What farm size sustains a living? Exploring future options to attain a living income from smallholder farming in the east African highlands

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationWageningen University & Researchen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Livestock Research Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Institute of Tropical Agricultureen_US
cg.contributor.crpMaizeen_US
cg.contributor.crpLivestocken_US
cg.contributor.donorMinistry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlandsen_US
cg.coverage.countryKenyaen_US
cg.coverage.countryTanzaniaen_US
cg.coverage.countryUgandaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2KEen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2TZen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2UGen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierbernard vanlauwe: 0000-0001-6016-6027en_US
cg.creator.identifierKen E Giller: 0000-0002-5998-4652en_US
cg.creator.identifierMark van Wijk: 0000-0003-0728-8839en_US
cg.creator.identifierKatrien Descheemaeker: 0000-0003-0184-2034en_US
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.759105en_US
cg.identifier.iitathemeNATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENTen_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn2571-581Xen_US
cg.issue759105en_US
cg.journalFrontiers in Sustainable Food Systemsen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.subject.iitaAGRIBUSINESSen_US
cg.subject.iitaAGRONOMYen_US
cg.subject.iitaBASELINE SURVEYen_US
cg.subject.iitaFARM MANAGEMENTen_US
cg.subject.iitaFARMING SYSTEMSen_US
cg.subject.iitaFOOD SECURITYen_US
cg.subject.iitaLIVELIHOODSen_US
cg.subject.iitaNATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENTen_US
cg.subject.iitaPLANT BREEDINGen_US
cg.subject.iitaPLANT PRODUCTIONen_US
cg.subject.iitaSMALLHOLDER FARMERSen_US
cg.subject.iitaSOCIOECONOMYen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food securityen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 1 - No povertyen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 2 - Zero hungeren_US
cg.volume5en_US
dc.contributor.authorMarinus, Wytzeen_US
dc.contributor.authorThuijsman, Eva S.en_US
dc.contributor.authorWijk, Mark T. vanen_US
dc.contributor.authorDescheemaeker, Katrien K.en_US
dc.contributor.authorVen, Gerrie W. van deen_US
dc.contributor.authorVanlauwe, Bernarden_US
dc.contributor.authorGiller, Kenneth E.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2022-02-22T13:47:10Zen_US
dc.date.available2022-02-22T13:47:10Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/118217en_US
dc.titleWhat farm size sustains a living? Exploring future options to attain a living income from smallholder farming in the east African highlandsen_US
dcterms.abstractSmallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa keeps many rural households trapped in a cycle of poor productivity and low incomes. Two options to reach a decent income include intensification of production and expansion of farm areas per household. In this study, we explore what is a “viable farm size,” i.e., the farm area that is required to attain a “living income,” which sustains a nutritious diet, housing, education and health care. We used survey data from three contrasting sites in the East African highlands—Nyando (Kenya), Rakai (Uganda), and Lushoto (Tanzania) to explore viable farmsizes in six scenarios. Starting fromthe baseline cropping system, we built scenarios by incrementally including intensified and re-configured cropping systems, income from livestock and off-farm sources. In the most conservative scenario (baseline cropping patterns and yields, minus basic input costs), viable farm areas were 3.6, 2.4, and 2.1 ha, for Nyando, Rakai, and Lushoto, respectively—whereas current median farm areas were just 0.8, 1.8, and 0.8 ha. Given the skewed distribution of current farm areas, only few of the households in the study sites (0, 27, and 4% for Nyando, Rakai, and Lushoto, respectively) were able to attain a living income. Raising baseline yields to 50% of the water-limited yields strongly reduced the land area needed to achieve a viable farm size, and thereby enabled 92% of the households in Rakai and 70% of the households in Lushoto to attain a living income on their existing farm areas. By contrast, intensification of crop production alone was insufficient in Nyando, although including income from livestock enabled the majority of households (73%) to attain a living income with current farm areas. These scenarios show that increasing farm area and/or intensifying production is required for smallholder farmers to attain a living income from farming. Obviously such changes would require considerable capital and labor investment, as well as land reform and alternative off-farm employment options for those who exit farming.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
dcterms.available2022-01-06en_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationMarinus, W., Thuijsman, E.S., van Wijk, M.T., Descheemaeker, K., van de Ven, G.W., Vanlauwe, B. & Giller, K. (2022). What farm size sustains a living? Exploring future options to attain a living income from smallholder farming in the east African highlands. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 5 : 759105, 1-15.en_US
dcterms.extent1-15en_US
dcterms.issued2022en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherFrontiers Mediaen_US
dcterms.subjecthousehold incomeen_US
dcterms.subjectincome distributionen_US
dcterms.subjectlivelihoodsen_US
dcterms.subjectstrategiesen_US
dcterms.subjectexplorationen_US
dcterms.subjectfarming systemsen_US
dcterms.subjectintensificationen_US
dcterms.subjectpovertyen_US
dcterms.subjecteast africaen_US
dcterms.subjectsmallholdersen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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