Issues Involving Smallholder Agriculture

“A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain and drinking largely sobers us again”.

Alexander Pope, 1711

This page forms the table of contents to the key issues of the web site. It looks at the different issues that may need some more in-depth consideration to make certain development projects have the maximum positive impact on the smallholder beneficiaries and the Millennium Development Goals can be met. It looks at those issues that may have been overlooked as well as those that may be institutionalized into the development process well beyond their effectiveness in providing sustainable assistance to the smallholder beneficiaries.

Economic Environment

• Financially Suppressed Economy - Impact on Development
  • Comparison of Consumer Prices - 30% discount on prices, but 85% reduction in wages
• Financially Stalled Governments - What can they be asked to do?
  • Variety Improvement - Deferred to IARCs
  • Informal Income: Seed & Fertilizer Voucher Program in Afghanistan

Development Process

• Project Development Process - Who Represents the Smallholder
  • Development Hierarchy - Four Layers of Isolation
• Basic Premise - Was Something Overlooked?
  • Delayed Adopters - Limited Knowledge or Limited Means
  • Integration - Adjusting Technology and the Farming System

Concerns

• Dietary Energy Balance - Risk Averse or Hunger & Exhaustion; Is there a Genocide Component to Development?
• Farmer Organizations – Do They Offer A Competitive Advantage?
• Competitive Advantage - Comparing Cooperatives to Private Traders
  Cheetah in Zambia
• *Loss of Competitive Advantage Continued - 14 Points to Consider
• Financial Transparency
  Madibira in Tanzania: Economic Impact - Dark Clouds Forming
• Regulatory Impact
• Reconciliation with Private Traders, - The Default Providers
• Smallholder Empowerment
• Perpetuating Cooperatives: Deceptive/Dishonest? Reporting
  Information Requested - Basic Business Principles
• Financial Management Strategy - Retain Assets In-Kind
• Value Chain for High Valued Crops - High Risk? High Profit?
• Private Traders - Fragmented Business Environment
  • Tomato Vender - Market Volume 50 kg
  • Banana Trader - Impoverished Double Marathon Man
• Sustainability Of Smallholders: Global Trade-Offs
• Organic Nutrients: Some Simple Computations Please

Assisting Smallholders

• Assisting Smallholders - An Innovative Approach
  • Donor Contributions - Enhancing Infrastructure Support
  • Government Contributions Limited Expectations
• Smallholder Communities - A Symbiotic Association
  • First Value Added - Clean Bags of Grain
  • Informal credit - Usury or Administrative Costs
  • Effective Project - Used Tractors
  • Indirect Enhancement - Grain Mills
• Indirect Enhancement - Domestic Water Supply
• Informal Information & Distribution System - How effective? How to utilize?

* Indicates new or substantially revised pages

Last Revised: 4 April 2010 ,