginalised communities.
Adaptation to these conditions is necessary for
these populations to thrive. We are advocating
for an urgent commitment by the international
community and private sector to fund
adaptation.
over
smallholder
farmers and pastoralists.
Building upon traditional
ways of coping with arid
conditions, including use of man-made reservoirs (hafirs), Practical
Action has developed technologies with communities to improve
water security and achieve higher market prices.
Technologies included ‘cut-and-carry’ Wadi-based animal feeding
systems for livestock and the ability to secure higher market prices,
and sluiceways to protect the larger earth dam structures to control
silt and water flows during periods of heavy rains. These innovations
are integrated with community institution building and participatory
methods to mitigate conflict over scarce resources and build lasting
peace in an increasingly pressured physical environment. By building
upon and enhancing traditional systems, Sudanese farmers have
adopted new technologies and see the benefits of agro-ecology.
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Secondly, we recommend that a significant
proportion of the public sector climate funds
should be allocated to Loss & Damage. The
international community should recognise that
for many of the most vulnerable, the impacts
of climate change are irreversible and it is too
late to adapt. Therefore we insist on political
and financial commitments to support these
people to relocate and rebuild their
livelihoods.
Lastly, we implore all governments to take
Mitigation seriously and do more to reduce
the level of GHG emissions to combat climate
change. We believe this should be achieved
through reform of legislation and economic
systems so that mitigation is financed by the
private sector – i.e. a polluter pays principle.
This would incentivise a global reconfiguration of our food energy systems that would reduce the need for
adaptation or loss & damage by future generations. For example, progressive consumption tax based on the
pollution index of products could incentivise changes in consumption.
Conclusions
Climate change is going to exacerbate the food insecurity that is already affecting many parts of the
developing world. It will reduce productivity through increasing incidence of drought, unpredictable seasons,
extreme events and other impacts on our crop, livestock and fisheries production systems.
To respond to the threat of climate change Practical Action advocates for a global food system that includes
smallholder farmers. Smallholder farmers offer the opportunity to optimise production in a sustainable
manner, based on local conditions. They offer a degree of diversity and ability to manage the local
environment to minimise the negative impacts of climate change, to maximise production opportunities and
promote strategies for eliminating poverty.
Strengthening the way smallholder farmers use their resources can provide developing country governments
with robust local production systems for food, fibre and fuel that are consistent with the carrying capacity and
attuned to the local climate. It would increase production where it is needed most, strengthening food
security, raising incomes, generating employment, and manage the landscape in a way that creates multiple
benefits – adaptation, mitigation, food security and poverty reduction. Improving the role and productivity of
smallholder farmers will also deliver social benefits – strengthening rural communities – and counter
incentives for migration to urban centres.
National governments and the international community should create policies and incentives for achieving
Technology Justice in agriculture so that research and innovation funding is channelled towards addressing
social and environmental needs, in collaboration with smallholder farmers.
To achieve mitigation and adaptation the global food system needs to be transformed to rely on lowexternal-input production systems that optimise nature to improve productivity and ensure that natural
resources are available for future generations. This can only be achieved by acknowledging and supporting
the crucial role of smallholder farmers through food, agriculture and climate policy.
References / Further Reading
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State of Food Insecurity in the World 2014, FAO http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/2014/en/
ETC Group (2009) ‘Who will feed us?’ Communiqué Issue 102
http://www.etcgroup.org/content/who-will-feed-us
Agroecology - What it is and what it has to offer, IIED (2014) http://pubs.iied.org/14629IIED.html
Participatory Market Systems Development (PMSD) for facilitating inclusive (pro-poor) markets
http://practicalaction.org/transforming-market-systems
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fifth Assessment Report, 2013-2014,
http://www.ipcc.ch/index.htm
The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development
(IAASTD), Agriculture at a Crossroads (2009)
http://www.unep.org/dewa/Assessments/Ecosystems/IAASTD/tabid/105853/Default.aspx/
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For further information, please contact
Mr Chris Henderson, Senior Policy and Practice Advisor – Agriculture, policy@practicalaction.org.uk
http://practicalaction.org/food-agriculture-policy
Practical Action, The Schumacher Centre, Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby, Warwickshire,
CV23 9QZ, UK
12th November 2014
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