Family Farming Knowledge Platform

Study on small-scale family farming in the Near East and North Africa region. Synthesis

This report provides an overview of a study conducted in the NENA region in 2015-2016 in partnership with FAO, CIRAD, CIHEAM-IAMM and six national teams, each of which prepared a national report. In the six countries under review in the NENA region (Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Sudan and Tunisia), agriculture is carried out primarily by small-scale family farmers, the majority of whom run the risk of falling into the poverty trap, largely due to the continuous fragmentation of inherited landholdings. As such, the development of small-scale family farming can no longer be based solely on intensifying agriculture, as the farmers are not able to produce sufficient marketable surplus due to the limited size of their landholdings. An approach based strictly on agricultural activity is also insufficient (as small-scale family farms have already diversified their livelihoods with off-farm activities). In fact, developing small-scale farming cannot be achieved by focusing strictly on the dimension of production.

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Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
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Author: Marzin, J.
Other authors: Bonnet, P.;Bessaoud, O.;Ton-Nu, C.
Organization: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Other organizations: Centre international de hautes études agronomiques méditerranéennes (CIHEAM), Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD)
Year: 2017
ISBN: 978-92-5-209502-6
Country/ies: Egypt, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia
Geographical coverage: Near East and North Africa
Type: Report
Full text available at: http://www.fao.org/3/b-i6436e.pdf
Content language: English
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