Sustainable productive intensification for family farming in developing tropical countries

In the past, agriculture was directed to satisfying human needs. Nowadays, it is directed to meeting the markets, forcing the peasantries to adapt to this condition. As a result, family farmers are multifaceted, incorporating both subsistence and market-oriented production. Traditional farming systems have been challenged since there is a pressure for the intensification of these systems. Then, it is important that scientific research about them goes on to recognize that many family farmers use limited resource bases. However, innovation and intensification are permanent needs of agriculture, although they must be adjusted to different contexts, respecting the cultural legacy of family farmers as a prerequisite for achieving the development.

Index terms:
Farming system; sustainability; family farmer; capitalism; food production.

Authorship

Luís Renato Silva Taveira

Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária/INCRA, Lavras, MG, BrasilInstituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária/INCRABrasilLavras, MG, BrasilInstituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária/INCRA, Lavras, MG, Brasil

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9429-5468

Teotonio Soares de Carvalho

Universidade Federal de Lavras/UFLA, Departamento de Ciência do Solo/DCS, Lavras, MG, BrasilUniversidade Federal de Lavras/UFLABrazilLavras, MG, BrazilUniversidade Federal de Lavras/UFLA, Departamento de Ciência do Solo/DCS, Lavras, MG, Brasil

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6631-5177

Anita Fernanda dos Santos Teixeira

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9533-6460

Nilton Curi ^**Corresponding author: niltcuri@ufla.br

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2604-0866

^*Corresponding author: niltcuri@ufla.br

SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Figures | Tables

Figures (1)
Tables (3)

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Figure 1:
Shifting cultivation systems techniques. a) opening of clearings in the forest and burning of the plant residues (slash and burn) to eliminate competition for light, water and providing nutrients stored in the biomass; b) cultivation of small subsistence swiddens for a few years, providing biological diversity and conservation of soil and water; c) fallow for a long period to re-establish the natural cycles and characteristics of the disturbed ecosystem; d) new cycle (shifting cultivation) in a nearby area. Source: Constructed from Kleinman; Pimentel; Bryantc, 1995KLEINMAN, P.; PIMENTEL, D.; BRYANTC, R. B. The ecological sustainability of slash-and-burn agriculture. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment , 52(2-3):235-249, 1995. ; Thomaz; Antoneli; Döerr, 2014THOMAZ, E. L.; ANTONELI, V.; DÖERR, S. H. Effects of fire on the physicochemical properties of soil in a slash-and-burn agriculture. Catena , 122:209-215, 2014. ; Béliveau et al., 2015; Herrick et al., 2018HERRICK, J. E. et al. Rangeland soil erosion and soil quality: Role of soil resistance, resilience, and disturbance regime. In: RATTA, R.; LAL, R. Soil Quality and Soil Erosion. Columbus: CRC Press, 1998. p.209-233. .

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Table 1:
Characterization of the peasant farmer and family farmer.

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Table 2:
Traditional and intensive farming systems features.

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Table 3:
Conventional and sustainable forms of agricultural intensification.

Figure 1: Shifting cultivation systems techniques. a) opening of clearings in the forest and burning of the plant residues (slash and burn) to eliminate competition for light, water and providing nutrients stored in the biomass; b) cultivation of small subsistence swiddens for a few years, providing biological diversity and conservation of soil and water; c) fallow for a long period to re-establish the natural cycles and characteristics of the disturbed ecosystem; d) new cycle (shifting cultivation) in a nearby area. Source: Constructed from Kleinman; Pimentel; Bryantc, 1995KLEINMAN, P.; PIMENTEL, D.; BRYANTC, R. B. The ecological sustainability of slash-and-burn agriculture. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment , 52(2-3):235-249, 1995. ; Thomaz; Antoneli; Döerr, 2014THOMAZ, E. L.; ANTONELI, V.; DÖERR, S. H. Effects of fire on the physicochemical properties of soil in a slash-and-burn agriculture. Catena , 122:209-215, 2014. ; Béliveau et al., 2015; Herrick et al., 2018HERRICK, J. E. et al. Rangeland soil erosion and soil quality: Role of soil resistance, resilience, and disturbance regime. In: RATTA, R.; LAL, R. Soil Quality and Soil Erosion. Columbus: CRC Press, 1998. p.209-233. .

Table 1: Characterization of the peasant farmer and family farmer.

Category	Main Feature	Definition
Peasant farmer	Motivation (subsistence)	Subsistence production, limited resource base and small market integration. It is considered a subordinate class.
Family farmer	Origin of labor force and rights of succession	It has similarities with the peasant farmer but can incorporate motivation for profit. Labor is essentially familiar. The productive unit tends to be a social unit (family). Small units predominate, but mechanization can soften this limitation.

Source: Adapted from Rigg, Salamanca, and Thompson (2016RIGG, J.; SALAMANCA, A.; THOMPSON, E. C. The puzzle of East and Southeast Asia’s persistent smallholder. Journal of Rural Studies , 43:118-133, 2016. ).

Table 2: Traditional and intensive farming systems features.

Feature	Traditional	Intensive
Energy	Mainly renewable	Fossil fuels
Goal	Focus on collective needs, little dependent on inputs	Focus on private interests, heavily dependent on inputs
Labor force	Family or communal	Employed
Diversity	High biological diversity	Low biological diversity
Knowledge	Local, traditional	Scientific, specialized

Source: Adapted from Martínez-Castillo (2008).

Table 3: Conventional and sustainable forms of agricultural intensification.

	Conventional	Sustainable
Goal	Increase production	Increase production, natural and social capital, build knowledge
Knowledge	Created by experts, disseminated in conventional rural extension networks	Created by experts and farmers, disseminated in collaborative rural extension networks
Environmental services	Derived from cultivated landscapes. Replacement of regulation services with inputs. Interactions with the natural landscape are externalities	Appreciation of multiplicity of environmental services of cultivated and natural landscapes, and the correlation between them

Source: Adapted from Pretty and Bharucha (2014PRETTY, J.; BHARUCHA, Z. P. Sustainable intensification in agricultural systems. Annals of Botany, 114(8):1571-1596, 2014. ).

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[1] ^*Corresponding author: niltcuri@ufla.br