Factors influencing economic efficiency of milk production among small-scale dairy farms in Mukurweini, Nyeri County, Kenya

Contribution of small-scale farmers to global food security: a meta-analysis

In this study, the impacts of small-scale farmers on food security enhancement were estimated in three dimensions of food availability, food access and food utilization. In the current study, a systematic review and meta-analysis have been performed to synthesize results from 75 original articles. It includes the pooling of data that quantitatively investigate whether or not causal links characterized in the original articles remain valid across a broader scope of the literature. The findings show that farmers who are small-scale in natural/physical capital would lead to higher median food production and agricultural productivity, compared with small-scale farmers in financial capital, at about 19% and 15%, respectively. Meta-regression results indicate that small-scale farmers in natural/physical capital have significantly positive effects on the average agricultural productivity, food income and biofortification. By contrast, farmers who are small-scale in financial capital have negative effects on food security. The influential role of these small-scale farmers should also be considered since food insecurity leads to socio-economic implications. Therefore, it is recommended to cultivate higher value crops, to participate in various income-generating activities such as fisheries and forestry, and to pay agricultural credits. The effect of the size of small-scale farmers on global food security is very useful for policymakers to plan for a world without hunger. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Labor Structure, Land Fragmentation, and Land-Use Efficiency from the Perspective of Mediation Effect: Based on a Survey of Garlic Growers in Lanling, China

In the context of China’s agricultural labor shortage and the pressure of aging, this paper uses the land fragmentation index and the intermediary efficiency model to measure the degree of land fragmentation based on farmer-level data from the main garlic producing area in Lanling County in Shandong Province in 2020. The direct effect of labor structure on land-use efficiency and the mediating effect through land fragmentation are analyzed. The research results show that: (1) the average land-use efficiency of the sample farmers is relatively low; (2) the change in labor structure has an “inverted U”-shaped direct effect on land-use efficiency; and (3) the change in land fragmentation in the labor structure has a direct effect on land-use efficiency. The influence of land-use efficiency played a nonlinear mediating effect. The change in labor structure with the degree of land fragmentation showed an “inverted U”-shaped relationship, and the degree of land fragmentation and land-use efficiency had a “U”-shaped relationship. In order to improve land-use efficiency, two aspects of policy support should be increased: encouraging farmers to integrate land and supporting specialized and diversified planting.