The Upcoming Challenges for Smallholder Farmers and How to Overcome Them
When it comes to being naturally healthy, you need to look not just at what you eat, but where that food came from. Locally produced foods that you buy in-season, for example, will not only be the freshest, they will also contain the most nutrients and be the best for the environment. We are looking at a population increase of up to 9 billion in the next 30 years alone, and even if scientists extrapolate that our max population should taper out at around 12 billion, that still doesn’t make our food habits any less sustainable.
We need to support our local farmers more than ever, because not only are they the key to helping rural communities pull themselves out of poverty, they will also be key players in providing food security in the future. Local farmers can gain insight by reading up on the agri-inputs for smallholder farmers around the world and can work together in cooperatives to better their production and their productivity, but globally there are several key issues that still need to be addressed:
Challenge: Support Crop Growth Through Climate Change
Climate change is our greatest adversary. The greenhouse gases we have unleashed onto the world have both helped and hurt us. We are now looking at unpredictable weather, global warming, and rising sea levels. Similarly, our farming practices have started to hurt the delicate natural balance. Farmers, corporations, and governments alike must band together to not only protect our food’s diversity but to also limit harmful practices like pesticide use.
Challenge: Increasing Global Production to Feed Growing Population Size
The more local farm growth occurs, the less burden there will be on farmers and on food production. Though new and innovative farming practices can help increase crop yields, it is the urban population that needs to step in. By growing vertical gardens, they can harvest fresh foods for themselves and lower CO2 levels. This won’t impact sales for farm-produce, it will only distribute the food more evenly throughout a growing population.
Challenges: Raising Up the Global Community
Smallholder farmers are the pillar of their community, and very often in rural, poor areas if they suffer, their entire community suffers. There are many obstacles in their way, as well, from poor roadworks, infrastructure, and even a lack of education can hold these smallholder farmers back. For example, illiterate or those who do not have experience with technology will not be able to gain access to the free support offered by institutions and their own government. The global community must band together to support these smallholder farmers and help them devise a more economical, viable, and sustainable method of production to help boost rural communities and ensure food security.
The agricultural industry has always been critical to our survival, and it is about time we give this industry the respect it deserves and helps smallholder farmers everywhere regain their crop yields and move towards a more sustainable production model.