Family Farms, Agricultural Productivity, and the Terrain of Food (In)security in Ethiopia
Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Genscherallee 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany
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Sustainability 2019, 11(18), 4981; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184981
Received: 30 September 2018 / Revised: 29 August 2019 / Accepted: 7 September 2019 / Published: 12 September 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Food and Non-Food Biomass Production, Processing and Use in Sub-Saharan Africa: Towards a Basis for a Regional Bioeconomy)
Despite economic development and social improvements, millions of family farmers in Ethiopia are still struggling with food insecurity. Lack of technology adoption by family farmers is often considered as the root cause for low agricultural productivity and persistence of food insecurity. Based on a study of family farms in southwestern Ethiopia, we show the complex nexus between family farming, food insecurity, and agricultural productivity. We collected qualitative and quantitative data through 300 sample household interviews; expert interviews with elders and village chairmen, agricultural extension agents, farmers’ cooperative heads, as well as experts in NGOs, research institutes, and state agencies; and on-farm observations with in-depth interviews and discussions with individual farmers. Our findings illustrate that everyday experiences, culture, knowledge, and priorities of farmers coupled with ecological and political factors play crucial roles—and need more consideration than the classic ‘lack of technology’ theorem.
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Keywords:
family farming; farmland; food security; rural development
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Stellmacher, T.; Kelboro, G. Family Farms, Agricultural Productivity, and the Terrain of Food (In)security in Ethiopia. Sustainability 2019, 11, 4981.
AMA Style
Stellmacher T, Kelboro G. Family Farms, Agricultural Productivity, and the Terrain of Food (In)security in Ethiopia. Sustainability. 2019; 11(18):4981.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStellmacher, Till; Kelboro, Girma. 2019. "Family Farms, Agricultural Productivity, and the Terrain of Food (In)security in Ethiopia" Sustainability 11, no. 18: 4981.
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