The Role of Smallholder Farms in Food and Nutrition Security, 1st ed. 2020

This open access book discusses the current role of smallholders in connection with food security and poverty reduction in developing countries. It addresses the opportunities they enjoy, and the constraints they face, by analysing the availability, access to and utilization of production factors. Due to the relevance of smallholder farms, enhancing their production capacities and economic and social resilience could produce positive impacts on food security and nutrition at a number of levels.

Sergio Gomez y Paloma, PhD, is a senior researcher and scientific officer at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC), Seville, Spain. He studied Agricultural Sciences and Agricultural Economics (Bs, MSc, and PhD) at the universities of Bologna, Milano and Napoli (Italy), and Agro Paris Tech (France). In 1991–1996 he was a lecturer at Roskilde Universitetscenter Department of Economics and Planning (Denmark), where he was co-director for the European Master ESST (Society, Science and Technology). He has been an advisor to the EU Economic and Social Committee, Brussels (1992–1995). Since 1996 he has worked at the EC-JRCI, where he has coordinated the Project on Mediterranean and Regional Perspectives and the Action on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development. He is currently coordinating activities related to quantitative analysis of the farming sector in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2011-2014 he was a member of the editorial board of the journal Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy (Oxford University Press). He is 2015 to date Associate Editor of Agricultural Economics, the journal of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (Blackwell/Elsevier). He has published on agricultural economics, transition and development economics. 

Laura Riesgo, PhD, is associate professor at Pablo de Olavide University and currently a researcher at the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission (EC), Seville, Spain. Previously she was a researcher in agricultural economics at the University of Valladolid, Spain, (2001–2002) and at EC-JRC (2009–2011). Her research interests fall in the areas of agricultural economics and natural resource economics, with a specific interest in agricultural water use, agricultural sustainability, socioeconomic impact of genetically modified crops, modelling of farmers’ behaviour and, more recently, development economics. She has participated in many research

Analyses current opportunities and constraints facing smallholder farms with regard to improving food security in developing countries

Provides a policy analysis of farmers’ difficulties in gaining access to input markets (fertilisers, irrigation, loans, etc.)

Focuses on how agriculture can contribute to nutrition security, as well as its limitations