The future of farming: Who will produce our food?

Ken E. Giller (), Thomas Delaune, João Vasco Silva, Katrien Descheemaeker, Gerrie Ven, Antonius G.T. Schut, Mark Wijk, James Hammond, Zvi Hochman, Godfrey Taulya, Regis Chikowo, Sudha Narayanan, Avinash Kishore, Fabrizio Bresciani, Heitor Mancini Teixeira, Jens A. Andersson and Martin K. Ittersum
Additional contact information
Ken E. Giller: Wageningen University
Thomas Delaune: Wageningen University
João Vasco Silva: Wageningen University
Katrien Descheemaeker: Wageningen University
Gerrie Ven: Wageningen University
Antonius G.T. Schut: Wageningen University
Mark Wijk: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
James Hammond: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
Zvi Hochman: CSIRO Agriculture & Food
Godfrey Taulya: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
Regis Chikowo: University of Zimbabwe
Avinash Kishore: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), South Asian Region
Fabrizio Bresciani: IFAD, Asia and Pacific Division
Heitor Mancini Teixeira: Wageningen University
Jens A. Andersson: Wageningen University
Martin K. Ittersum: Wageningen University

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, No 2, 1073-1099

Abstract: Abstract Achieving SDG2 (zero hunger) in a situation of rapid global population growth requires a continued focus on food production. Farming not merely needs to sustainably produce nutritious diets, but should also provide livelihoods for farmers, while retaining natural ecosystems and services. Rather than focusing on production principles, this article explores the interrelations between farms and farming systems in the global food system. Evaluating farming systems around the world, we reveal a bewildering diversity. While family farms predominate, these range in size from less than 0.1 ha to more than 10,000 ha, and from hand hoe use to machine-based cultivation, enabling one person to plant more than 500 ha in a day. Yet, farming in different parts of the world is highly interdependent, not least because prices paid for farm produce are largely determined by global markets. Furthermore, the economic viability of farming is a problem, globally. We highlight trends in major regions of the world and explore possible trajectories for the future and ask: Who are the farmers of the future? Changing patterns of land ownership, rental and exchange mean that the concept of ‘what is a farm’ becomes increasingly fluid. Next to declining employment and rural depopulation, we also foresee more environmentally-friendly, less external input dependent, regionalised production systems. This may require the reversal of a global trend towards increasing specialisation to a recoupling of arable and livestock farming, not least for the resilience it provides. It might also require a slow-down or reversal of the widespread trend of scale enlargement in agriculture. Next to this trend of scale enlargement, small farms persist in Asia: consolidation of farms proceeds at a snail’s pace in South-east Asia and 70% of farms in India are ‘ultra-small’ – less than 0.05 ha. Also in Africa, where we find smallholder farms are much smaller than often assumed (

Keywords: Population growth; Food security; Yield gaps; Smallholder farms; Sustainable intensification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (48)

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DOI: 10.1007/s12571-021-01184-6

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