CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 329Agricultural Innovations and PracticesAgriculture, Land Use, Rural DevelopmentFood Security and Socioeconomic Dynamics

Small farms and development in sub-Saharan Africa: Farming for food, for income or for lack of better options?

Open access
Giller, Ken E., Delaune, Thomas, Silva, João Vasco, van Wijk, Mark, Hammond, James, Descheemaeker, Katrien, van de Ven, Gerrie, Schut, Antonius G. T. +3 more·2021·Food Security
DOI 10.1007/s12571-021-01209-0
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Most food in sub-Saharan Africa is produced on small farms. Using large datasets from household surveys conducted across many countries, we find that the majority of farms are less than 1 ha, much smaller than previous estimates. Farms are larger in farming systems in drier climates. Through a detailed analysis of food self-sufficiency, food and nutrition security, and income among households from divergent farming systems in Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda, we reveal marked contrasts in food security and household incomes. In the south of Mali, where cotton is an important cash crop, almost all households are food secure, and almost half earn a living income. Yet, in a similar agroecological environment in northern Ghana, only 10% of households are food secure and none earn a living income. Surprisingly, the extent of food insecurity and poverty is almost as great in densely-populated locations in the Ethiopian and Tanzanian highlands that are characterised by much better soils and two cropping seasons a year. Where populations are less dense, such as in South-west Uganda, a larger proportion of the households are food self-sufficient and poverty is less prevalent. In densely-populated Central Malawi, a combination of a single cropping season a year and small farms results in a strong incidence of food insecurity and poverty. These examples reveal a strong interplay between population density, farm size, market access, and agroecological potential on food security and household incomes. Within each location, farm size is a major determinant of food self-sufficiency and a household’s ability to rise above the living income threshold. Closing yield gaps strongly increases the proportion of households that are food self-sufficient. Yet in four of the locations (Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana and Malawi), land is so constraining that only 42–53% of households achieve food self-sufficiency, and even when yield gaps are closed only a small proportion of households can achieve a living income. While farming remains of central importance to household food security and income, our results help to explain why off-farm employment is a must for many. We discuss these results in relation to sub-Saharan Africa’s increasing population, likely agricultural expansion, and agriculture’s role in future economic development.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s12571-021-01209-0

Cites

4 of 4 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 70% of the population is directly involved in agriculture as the primary source of income.

    “In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 70% of the population is directly involved in agriculture as the primary source of income (Giller et al., 2021).”

    From Effects of Post-harvest Losses on Smallholder Farmers' Profitability: The Case of Fruit and Vegetable Farmers in the Ashanti Region of Ghana (2025) · cites this paper as Giller et al., 2021

    The Abstract and §7 Conclusions say farming is important to rural households’ food supply and income. But the paper does not establish that more than 70% of the sub-Saharan African population is directly involved in agriculture or that it is their primary income source; §7 instead describes farming as one part of a diverse livelihood portfolio. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 64

  1. Aune, J. B., Coulibaly, A., & Woumou, K. (2019). Intensification of dryland farming in Mali through mechanisation of sowing, fer- tiliser application and weeding. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 65(3), 400-410. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 03650 340. 2018. 15050 · DOI
  2. Bouwman, T. I., Andersson, J. A., & Giller, K. E. (2020). Herbicide induced hunger? Conservation Agriculture, ganyu labour and rural poverty in Central Malawi. Journal of Development Studies, 57, 244-263 https:// doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 00220 388. 00222 020. 01786 062 · DOI
  3. Buresh, R. J., Sanchez, P. A., & Calhoun, F. (Eds.). (1997). Replenish- ing Soil Fertility in Africa (SSSA Special Publication Number 51). Madison, Wisconsin: ASSA, CSSA, SSSA.
  4. Carletto, C., Savastano, S., & Zezza, A. (2013). Fact or artifact: The impact of measurement errors on the farm size-productivity relationship. Journal of Development Economics, 103, 254-261. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. jdeve co. 2013. 03. 004 Center for International Earth Science Information Network -CIESIN. (2018). Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. Colombia University. · DOI
  5. Chamberlin, J., Jayne, T. S., & Headey, D. (2014). Scarcity amidst abun- dance? Reassessing the potential for cropland expansion in Africa. Food Policy, 48(C), 51-65. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. foodp ol. 2014. 05. 002 · DOI
  6. Christiaensen, L., Demery, L., & Kuhl, J. (2011). The (evolving) role of agriculture in poverty reduction-An empirical perspective. Journal of Development Economics, 96(2), 239-254. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. jdeve co. 2010. 10. 006 · DOI
  7. de Jager, I. (2019). Harvesting Nutrition: Grain Legumes and Nutri- tious Diets in sub-Saharan Africa. PhD thesis, Wageningen Uni- versity, Wageningen.
  8. de Janvry, A., & Sadoulet, E. (2020). Using agriculture for devel- opment: Supply-and demand-side approaches. World Develop- ment, 133, 105003. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. world dev. 2020. 105003 · DOI
  9. Descheemaeker, K., Oosting, S. J., Tui, S.H.-K., Masikati, P., Falconnier, G. N., & Giller, K. E. (2016). Climate change adaptation and mitiga- tion in smallholder crop-livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: A call for integrated impact assessments. Regional Environmental Change, 16, 2331-2343. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s10113-016-0957-8 · DOI
  10. Descheemaeker, K., Reidsma, P., & Giller, K. E. (2020). Climate-smart crop production: Understanding complexity for achieving triple- wins. In D. Deryng (Ed.), Climate change and agriculture (pp. 275-318).
  11. Dilley, L., Mausch, K., Crossland, M., & Harris, D. (2021). What's the story on agriculture? Using narratives to understand farm- ing households' aspirations in Meru, Kenya. The European Journal of Development Research, 1-24. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1057/ s41287-021-00361-9 · DOI
  12. Dorward, A. (2009). Integrating contested aspirations, processes and policy: Development as Hanging In, Stepping Up and Stepping Out. Development Policy Review, 27, 131-146.
  13. Dorward, A., Kydd, J., Poulton, C., & Bezemer, D. (2009). Coordina- tion risk and cost impacts on economic development in poor rural areas. Journal of Development Studies, 45, 1093-1112.
  14. Ellis, F. (1998). Household strategies and rural livelihood diversifica- tion. Journal of Development Studies, 35(1), 1-38. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 00220 38980 84225 · DOI
  15. Franke, A. C., van den Brand, G. J., & Giller, K. E. (2014). Which farmers benefit most from sustainable intensification? An ex- ante impact assessment of expanding grain legume production in Malawi. European Journal of Agronomy, 58, 28-38.
  16. Frelat, R., Lopez-Ridaura, S., Giller, K. E., Herrero, M., Douxchamps, S., Djurfeldt, A. A., et al. (2016). Drivers of household food avail- ability in sub-Saharan Africa based on big data from small farms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 113, 458-463. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1073/ pnas. 15183 84112 · DOI
  17. Funk, C., Peterson, P., Landsfeld, M., Pedreros, D., Verdin, J., Shukla, S., et al. (2015). The climate hazards infrared precipitation with stations-a new environmental record for monitoring extremes. Scientific Data, 2, 1-21. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1038/ sdata. 2015. · DOI
  18. Gerard, B. (2020). Sustainable intensification of African agriculture: A necessity, but not yet a reality. Frontier Agricultural Science Engi- neering, 7(4), 383-389. https:// doi. org/ 10. 15302/j-fase-20203 61. · DOI
  19. Giller, K. E. (2020). The food security conundrum of sub-Saharan Africa. Global Food Security, 26, 100431. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. gfs. 2020. 100431 · DOI
  20. Giller, K. E., Delaune, T., Silva, J. V., Descheemaeker, K., van de Ven, G., Schut, A. G. T., et al. (2021). The future of farming: Who will produce our food? Food Security, https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s12571-021-01184-6 · DOI
  21. Giller, K. E., Tittonell, P., Rufino, M. C., van Wijk, M. T., Zingore, S., Mapfumo, P., et al. (2011). Communicating complexity: Integrated assessment of trade-offs concerning soil fertility management within African farming systems to support inno- vation and development. Agricultural Systems, 104, 191-203. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. agsy. 2010. 07. 002 · DOI
  22. Hammond, J., Fraval, S., van Etten, J., Suchini, J. G., Mercado, L., Pagella, T., et al. (2017). The Rural Household Multi-Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) for rapid characterisation of households to inform climate smart agriculture interventions: Description and applications in East Africa and Central America. Agricultural Systems, 151(C), 225-233. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. agsy. 2016. 05. 003 · DOI
  23. Harris, D. (2019). Intensification benefit index: How much can rural households benefit from agricultural intensification? Experi- mental Agriculture, 55(2), 273-287.
  24. Herrmann, S. M., & Mohr, K. I. (2011). A continental-scale classifi- cation of rainfall seasonality regimes in Africa based on gridded precipitation and land surface temperature products. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 50, 2504-2513. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1175/ JAMC-D-11-024. · DOI
  25. Holden, S., Shiferaw, B., & Pender, J. (2001). Market Imperfections and Land Productivity in the Ethiopian Highlands. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 52(3), 53-70. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1111/j. 1477-9552. 2001. tb009 38.x Huet, E. K., Adam, M., Giller, K. E., & Descheemaeker, K. (2020). Diversity in perception and management of farming risks in southern Mali. Agricultural Systems, 184, 102905. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. agsy. 2020. 102905 · DOI
  26. Jayne, T. S., Chamberlin, J., Traub, L., Sitko, N., Muyanga, M., Yeboah, F. K., et al. (2016). Africa's changing farm size distribu- tion patterns: The rise of medium-scale farms. Agricultural Eco- nomics, 47(S1), 197-214. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1111/ agec. 12308 · DOI
  27. Jayne, T. S., Chapoto, A., Sitko, N., Nkonde, C., Muyanga, M., & Chamberlin, J. (2014). Is the scramble for land in Africa fore- closing a smallholder agricultural expansion strategy? Journal of International Affairs, 67, 35-52.
  28. Jayne, T. S., Mather, D., & Mghenyi, E. (2010). Principal challenges confronting smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. World Development, 38(10), 1384-1398. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. world dev. 2010. 06. 002 · DOI
  29. Jayne, T. S., Snapp, S., Place, F., & Sitko, N. (2019). Sustainable agri- cultural intensification in an era of rural transformation in Africa. Global Food Security, 20, 105-113. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. gfs. 2019. 01. 008 · DOI
  30. Kamanga, B. C. G., Whitbread, A., Wall, P., Waddington, S. R., Alme- kinders, C., & Giller, K. E. (2010). Farmer evaluation of phosphorus fertilizer application to annual legumes in Chisepo, Central Malawi. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 5, 668-680.
  31. Kilic, T., Winters, P., & Carletto, C. (2015). Gender and agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: Introduction to the special issue. Agricul- tural Economics, 46(3), 281-284. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1111/ agec. 12165 · DOI
  32. Koning, N. (2017). Food Security, Agricultural Policies and Economic Growth. Long-term Dynamics in the Past, Present and Future. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
  33. LaRue, K., Daum, T., Mausch, K., & Harris, D. (2020). Who Wants to Farm? Answers Depend on How You Ask: A Case Study on Youth Aspirations in Kenya. The European Journal of Development Research, 1-25. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1057/ s41287-020-00352-2 · DOI
  34. Leonardo, W. J., van de Ven, G., Udo, H., Kanellopoulos, A., & Giller, K. E. (2015a). Labour not land constrains agricultural produc- tion and food self-sufficiency in maize-based smallholder farming systems in Mozambique. Food Security, 7, 857-874. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s12571-015-0480-7 · DOI
  35. Leonardo, W. J., Bijman, J., & Slingerland, M. A. (2015b). The Wind- mill Approach: Combining transaction cost economics and farm- ing systems theory to analyse farmer participation in value chains. Outlook on Agriculture, 44(3), 207-214. https:// doi. org/ 10. 5367/ oa. 2015. 0212 · DOI
  36. Lloyd, C. T., Sorichetta, A., & Tatem, A. J. (2017). High resolution global gridded data for use in population studies. Scientific Data, 4(1), 170001. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1038/ sdata. 2017. · DOI · Paper page
  37. Mabiso, A., Cunguara, B., & Benfica, R. (2014). Food (In)security and its drivers: Insights from trends and opportunities in rural Mozambique. Food Security, 6(5), 649-670. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s12571-014-0381-1 · DOI
  38. Mausch, K., Harris, D., Heather, E., Jones, E., Yim, J., & Hauser, M. (2018). Households' aspirations for rural development through agriculture. Outlook on Agriculture, 47(2), 108-115. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1177/ 00307 27018 766940 · DOI
  39. Mellisse, B. T., Descheemaeker, K., Giller, K. E., Abebe, T., & van de Ven, G. W. J. (2018). Are traditional home gardens in southern Ethiopia heading for extinction? Implications for productivity, plant species richness and food security. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 252, 1-13. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. agee. 2017. 09. 026 · DOI
  40. Milgroom, J., & Giller, K. E. (2013). Courting the rain: Rethinking sea- sonality and adaptation to recurrent drought in semi-arid southern Africa. Agricultural Systems, 118(C), 91-104. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. agsy. 2013. 03. 002 · DOI
  41. Muyanga, M., & Jayne, T. S. (2014). Effects of rising rural population density on smallholder agriculture in Kenya. Food Policy, 48(C), 98-113. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. foodp ol. 2014. 03. 001 · DOI
  42. Ritzema, R. S., Frelat, R., Douxchamps, S., Silvestri, S., Rufino, M. C., Herrero, M., et al. (2017). Is production intensification likely to make farm households food-adequate? A simple food avail- ability analysis across smallholder farming systems from East and West Africa. Food Security, 9, 115-131. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s12571-016-0638-y · DOI
  43. Rurinda, J., van Wijk, M. T., Mapfumo, P., Descheemaeker, K., Supit, I., & Giller, K. E. (2015). Climate change and maize yield in southern Africa: What can farm management do? Global Change Biology, 21(12), 4588-4601. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1111/ gcb. 13061 · DOI
  44. Samberg, L. H., Gerber, J. S., Ramankutty, N., Herrero, M., & West, P. C. (2016). Subnational distribution of average farm size and smallholder contributions to global food production. Environ- mental Research Letters, 11(12), 1-11. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1088/ 1748-9326/ 11/ 12/ 124010 · DOI
  45. Sanchez, P. A. (2002). Soil fertility and hunger in Africa. Science, 295(5562), 2019-2020.
  46. Silva, J. V., Reidsma, P., Laborte, A. G., & van Ittersum, M. K. (2017). Explaining rice yields and yield gaps in Central Luzon, Philip- pines: An application of stochastic frontier analysis and crop modelling. European Journal of Agronomy, 82(Part B), 223- 241. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. eja. 2016. 06. 017 · DOI
  47. Sitko, N. J., & Jayne, T. S. (2014). Structural transformation or elite land capture? The growth of "emergent" farmers in Zambia. Food Pol- icy, 48(C), 194-202. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. foodp ol. 2014. 05. 006 · DOI
  48. Stephens, E. C., Nicholson, C. F., Brown, D. R., Parsons, D., Barrett, C. B., Lehmann, J., et al. (2012). Modeling the impact of natu- ral resource-based poverty traps on food security in Kenya: The Crops, Livestock and Soils in Smallholder Economic Systems (CLASSES) model. Food Security, 4(3), 423-439. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s12571-012-0176-1 · DOI
  49. Timmer, C. P. (2009). A World Without Agriculture: The Structural Transformation in Historical Perspective. The AEI Press.
  50. Tittonell, P., & Giller, K. E. (2013). When yield gaps are poverty traps: The paradigm of ecological intensification in African smallholder agriculture. Field Crops Research, 143, 76-90. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. fcr. 2012. 10. 007 · DOI · Paper page
  51. Traore, B., Descheemaeker, K., van Wijk, M. T., Corbeels, M., Supit, I., & Giller, K. E. (2017). Modelling cereal crops to assess future climate risk for family food self-sufficiency in southern Mali. Field Crops Research, 201, 133-145. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. fcr. 2016. 11. 002 · DOI
  52. United Nations (2019). World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision. New York. Online Edition. Rev. 1. Available from https:// popul ation. un. org/ wpp/ Downl oad/ Stand ard/ Popul ation/: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, United Nations.
  53. van de Ven, G. W. J., de Valença, A., Marinus, W., de Jager, I., Descheemaeker, K., Hekman, W., et al. (2020a). Living income benchmarking of rural households in less-developed coun- tries. Food Security, 145, 309-323. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s12571-12020-01099-12578 · DOI
  54. van de Ven, G. W. J., de Valença, A., Marinus, W., de Jager, I., Descheemaeker, K. K. E., Hekman, W., et al. (2020b). Living income benchmarking of rural households in low-income coun- tries. Food Security, 145(4), 309-323. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s12571-020-01099-8 · DOI
  55. van Ittersum, M. K., Cassman, K. G., Grassini, P., Wolf, J., Tittonell, P., & Hochman, Z. (2013). Yield gap analysis with local to global relevance -a review. Field Crops Research, 143, 4-17.
  56. van Ittersum, M. K., van Bussel, L. G. J., Wolf, J., Grassini, P., van Wart, J., Guilpart, N., et al. (2016). Can sub-Saharan Africa feed itself? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(52), 14964-14969. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1073/ pnas. 16103 59113 · DOI · Paper page
  57. van Wijk, M., Hammond, J., Gorman, L., Adams, S., Ayantunde, A., Baines, D., et al. (2020). The Rural Household Multiple Indicator Survey, data from 13,310 farm households in 21 countries. Sci- entific Data, 7, 46. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1038/ s41597-41020-40388- 41598, https:// doi. org/ 10. 1038/ s41597-020-0388-8 · DOI
  58. van Wijk, M. T., Hammond, J., Frelat, R., & Fraval, S. (2019). Unequal Access to Land: Consequences for the Food Security of Small- holder Farmers in Sub Saharan Africa. In P. Ferranti, E. M. Berry, & J. R. Anderson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Food Security and Sus- tainability, vol. 1 (pp. 556-561, Vol. Vol 1). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  59. Vorley, B. (2002). Sustaining Agriculture: Policy, Governance, and the Future of Family-based Farming (pp. 1-196). IIED.
  60. Vorley, B., del Pozo-Vergnes, E., & Barnett, A. (2012). Small producer agency in the globalised market: Making choices in a changing world. IIED Report (pp. 1-82). London: International Institute for Environment and Development.
  61. Waha, K., van Wijk, M. T., Fritz, S., See, L., Thornton, P. K., Wichern, J., et al. (2018). Agricultural diversification as an important strat- egy for achieving food security in Africa. Global Change Biology, 74(1-3), 19-11. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1111/ gcb. 14158 · DOI
  62. Weisell, R., & Dop, M. C. (2012). The Adult Male Equivalent concept and its application to household consumption and expenditures surveys (HCES). Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 33(3_suppl2), S157-S162. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1177/ 15648 26512 0333S 203 · DOI
  63. Wichern, J., Descheemaeker, K., Giller, K. E., Ebanyat, P., Taulya, G., & van Wijk, M. T. (2019). Vulnerability and adaptation options to climate change for rural livelihoods -A country-wide analysis for Uganda. Agricultural Systems, 176, 102663. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. agsy. 2019. 102663 · DOI
  64. Wichern, J., Wijk, M. T., Descheemaeker, K., Frelat, R., Asten, P. J. A., & Giller, K. E. (2017). Food availability and livelihood strat- egies among rural households across Uganda. Food Security, 9, 1385-1403. https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ s12571-017-0732-9 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Giller, K. E., Delaune, T., Silva, J. V., van Wijk, M., Hammond, J., Descheemaeker, K., van de Ven, G., Schut, A. G. T., Taulya, G., Chikowo, R., & Andersson, J. A.
Affiliations
  • Wageningen University & Research (NL)
  • International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (KE)
  • International Livestock Research Institute (KE)
  • International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (UG)
Corresponding author
Giller, Ken E.
ORCID
Venue
Food Security
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2021-10-15
Volume
13
Issue
6
Pages
1431-1454
ISSN
  • 1876-4517 (ISSN-L)
  • 1876-4525
DOI
10.1007/s12571-021-01209-0
OpenAlex
W3206706771
Cited by
329
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 77 · 2025: 96 · 2024: 69 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 2
FWCI
53.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Food Security (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Greater South Information System
Funders
  • IFAD Towards Inclusive, Sustainable, Nutritious and Efficient Food Systems project
  • NWO-WOTRO Strategic Partnership NL-CGIAR (17231)
  • CIMMYT grant 'Rural livelihood-oriented research methodologies for social impact analyses of Sustainable Intensification interventions’ project
  • USAID Feed the Future-AfricaRISING Ethiopia
  • CGIAR Research Program on Livestock
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agricultural Innovations and Practices
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Security and Socioeconomic Dynamics
Keywords
small farms, farm size, food self-sufficiency, household income, population density, agro-ecological zones, yield gap, market access, off-farm employment, agricultural expansion, sub-Saharan Africa

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review