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Revealing complementarities across farm scales in global food production

Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2025

Copyright licence

Year of publication 2025

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 36 p.

Author Arslan, A.; Ranuzzi, E.; O’Neill, M.; Vaz, S.; Ricciardi, V.; Lowder, S.;

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (series)

Category Technical study

ISBN 978-92-5-140192-7

Series title FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Paper

Series number No. 25-13

To cite or share https://doi.org/10.4060/cd7217en

Synopsis (short abstract) Understanding how much food is produced by farms of different sizes is central to shaping inclusive, sustainable and resilient agrifood systems. While smallholders are widely recognized as critical for local food security, especially in low- and middle-income countries, global estimates of their contribution to global food production remain uncertain due to data limitations and methodological challenges. This study builds on earlier work by compiling the most comprehensive dataset to date – covering 77 countries from all major world regions, except Oceania, and 120 food crops – to directly measure crop production by standardized farm size categories. Using harmonized household surveys, agricultural surveys and agricultural censuses conducted between 2007 and 2023, the study estimates the contribution of each farm size category to the global production of kilocalories, protein and fats. The results show that smallholders operating on less than 2 hectares produce between 9 percent and 16 percent of global kilocalories, while very large farms (over 1 000 hectares) produce around 17 percent. In low- and lower-middle-income countries, smallholders account for a much larger share of national food production: around 60 percent. In high-income countries, by contrast, very large farms dominate, particularly for calorie- and fat-dense crops. Regional patterns further underscore the pivotal role of small farms in sub-Saharan Africa and most of Asia, and of medium- to large-scale farms in Latin America and Europe. In terms of crop diversity, smaller farms are especially important for producing diverse, high-value crops, with farms of up to 5 hectares producing over one-third of all vegetables, nuts and seeds, and spices and aromatics. These findings highlight the complementary roles of all farm sizes in meeting global food and nutrition requirements, and underscore the need for more regular and consistent data collection on land use and crop production at both household and enterprise levels.

Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2025 – Addressing land degradation across landholding scales.

Updated 06/11/2025

Cite this content as:

Arslan, A., Ranuzzi, E., O'Neill, M., Vaz, S., Ricciardi, V. & Lowder, S. 2025. Revealing complementarities across farm scales in global food production – Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2025. FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Paper 25-13. Rome, FAO.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cd7217en

Language English

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