Recalibrating Data on Farm Productivity: Why We Need Small Farms for Food Security

Abstract

In 2009, the ETC Group estimated that some 70% of the food that people globally consume originates in the ‘peasant food web’. This figure has been both embraced and critiqued, and more recent critiques have focussed on analysing farm productivity to offer some more precise estimates. Several analyses suggest that the proportion of small farms’ contributions to total food production is closer to one-third, arguing that the role of small food producers in food security are grossly exaggerated. We challenge this argument by re-tabulating the available farm productivity data to demonstrate that smaller farms continue to provide a significant proportion of food and are consistently more productive than their larger counterparts. We further posit that even our own interpretation falls short of estimating the full extent of small farms’ contributions, including non-monetary ones, like ecosystem services and community life, many of which run counter to the productivist model that drives large-scale industrial agriculture. We conclude that policies that support small farms are a global necessity for food security, as well as for transitions to more sustainable and more equitable food systems.