Farming systems and poverty (FSP)

This study summarizes a joint FAO-World Bank study on the characteristics of major farming systems of the developing world and their interrelationship to poverty. On the basis of broad similarities in the patterns of production systems, farming practices and external conditions, it recognizes globally 72 farming systems in the developing world, grouped by region. Of these 15 are located in Sub Saharan Africa, eight in the Middle East and North Africa, 11 in  Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 11 in South Asia, 11 in East Asia and the Pacific region, and 16 in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Fairly generalized regional maps, digitized from paper, show the distribution of 63 farming systems worldwide.  Detailed descriptions are provided for 24 major farming systems: these cover characteristics of physical location, climatic hazards (e.g. drought), crop patterns, water and other inputs management, institutional settings, impact of economic policies, farming system trends and major issues, and priorities for farming system development. Depending on the farming system one or more of the following five broad household strategies are recognized for escape from poverty: (1) intensification of production; (2) diversification of agricultural activities for increased output value; (3) increased farm size; (4) expansion of off-farm income; (5) exit from the farming system.