Rethinking smallholder classification: Moving beyond the 2-hectare threshold

IF 6.2 1区农林科学 Q1 FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Food Security Pub Date : 2025-07-28 DOI:10.1007/s12571-025-01573-1

Shira Bukchin-Peles

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The 2-hectare threshold remains a dominant metric for defining what a smallholder farmer is in agricultural research and policy. Yet, such simplicity conceals the diversity and complexity of smallholder livelihoods worldwide. This article argues that relying solely on land size represents a misrepresentation of vulnerability, misguides food security interventions, and undermines the precision of SDG monitoring. A multidimensional classification framework that integrates economic, social, environmental, and individual-personal dimensions is proposed to more accurately capture smallholder realities. Such an approach can enhance the targeting and effectiveness of agricultural support programs while remaining adaptable across diverse contexts. Balancing conceptual rigour with operational feasibility is key to designing responsive and inclusive food security strategies in times of accelerating global change. This article contributes to ongoing debates on food security policy and offers directions for future interdisciplinary research.

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重新思考小农分类：超越2公顷门槛

2公顷的门槛仍然是界定小农在农业研究和政策中的地位的主要指标。然而，这种简单掩盖了世界各地小农生计的多样性和复杂性。本文认为，仅仅依赖土地面积是对脆弱性的错误描述，误导了粮食安全干预措施，并破坏了可持续发展目标监测的准确性。提出了一个多维分类框架，将经济、社会、环境和个人层面结合起来，以更准确地捕捉小农的现实。这种方法可以提高农业支持计划的针对性和有效性，同时在不同情况下保持适应性。在全球变化加速的时代，平衡概念的严谨性与操作的可行性是设计响应性强、包容性强的粮食安全战略的关键。本文对正在进行的关于粮食安全政策的辩论有所贡献，并为未来的跨学科研究提供了方向。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Food Security FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY-

CiteScore

14.00

自引率

6.00%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Food Security is a wide audience, interdisciplinary, international journal dedicated to the procurement, access (economic and physical), and quality of food, in all its dimensions. Scales range from the individual to communities, and to the world food system. We strive to publish high-quality scientific articles, where quality includes, but is not limited to, the quality and clarity of text, and the validity of methods and approaches. Food Security is the initiative of a distinguished international group of scientists from different disciplines who hold a deep concern for the challenge of global food security, together with a vision of the power of shared knowledge as a means of meeting that challenge. To address the challenge of global food security, the journal seeks to address the constraints - physical, biological and socio-economic - which not only limit food production but also the ability of people to access a healthy diet. From this perspective, the journal covers the following areas: Global food needs: the mismatch between population and the ability to provide adequate nutrition Global food potential and global food production Natural constraints to satisfying global food needs: § Climate, climate variability, and climate change § Desertification and flooding § Natural disasters § Soils, soil quality and threats to soils, edaphic and other abiotic constraints to production § Biotic constraints to production, pathogens, pests, and weeds in their effects on sustainable production The sociological contexts of food production, access, quality, and consumption. Nutrition, food quality and food safety. Socio-political factors that impinge on the ability to satisfy global food needs: § Land, agricultural and food policy § International relations and trade § Access to food § Financial policy § Wars and ethnic unrest Research policies and priorities to ensure food security in its various dimensions.