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Smallholder agriculture in transition economies
Author(s) -
Burkitbayeva Saule,
Swinnen Johan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of agrarian change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.63
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1471-0366
pISSN - 1471-0358
DOI - 10.1111/joac.12284
Subject(s) - agriculture , production (economics) , economics , consumption (sociology) , capital (architecture) , diversity (politics) , scale (ratio) , value (mathematics) , economies of scale , communism , business , agricultural economics , geography , social science , cartography , archaeology , sociology , anthropology , macroeconomics , microeconomics , machine learning , politics , computer science , political science , law
In this paper, we analyse how smallholder farms have evolved during the transition process in former communist countries and how this process has differed across countries and commodities. The role of smallholders in agriculture differs among transition countries, and this diversity is due to a combination of factors, including capital, labour and land endowments, income levels, scale economies, market imperfections, and reform choices. Institutions to access inputs and sell outputs affect the efficiency and survival of smallholders. In the past decade, the share of smallholders in land use and production has declined significantly as younger and more dynamic smallholders have become integrated in modern value chains, whereas older, less dynamic farmers have (semi‐)retired, producing only for household consumption.