FAO’s Bioenergy and Food Security Criteria and Indicators (BEFSCI) project has conducted three case studies to examine the opportunities and challenges for smallholders presented by: 1) bioenergy as a new type of value chain, and by 2) bioenergy certification schemes. Understanding the specific challenges and opportunities for smallholder inclusion in...

Continuous monitoring of the changing diversity of agricultural holdings to allow more effective participation of disadvantaged stakeholders in influencing policy formulation and planning affecting their livelihood. 

Cotton has been for the past thirty years, the only credible alternative for the economic development of several Sahel countries in West and Central Africa, including Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Chad, etc. The cotton sector has not only structured rural areas through human capital investment, but also contributed significantly to...

Selon l'auteur, faire du Foncier un fait économique total, et du capital le moteur du développement, c’est donner un blanc-seing à la marchandisation de la terre .D'où les questions qu'elle se pose: Faut-il vraiment que le Mali cède ses terres agricoles et ses ressources foncières pour accéder au développement? Pour...

Informed decisions on ‘agricultural transformation’, the rapidly changing diversity of agricultural holdings, could play a decisive role in society’s response to several global challenges, including food security and environmental sustainability. Improved stakeholder access to information on the social, economic and environmental impacts of transformations and likely future trends is a...

GIAHS are found throughout the developing world, linked to centers of diversity.  Agroecosystems cover more than one quarter of the global land area, reaching about 5 billion hectares. Agroecosystems are ecosystems in which people have deliberately selected crop plants and livestock animals to replace the natural flora and fauna.  

This issue focuses on particularly innovative activities that enable women to have better access to land in several African countries. In Niger, thanks to the debates that began in their listeners’ club, the women of Banizoumbou now have secure access to a large plot of land for 99 years. This...

Le projet encourage par des circuits courts intégrés un modèle d’interaction durable, entre l’agriculture familiale et l’activité urbaine dans le pays Sénoufo. L’objectif est de permettre une amélioration des conditions de vie des populations locales et une sécurisation de leur souveraineté alimentaire. Cela passe par l’amélioration des revenus des petits...

S’appuyant sur l’expérience des producteurs en agroécologie et sur la capacité de mobilisation collective d’une organisation paysanne, le projet, implanté à Bamako et à Sanankoroba, vise à offrir une formation de qualité aux acteurs, de partenariats locaux et solidaires adaptés au contexte malien : les kiosques alimentaires locaux.

The present ability or otherwise of Africa to cope with climate change and improve its agricultural production depends on the environment and natural resources base of the continent, on the impacts of its past and on the nature of its present interactions with the outside world. Africa is a large...

Despite the achievements of smallholders in Asia during the green revolution, there is scepticism that Africa’s smallholders — who dominate the farm area in most countries — can imitate this model and deliver agricultural growth. This paper assesses whether such pessimism is justified. Given the high transactions costs of hiring...

This paper uses the sustainable livelihoods framework to explore the contribution of smallholder production to food security in some sub-Saharan African countries and relates it to the South African case. Noting that many of the world’s hungry are smallholder farmers, it is clear that food insecurity is closely linked to...

The Conference on Ecological Agriculture: Mitigating Climate Change, Providing Food Security and Self-Reliance for Rural Livelihoods in Africa was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 26-28 November 2008. It was organised by the African Union (AU), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development...

La notion d’exploitation agricole familiale trouve son origine dans l’organisation de la production agricole en Europe. Elle a pris corps et s’est consolidée dans le discours théorique des agronomes et des économistes agricoles à partir du début du XX ème siècle. Elle repose sur une dominance historique longue en Occident...

The point of departure of this paper is that African nations cannot afford to ignore smallholder agriculture, however difficult its prospects may seem. Region wide, at the beginning of the 1990's, 85 percent of Africa's population was rural, and more than a quarter of the labour force was actively engaged...