Deep Roots

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Food security and small family

farming in Asia-Pacific countries

T. Haque, Director, Council for Social Development, New Delhi and Former Chairman,

Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, Government of India

he Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

of the United Nations has declared 2014 as the

International Year of Family Farming with the

objective of inviting focused global action for improving

the productivity and incomes of family farms in differ-

ent countries. Family farming is a form of agricultural

organization in which labour and managerial skills in

farming come mainly from the farm family members.

While the average size of family farms is comparatively

large in the developed countries of the west, small family

farms dominate in the Asia-Pacific countries. According to

FAO

about two-thirds of the developing world’s 3 billion

rural people live in smallholder households, many of which

are poor, food insecure and malnourished. The smallhold-

ers in India, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Viet Nam

account for about 300 million of the 500 million small

farms which produce diverse grains, roots, tubers and a

wide range of livestock and fisheries. But due to the small

size of holdings, low yields and low incomes, the major-

ity of them remain poor and food insecure. Analysing the

food security concerns of small family farms in the Asia-

Pacific countries will help to identify the key challenges

and opportunities for their viability and sustainability.

In the Asia-Pacific region, a vast majority of the agri-

cultural workforce consists of marginal and small farmers,

tenants and landless agricultural labourers. About 85

per cent of operational holdings in India are less than 2

hectares in size, operating about 44.4 per cent of the area.

Similarly, 92 per cent of operational holdings in Nepal, 98

per cent in China, 69 per cent in the Philippines, 89 per

cent in Indonesia and 95 per cent in Viet Nam are of less

than 2 hectares. The average size of holding in India is

1.16 hectares, while in countries like Bangladesh, Nepal,

Sri Lanka, China, Japan and Indonesia, it is less than 1

hectare. However, it is 2.01 hectares in the Philippines,

3.16 hectares in Thailand and 1.01 hectares in Malaysia,

which is also small. In recent years, the share of agricul-

A group of women beneficiaries of a micro-enterprise initiative under the Kudumbashree programme in Kerala, India

Image: CSD, New Delhi

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