The Role of Small-scale Farms and Food Security

Cognizant of the challenge of ensuring food security in the decades ahead, this chapter investigates the role played by small-scale farms. In particular, this chapter considers how vital small-scale farms are to rural sustainability. In probing the various conditions in which small-scale farms operate, the chapter delves into the broader policy context and understanding of small-scale farms; the challenges of ensuring food security and pathways, such as sustainable intensification; the increase in global land grabs and the potential impact this can have on indigenous peoples, their livelihoods and ability to produce foodstuff for themselves, their families and their communities; and how the sustainability of small-scale farms, and all that brings in terms of food security, is very much dependent on the successful transition of ownership from one generation to the next. The choices presented here encourage widespread debate and certainly open the way for contemplation of the importance of small-scale farms in that they are the principal source of food production for large parts of the global population, making them an intrinsic part of any conversation about rural sustainability. In the concluding comments, it is made clear that small-scale farms can be identified as a catalyst for revitalizing the rural economy in a local way, and more fundamentally be seen as a key factor in addressing food security in a global sense.