Abstract
At the global level, family farming is the primary source of employment and the main supplier of food products (Chaps. 3 and 8). It is also, paradoxically, the sector which harbors the largest number of poor people, mainly due to its central place in the economies of many developing countries (IFAD 2011). There are many reasons for this paradox and they must be sought in the heterogeneity of agricultural performance. This heterogeneity results from radical differences between technical systems (Chap. 6) and the economic and institutional environments that result from power relationships built over time within each country’s particular context. These varied histories have led to very different statuses and room for maneuver for family farming systems at the economic, social and political levels.
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Notes
- 1.
According to the United Nation’s World Population Prospects (2012 revision), http://esa.un.org/wpp/Excel-Data/population.htm.
- 2.
This chapter focuses on the situation in countries of the South, but the issue of agricultural employment also concerns countries of the North in a context marked by the crisis of productivist agricultural models and the extent of structural unemployment.
- 3.
The index of absolute poverty is based on the definition of a poverty line fixed at USD 1.25 per day that measures the ability of an individual to meet his or her minimum basic needs. This threshold is determined theoretically using a basket of goods in a manner recommended by the World Bank and has been adopted by many countries. It has been chosen by international financial institutions (IFIs) as the upper threshold of extreme poverty. This evaluation method differs from the measure of relative poverty, whose use is especially widespread in Europe, which is based on the median salary of the population (usually 50 % or 60 %).
- 4.
Sen (1999) defines capabilities as “the fundamental freedom to make alternative functional choices (or, less formally, the freedom to choose between several lifestyles).” This expanded definition calls upon the notion of freedom, broken down into four dimensions: political freedom, economic freedom, social opportunities, and fertility and coercion.
- 5.
An assessment by the FAO in 2012 estimated that 850 million people suffer from hunger (FAO 2013a).
- 6.
South Asia consists of the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives) to which are added Afghanistan and Iran.
- 7.
In certain regions of Kenya, Senegal and Mali, the 5 % of the poorest households do not earn more than 30–50 USD PPP per year (Losch et al. 2012).
- 8.
World Urbanization Prospects, 2010 Revision.
- 9.
One salaried employee for every nine farms on the average, according to a partial breakdown by the FAO (Bélières et al. 2013).
- 10.
For example, in Thailand in 1997 with the Assembly of the Poor movement (Missingham 2003); in Brazil in 1994 with the O grito da terra movement; and in Mexico in 1996 with the El campo no aguenta más movement.
- 11.
These territorial development policies were supported by regional and international institutions and draw on the experience of industrialized countries. They have resulted in the transfer of public policies, for example, with Leader type European policies which have been promoted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in many Latin American countries.
- 12.
CAADP (Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program), implemented by NEPAD since 2003, has long been the subject of influences of and competition between funding entities, but it is increasingly becoming a means for States in the region to regain control over their policies (NEPAD 2013). There is however a marked mismatch between public investments and the needs and commitments of States, a situation which is causing concern to producer organizations (Roppa 2013).
- 13.
These two regions implemented very proactive policies in the second half of the twentieth century, but they benefited from an overall environment that offered various options to exit agriculture, which has facilitated the sector’s modernization.
- 14.
This is often the case with government farms or agro-industrial enterprises.
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Bonnal, P., Losch, B., Marzin, J., Parrot, L. (2015). Challenges of Poverty, Employment and Food Security. In: Sourisseau, JM. (eds) Family Farming and the Worlds to Come. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9358-2_10
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