Our industry 2014 - (Page 27)

  Sustainable agricultural systems 02     27   Building rural prosperity   The world's 450 million smallholder farmers -farming less than two hectares of  land - are the largest farmer group globally and of key importance to local,  national and global food security, especially in developing countries.  In Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 80% of farmers are smallholders  produce 35% of the world's grain (corn, soybean, wheat and rice) output.  However, the regions where smallholder farmers make up the majority of the  farming communities are also the regions that are most food insecure, where  the largest agricultural yield gaps exist and where overall country development  is blocked by undeveloped rural systems. In fact, smallholders constitute half  the hungry people in the world today. In order to feed themselves and the  growing world population, smallholder farms will need to more than double  their current production by 2050. It is clear that we will need to focus on  smallholder farmers to ensure rural prosperity and global food security. Smallholder farmers often lack access to technology, education and agronomy  training, information on weather, pests, diseases, markets and financial  resources - and this hinders their productivity. It also curtails the ability of  farmers to be profitable and to support the development of their families and  communities. Around two thirds of the farmers in low- and middle-income  countries have inadequate access to resources and markets. Appropriate  technology, coupled with agronomic knowledge and best practice, can help  these farms increase productivity in an environmentally sustainable manner. For  example, labor costs for weeding have been found to absorb up to 50% of a  smallholder's production costs and this will increase as labor availability for  agriculture decreases in many countries. Not only does this impact the farmer's  wallet but such laborious tasks leave less time to focus on other potential  income generating activities and can often require children to miss school in  order to help on the farm. Access to the right technology, such as herbicides,  can significantly reduce labor costs as well as bring environmental benefits,  yield increases and more time for children in the classroom. If we look at input use versus yield increases in cereals, most of the developed  and developing world has seen a steady increase during the last 50 years,  whereas yields in Sub-Saharan African countries have seen little improvement.  The stagnating average yield observed in most African countries means that  the yield gaps are widening across the world. Average cereal productivity between 1961 and 2008 (t/ha) 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1960 Europe Source: FAOstat 1970 United States 1980 China 1990 Brazil 2000 Kenya Burkina Faso 2010   Smallholder farmers in  China, India and SubSaharan Africa account  for around 35% of   global grain* production * Corn, soybean, wheat and rice An estimated 2.5 billion  people in the developing  world depend on   agriculture for their   livelihoods 

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Our industry 2014

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