An
exclusive focus on smallholders risks romanticising their practices, and being
a myopic reaction to the failures of Western, top-down, 'hard' development;
such as large-scale irrigation, dam construction and monoculture cropping. A
celebration of the small, which can dominate the literature, ignores the
benefits of large-scale, commercial farming. Indeed, an increase in labour productivity
and the creation of income opportunities outside of the agricultural sector has
a significant role in poverty reduction, particularly in the face of climate
change, which is likely to affect Africa dramatically. My interests lie in the
interaction between small- and large- scale agriculture, and how different
modes of production might be appropriate to different geographical and
political regions. As I hope has been shown, one need not exclude the
other. Horizontally connecting smallholders with one another, promoting trade
and stronger institutions, as well as forming vertical links between small
farms and larger commercial enterprises can increase income, food security and
climate adaptation.
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