Farming Systems and Poverty IMPROVING FARMERS' LIVELIHOODS IN A CHANGING WORLD

TLDR

Small farmers produce most of the developing world’s food yet remain poorer and less food‑secure than urban populations, and with urbanization projected to rise, addressing poverty and hunger requires confronting their daily survival challenges. This book, based on a World Bank study, offers an agricultural perspective to revise the Bank’s rural development strategy and aims to inform policymakers, researchers, NGOs, and agribusinesses for national‑level application. The analysis draws on decades of specialized work from FAO, the World Bank, and other national and international institutions. Over 20 global case studies illustrate innovative approaches to small‑farm or pastoral development, supporting the book’s conclusions and recommendations.

Abstract

Small farmers produce much of the developing world's food. Yet they are generally much poorer than the rest of the population in these countries, and are less food secure than even the urban poor. Furthermore, although the majority of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2030, farming populations will not be much smaller than they are today. For the foreseeable future, therefore, dealing with poverty and hunger in much of the world means confronting the problems that small farmers and their families face in their daily struggle for survival. The material for this book is derived from a study originally undertaken at the request of the World Bank in order to provide a specifically agricultural perspective to the revision of the Bank's rural development strategy. It has drawn on many years of specialized work within FAO and the World Bank, as well as in a number of other national and international institutions. Findings were supported by more than 20 case studies from around the world which analyzed innovative approaches to small farm or pastoral development. This book is intended for a wider audience than the original study, and it is hoped that policy makers, researchers, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and the agribusiness sector will all find its conclusions and recommendations interesting and thought provoking; and that they will carry the analysis further by applying the approach at national level to assist in the formulation of rural development strategies.