Mapping the Complex World of the Smallholder: An Approach to Smallholder Research for Food and Income Security With Examples from Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka

Abstract

Smallholders continue to account for up to 87% of all agricultural holdings and 70% of the global food supply while consuming only 30% of the world's agricultural resources. However global investment in agriculture R&D is increasingly concentrated in a smaller number of countries and focusses on research concerning physical aspects of a limited number of commodity crops. While the benefits of this research to smallholders is significant. This approach to agricultural research reflects the needs of commodity food chains, rather than those of smallholder food webs. Leading to a focus on the alignment of the latter to approaches and practices more reminiscent of the former. This perspective may overlook the inherent strengths of smallholder systems and as a consequence, fail to maximise their potential and reduce the capacity of smallholders to engage in autonomous development strategies. A modified livelihood approach which allows for an exploration of complexity in smallholder systems offers a useful entry point for developing interdisciplinary research to support sustainable productivity gains in the smallholder sector.