Food security and increased income are the primary goals of most poor farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa where the majority of agriculture is carried out on smallholdings, often of less than 1 hectare. Farm size limits what farmers can produce, and this can be a great burden when most families’ livelihoods depend on the amount of food they can produce. It has been estimated that for every 10% increase in farm yields, poverty was reduced by 7% in Africa (Irz et al., 2001). According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) an increase of just 1% in agricultural per-capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would reduce the poverty gap five times more than a similar increase in GDP in any other sector, and would particularly target the poorest people. So helping smallholders to produce more food can alleviate poverty.
Publication year
2016
Authors
Anjarwalla, P.; Belmain S; Ofori D A; Jamnadass, R.; Stevenson P C; Sola, P.
Language
Spanish
Keywords
european union
Geographic
Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia
