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This paper on family farms is in the form of an historical review complemented by current and future perspectives from North America, China, Brazil and Europe. The literature review demonstrates the multiple discourses, concepts and methodologies which underpin contemporary understandings of the family farm. The authors argue that family-based farming units are ubiquitous in most agricultural systems and take on many different forms and functions, conditioned by the structure of agriculture in different locations and political systems. Our review accepts this diversity and seeks to identify some key elements that inform our understanding of the sustainability of family farming, now and in the future. The term ‘family’ is the differentiating variable and behooves a sociological approach. However, economists can view the family farm as an economic unit, a business and even a firm. Geographers see family farms consigned to the margins of good land areas, and political scientists have seen family farms as a class. What emerges is a semantic enigma. As an imaginary term, ‘family farming’ is useful as a positive, universally valued ideal, as a definable entity on the ground, however, it is difficult to classify and measure for comparative policy and research purposes. This ambiguity is utilized by governments to manage the increasing capitalization of farm units while projecting the image of wholesome production of food. The case studies demonstrate the diversity of ways in which family farming ideologies are being mobilized in contemporary agrarian change processes. The notion of ‘land to the tiller’ is resonant with historic injustices in Scotland and Brazil, where family-based agriculture is understood as the ‘natural’ order of agricultural production and actively supported as an historic ideal. In contrast, in the Chinese context, ‘land to the tiller’ is a political means of increasing capital penetration and economic sustainability. Evidence from China, Brazil and Scotland demonstrates the active role of governments, coupled with symbolic ideologies of farming, which suggest that the longevity (i.e., sustainability) of family farming will continue.

Simple Summary Small-scale dairy production is a activity in rural areas, as it generates daily income and contributes to food security. In Mexico, from the 1980s, economic policies were promoted that led to the modernisation and concentration of milk production, which caused many small-scale production units to disappear and reduce their contribution to the national supply. Some researchers report that the production units that survived were those that specialised and incorporated a high level of technology. The objective of this work was to identify the technological level and socioeconomic conditions of dairy production units in the northeastern region of Michoacán, Mexico, in order to know the strategies that have allowed them to survive. Through statistical analysis, four groups of farms with different levels of technology were identified. The clusters that predominate in this region use a low level of technology and have low productivity, finding their strengths in the diversification of activities they carry out and the use of family labour. Public policies should be directed, for each cluster, in a differentiated manner, prioritising the strengthening of the aspects that have kept them going in the present, rather than the incorporation of a high technological level in their production units. Abstract The objective of this study was to identify the technological level used by dairy farmers in the northeastern region of Michoacán, Mexico, through a characterisation of small-scale dairy production units, as well as to learn about the socioeconomic conditions that have enabled them to survive in the current context. A semi-structured interview was applied to 114 production units, chosen by stratified random sampling. The interview included technological, production and socioeconomic aspects. Twenty-eight variables were initially explored and 12 were used for multivariate analysis, which included Principal Component Analysis, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and K-means Cluster. The characterisation carried out showed that the production units that predominate in northeastern Michoacán have survived with a low technological level, having as strengths the diversification of their activities and the use of family labour. On the contrary, production units with a high technological level and high productivity are few and less diversified. This shows the need to generate differentiated public policies for each cluster, aimed at strengthening the aspects that have allowed them to survive and guaranteeing a market for their production, before promoting the use of technologies.

Using a unique panel of household businesses for Vietnam, this paper sheds light on the links between households’ and entrepreneurs’ social networks and business performance. We address two related questions. One first question asks if we can find evidence of a differentiated effect of employment of members of the family versus hired workers on the business performance. A second question tackles the respective effects of various dimensions of social networks on the business technical efficiency. The assumption is that, beyond the channel of labour productivity, entrepreneurs that are confronted with an unfavourable social environment may produce less efficiently and realize a lower output than what could be possible with the same amount of resources. We find evidence of a productivity differential between family and hired labour and highlight results consistent with the presence of adverse social network effects faced by households running a business, in particular ethnic minorities. We stress the importance of professional networks for successful entrepreneurship.; En utilisant un panel de microentreprises familiales au Vietnam, cet article met en relation le réseau social des entrepreneurs et de leur ménage avec la performance de la microentreprise familiale. Nous abordons deux questions connexes. La première examine la possibilité d'effets différenciés de l'emploi des membres de la famille par rapport à des travailleurs recrutés sur le marché du travail sur la performance de la microentreprise. Une deuxième question aborde les effets respectifs des différentes dimensions des réseaux sociaux sur l'efficience technique de la microentreprise. L'hypothèse testée est que, au-delà du canal de la productivité du travail, les entrepreneurs qui sont confrontés à un environnement social défavorable pourraient produire moins efficacement et réaliser une valeur ajoutée plus faible que ce qui pourrait être possible avec la même quantité de ressources. Nous montrons qu'il existe en effet un différentiel de productivité entre le travail familial et le travail recruté sur le marché, et nos résultats attestent de la présence d'effets défavorables du réseau social pour certains ménages gérant une microentreprise. Nous soulignons aussi l'importance des réseaux professionnels pour la réussite de l'entreprenariat familial.

The planning of mechanization requires the quantitative assessment of a mechanization index and the impact of this index on agricultural yield and economic factors. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the adoption of agricultural mechanization and scale production on labour productivity and the generation of income for farmers. Cross-sectional data for jasmine rice production by 569 households in 1,003 plots in the north eastern part of Thailand in 2017 were employed. The study found that the average rice planting workforce and labour productivity have an inverse relationship with planted area, while large farms have the highest ratio for machine labour to workforce. The rice yield, labour usage and labour productivity of the farmers varied by mechanization level (ML) and farm size while different levels of Machinery Owned labour (MO) have no effect on rice yield. Therefore, there are three main suggestions: 1) performing land consolidations, since applying a production strategy with large rice paddies may increase labour productivity and the net profit of rice famers; 2) improving the quality of machinery for use in rice production in Thailand, especially the performance of the machinery to prevent losses during harvest; and 3) increasing the mechanization level to 50-75%, which could also increase labour productivity and net returns.

Using a unique panel of household businesses for Vietnam, this paper sheds light on the links between households' and entrepreneurs' social networks and business performance. We address two related questions. One first question asks if we can find evidence of a differentiated effect of employment of members of the family versus hired workers on the business performance. A second question tackles the respective effects of various dimensions of social networks on the business technical efficiency. The hypothesis is that, beyond the channel of labour productivity, entrepreneurs that are confronted with an unfavourable social environment may produce less efficiently and realize a lower output than what could be possible with the same amount of resources. We find evidence of a marginal productivity differential between family and hired labour and highlight results consistent with the presence of adverse social network effects faced by households running a business, in particular ethnic minorities. We stress the importance of professional networks for successful entrepreneurship.

Even in the International Year of Family Farming there is confusion about family farming. What is it, and what distinguishes it from entrepreneurial farming or family agribusiness? The confusion tends to be highest in places where the modernisation of agriculture has led society further away from farming. Jan Douwe van der Ploeg takes us into the world of family farming, which he says is considered to be “both archaic and anarchic, and attractive and seductive”.

This paper investigates the technical efficiency of sorghum production and its determinants, using the stochastic frontier production function which incorporates a model of inefficiency effects. Farm level data were collected from a sample of 100 sorghum farmers in Hong local government area of Adamawa state using structured questionnaires. The empirical result shows that land, seed, and fertilizer were the major factors that influence changes in sorghum output. Farm specific variables such as education, extension contact and household size were found to have significant effects on the technical inefficiency among the sorghum producers. The technical efficiency of farmers varied from 0.1562 to 0.9214 with a mean technical efficiency of 0.7262. The implication of the study is that efficiency in sorghum production among the farmers could be increased by 28% through better use of land, seed and fertilizer in the short term given the prevailing state of technology. This could be achieved through policy interventions by the government in terms of better access to land, improved seed and fertilizer .The inefficiency effect also shows that improved farmer's educational levels through better education and literacy campaigns would help tremendously to increase efficiency.

In many developed countries, the share of permanent hired labour in the total agricultural labour force has been increasing in recent years. Using data from the 1988 and 2000 agricultural censuses in France, we analyse the factors that influence households' decisions regarding the use of hired labour. We show that the increase in permanent wage employment observed over that period results from two opposite trends: an important increase in the proportion of family farms using permanent wage labour and a slight decrease in the average volume of permanent hired labour per employer. The first trend was mainly due to an improvement in family labour productivity and to a sharp rise in farm size, whereas the second results from a rise in agricultural wages, and possibly also from an increase in the productivity of hired labour. Oxford University Press and Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics 2009; all rights reserved. For permissions, please email journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org, Oxford University Press.

John Hajnal’s classic essay published in 1965 on European marriage patterns contrasted western with eastern Europe in terms of age at marriage and proportion never-married. In a more recent article, ‘Two kinds of pre-industrial household formation system’, which is indeed a development from his 1965 essay, the life-cycle is taken into explicit consideration by use of the concept of household formation. In addition, he makes some geographical alterations to his previous argument: the ‘West ’ is narrowly defined to cover ‘north-west’ European countries, whereas the ‘East’ now extends beyond the eastern European boundaries to Asian countries such as China and India." To this formulation there can be two kinds of response from scholars specializing in the Far East, especially traditional Japan. One is concerned with the lack of full discussion of a stem family system in Hajnal’s article. He suggests that while some versions of this system are ‘compatible with the general north-west European household formation rules’ and some others are not, ‘[n]o kind of stem family system can be classified as a joint household system’;# but unfortunately, no detailed stem family household formation rules are specified, nor is there any discussion of Japan’s family system, which has been regarded as a typical example of the stem type. In Japanese etymology both the household and the house (building) are called ie. Yet, as Chie Nakane stresses, ‘the ie is not simply a contemporary [i.e. currently existing] household as its English counterpart suggests, but

International audience

De laatste jaren is er nauwelijks kwantitatief onderzoek gedaan naar de rolverdeling binnen Nederlandse agrarische bedrijven, de bijdragen van verschillende gezinsleden aan het inkomen, de achtergrond van gemaakte keuzes en de tevredenheid daarover binnen het gezin. Het internationale jaar van het agrarisch gezinsbedrijf vormt de aanleiding om deze zaken anno 2014 opnieuw onder de loep te nemen. Dat gebeurt in deze studie aan de hand van de volgende onderzoeksvragen: 1. Welke activiteiten verrichten vrouwen binnen en buiten het agrarische bedrijf? 2. In welke mate zijn vrouwen betrokken bij besluitvormingsprocessen op het agrarische bedrijf? 3. In hoeverre zijn vrouwen tevreden met de gang van zaken op het agrarische bedrijf?

De laatste jaren is er nauwelijks kwantitatief onderzoek gedaan naar de rolverdeling binnen Nederlandse agrarische bedrijven, de bijdragen van verschillende gezinsleden aan het inkomen, de achtergrond van gemaakte keuzes en de tevredenheid daarover binnen het gezin. Het internationale jaar van het agrarisch gezinsbedrijf vormt de aanleiding om deze zaken anno 2014 opnieuw onder de loep te nemen. Dat gebeurt in deze studie aan de hand van de volgende onderzoeksvragen: 1. Welke activiteiten verrichten vrouwen binnen en buiten het agrarische bedrijf? 2. In welke mate zijn vrouwen betrokken bij besluitvormingsprocessen op het agrarische bedrijf? 3. In hoeverre zijn vrouwen tevreden met de gang van zaken op het agrarische bedrijf?

The informal sector is typically characterized as being very heterogeneous and possibly composed of two clearly distinct segments, sometimes called the lower and upper tier. However, empirical evidence shows that even among lower tier entrepreneur's profitability can be quite high. The authors combine these findings and develop an innovative approach to identify what is called constrained gazelles, next to the well-known survivalists in the lower tier and growth-oriented top-performers in the upper tier. The sample of informal entrepreneurs in seven West-African countries allows linking the relative size of these three groups to the structural and macroeconomic environment in these countries.

De toenemende omvang van agrarische bedrijven vergroot de kans dat meerdere huishoudingen van een bedrijf afhankelijk zijn. Het traditionele eenmansbedrijf wordt dan ook steeds vaker vervangen door complexere eigendomsstructuren. Het karakter van het agrarische gezinsbedrijf, waar de zaken aan de keukentafel worden besproken, blijft echter in de meeste gevallen bestaan

Two dairy goat systems conducted according to the household model were evaluated in terms of income generation. An enterprise budget analysis was performed using data collected from August, 2004, to July, 2005. Farms named A and B were smallholdings and raised Saanem goats intensively. Herd indexes, incomes, taxes, fuel, energy, concentrates, opportunity costs and interest in capital were computed. Net present value and internal rate of return were estimated to appreciate the business appeal in terms of income generation. Herd indexes were mostly affected by management decisions interfering on the amounts and time-trends related to milk production. Seasonal variation was reduced at unit B due to heat induction, a decision not shared by farmer A. The daily body weight gain of doelings after weaning (89 and 76 g/d for A and B) was low if compared to current recommendations. Average records of lactation (441 and 606 L/doe) and fertility (86.95% and 85.71%) were amongst the literature range. Daily tasks related to unit B consumed 5 hours and 55 minutes for an average milk production of 40.9 L/d, whereas 8 hours and 16 minutes on average were daily spent at unit A in order to produce 32.2 L/d. Unit B presented a total production cost (R$ 0.79548/L) lower than unit A (R$ 1.50239/L), but operated profitably. Unit A presented a positive gross margin (R$ 0.284/L), but operated unprofitably. The income generated on B was equivalent to a monthly salary of R$ 732.96 (US$ 278.52), a competitive income compared to the Brazilian minimum wage of R$ 300.00 (US$ 114.00) paid monthly. These results corroborate the hypothesis that the dairy goat husbandry fits adequately to the household production model and generates income competitively. Dois sistemas de produção de caprinos leiteiros praticados de acordo com o modelo familiar foram avaliados quanto à geração de renda. Um teste para verificação de viabilidade econômica do empreendimento foi executado utilizando-se dados coletados de agosto de 2004 a julho de 2005. As fazendas, denominadas A e B, eram pequenas propriedades produtoras de cabras Saanem em sistema intensivo. Índices de rebanho, rendas, impostos, combustível, energia, concentrado, custos de oportunidade e capital de interesse foram computados para estimação da renda líquida e da taxa de retorno do capital para avaliação do quanto o negócio pode ser atraente em geração de renda. Os índices de rebanho foram afetados significativamente pelas decisões tomadas pelos administradores e interferiram sobre as quantidades e tendências relacionadas à produção de leite. Na unidade B, a variação sazonal reduziu com a indução de cio, uma prática não realizada na unidade A. O ganho de peso diário das cabritas após a desmama (89 e 76 g/dia para A e B) foi baixo em comparação às recomendações atuais. As médias dos registros de lactação (441 e 606 L/cabra) e fertilidade (86,95 e 85,71%) estiveram nos limites preconizados na literatura. Tarefas diárias na unidade B consumiam 5 horas e 55 minutos para produção média de leite de 40,9 L/dia, enquanto na unidade A correspondiam a 8 horas e 16 minutos diários para produção média de 32,2 L/dia. A unidade B apresentou custo total de produção (R$ 0,79548/L) menor que o da unidade A (R$ 1,50239/L), mas operava de forma lucrativa. A unidade A apresentou margem bruta positiva (R$ 0,284/L), mas não operava de forma lucrativa. A renda gerada em B era equivalente a um salário mensal de R$ 732,96 (US$ 278,52), renda competitiva se comparada ao salário mínimo brasileiro, de R$ 300,00 (US$ 114,00) por mês. Estes resultados corroboram a hipótese de que a produção de caprinos leiteiros serve adequadamente ao modelo de produção familiar e gera renda competitiva.

This study assesses the farm management practices of cocoa growers in Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria. One hundred and twenty three farmers were selected (using simple random sampling) from the list of cocoa farmers belonging to the Cocoa Farmers' Association of Nigeria (CFAN) in Ondo State. All were asked to complete a questionnaire on the farm hygiene and management practices they followed. The majority of respondents were married men who used family labour on their farms, and who had a varying number of years of farming experience. No significant relationships were found among age, marital status, years of farming experience and gender. However, the use of farm hygiene practices showed a significant relationship with educational status and grower attitude towards the adoption of appropriate crop growing practices. The majority of respondents commonly used chemicals rather than crop growing practices to ensure crop hygiene; few undertook practices such as pruning, the removal of diseased pods and mistletoe, the application of organic fertilizers, or the breaking of pods off-farm. A limited number combined crop growing practices with the use of chemicals to control pests and diseases. The lack of credit facilities, weeds, pests, diseases, parasites and marketing difficulties were all recognised as constraints limiting production. The present findings suggest that the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), the Ministry of Agriculture, and relevant non-governmental organizations should organize a sensitisation programme/training scheme to de-emphasize the use of chemicals and encourage the use of appropriate crop growing practices for improving farm hygiene., En este trabajo se evaluaron las prácticas de los cultivadores de cacao en el Estado Ondo, al suroeste de Nigeria. Se seleccionaron al azar 123 agricultores de la Asociación de Cultivadores de Cacao de Nigeria (CFAN) pertenecientes a este estado y se les pidió rellenar un cuestionario sobre prácticas de vigilancia fitosanitaria y de gestión de las fincas. La mayoría eran hombres casados que utilizaban mano de obra familiar en sus fincas, y con un número variable de años de experiencia. No se encontraron relaciones significativas entre edad, sexo, estado civil y años de experiencia. Sin embargo, sí se observó una relación significativa entre la realización de prácticas fitosanitarias y el nivel de educación y la actitud del cultivador hacia la adopción de prácticas adecuadas de cultivo. Para el control de enfermedades y plagas, la mayoría utilizaba productos químicos y un número limitado combinaba prácticas de cultivo con productos químicos. Pocos podaban o eliminaban restos vegetales enfermos o aplicaban fertilizantes orgánicos. Se reconocieron como factores limitantes de la producción la falta de facilidades de crédito, malas hierbas, plagas, enfermedades, parásitos y dificultades de comercialización. Este estudio sugiere que el Instituto de Investigación del Cacao de Nigeria (CRIN), el Ministerio de Agricultura y organizaciones no gubernamentales deberían organizar un programa de sensibilización y formación encaminado a desaconsejar el uso de productos químicos y mejorar la sanidad de los cultivos mediante la realización de prácticas adecuadas.

This study assesses the farm management practices of cocoa growers in Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria. One hundred and twenty three farmers were selected (using simple random sampling) from the list of cocoa farmers belonging to the Cocoa Farmers' Association of Nigeria (CFAN) in Ondo State. All were asked to complete a questionnaire on the farm hygiene and management practices they followed. The majority of respondents were married men who used family labour on their farms, and who had a varying number of years of farming experience. No significant relationships were found among age, marital status, years of farming experience and gender. However, the use of farm hygiene practices showed a significant relationship with educational status and grower attitude towards the adoption of appropriate crop growing practices. The majority of respondents commonly used chemicals rather than crop growing practices to ensure crop hygiene; few undertook practices such as pruning, the removal of diseased pods and mistletoe, the application of organic fertilizers, or the breaking of pods off-farm. A limited number combined crop growing practices with the use of chemicals to control pests and diseases. The lack of credit facilities, weeds, pests, diseases, parasites and marketing difficulties were all recognised as constraints limiting production. The present findings suggest that the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), the Ministry of Agriculture, and relevant non-governmental organizations should organize a sensitisation programme/training scheme to de-emphasize the use of chemicals and encourage the use of appropriate crop growing practices for improving farm hygiene. En este trabajo se evaluaron las prácticas de los cultivadores de cacao en el Estado Ondo, al suroeste de Nigeria. Se seleccionaron al azar 123 agricultores de la Asociación de Cultivadores de Cacao de Nigeria (CFAN) pertenecientes a este estado y se les pidió rellenar un cuestionario sobre prácticas de vigilancia fitosanitaria y de gestión de las fincas. La mayoría eran hombres casados que utilizaban mano de obra familiar en sus fincas, y con un número variable de años de experiencia. No se encontraron relaciones significativas entre edad, sexo, estado civil y años de experiencia. Sin embargo, sí se observó una relación significativa entre la realización de prácticas fitosanitarias y el nivel de educación y la actitud del cultivador hacia la adopción de prácticas adecuadas de cultivo. Para el control de enfermedades y plagas, la mayoría utilizaba productos químicos y un número limitado combinaba prácticas de cultivo con productos químicos. Pocos podaban o eliminaban restos vegetales enfermos o aplicaban fertilizantes orgánicos. Se reconocieron como factores limitantes de la producción la falta de facilidades de crédito, malas hierbas, plagas, enfermedades, parásitos y dificultades de comercialización. Este estudio sugiere que el Instituto de Investigación del Cacao de Nigeria (CRIN), el Ministerio de Agricultura y organizaciones no gubernamentales deberían organizar un programa de sensibilización y formación encaminado a desaconsejar el uso de productos químicos y mejorar la sanidad de los cultivos mediante la realización de prácticas adecuadas.

En France, l'installation de jeunes agriculteurs selon le modèle de l'exploitation familiale a toujours été prioritaire au niveau des lois d'orientation agricoles. L'évaluation d'un programme visant l'installation de jeunes issus de familles non agricoles a révélé, en 1997 dans le canton de Seurre (Bourgogne, France), un contexte qui leur est défavorable et une spécialisation des exploitations en productions végétales qui s'accompagne d'une pression foncière forte. Cette situation a conduit à privilégier l'installation des enfants d'agriculteurs au sein de sociétés de type parents-enfants. Le départ à la retraite des parents confronte ces sociétés familiales à deux générations au renouvellement de la main d'oeuvre et implique des stratégies d'évolutions repérées en 2004. Une majorité des exploitants partant en retraite ne sera pas remplacée lorsque l'orientation vers la spécialisation végétale ainsi que l'augmentation de la productivité du travail peuvent être confortées. Dans ces situations, l'exploitation conduite et gérée en famille devient une exploitation d'origine familiale prévue pour une seule personne, le chef d'exploitation, ce qui amène à une nouvelle cohérence du fonctionnement du système exploitation-famille., In France, the Agriculture Orientation Law and Establishment Plan recommends that farmers be replaced with farm managers rather than with salaried workers. Its implementation, in 1997, in the canton of Seurre (an administrative subdivision of the Cote d'Or department (21701 ha)) showed that the local context did not foster the installation of people with no farming family background, a farm enlargement trend and the specialization in crop production, both leading to a high competition for land. It led to the installation of farmers' children and the creation of joint farming arrangement (GAEC) between parents and children. In 2004, the parents would be retired soon. The aim of the study consisted in analysing how the young farmers respond to such changes. When specialization in crop production and labour productivity can be increased, the familial farm workforce will not be replaced. The farm managed by a family becomes a farm from family inheritance, managed by a person, the farm manager. It involves a new functioning of the family farm system.