Doctoral Dissertation Research: Investigating the Impacts of Labor and Land Allocation Strategies on Small-Scale Farming

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

Smallholders is a term used in agrarian studies to characterize rural householders engaged in small-scale, permanent agriculture. Smallholder farming is widely recognized as a model for sustainability in agriculture, though this niche frequently finds itself challenged by larger economies of scale. As the demand for certain major cash crops increases, questions arise about how farming households adapt and manage economic demands. One documented strategy that smallholders use to remain competitive is a strategy of collaborative land use. Another involves refinements in labor strategies across multiple scales. This project explores the intersection of these two strategies in a major cash crop market that has been successfully managed at the smallholder level. Understanding how smallholders adapt to these dual forces can provide insights for policies aimed at rural economic development to support farming households. This project will provide essential support to broaden the participation of groups underrepresented in through STEM education training. It will also encourage an empirical, inter-disciplinary approach to model social and agricultural change. Results will be disseminated to help inform policies and planning at the household, community, and state level. This study examines the expansion of a major agricultural market on cooperative labor strategies at individual, household, and community levels. It will be done at a site that has been a major producer of important cash crops since the 1950s and has recently become a leading exporter. Production at this site is primarily organized on the household scale. However, little is known about the impact export cash crop expansion has on the social institutions in which farming is embedded. Comparing three communities from low to high involvement in cash crop farming, investigators will rely on satellite imagery, ethnographic research, and household surveys to assess the impacts of production on cooperative labor strategies. Investigators hypothesize less cash crop production involves more intra-household cooperation (work among household members) but less inter-household cooperation. Greater cash crop farming, however, entails less intra-household cooperation but more inter-household cooperation. Results from this research will provide a generalizable model to understand how farming households adapt to agricultural changes, which can be applied to other contexts experiencing similar transitions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.