Small Farming role to food and nutrition security in food systems: a case study in Tuscany

The debate on structural change in farming and the implications for the competitiveness and sustainability of the agri-food sector and the rural areas has revived in recent years (DG Agri, 2015). Notably, the “International Year of Family and Smallholder Farming” was aimed at “focusing attention on family and smallholder farming worldwide, and their significant role in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, especially in rural areas” (FAO, 2014). Despite European agriculture being characterized by a declining number of agricultural holdings and an increase in farm size, the agricultural sector is largely composed by farms with less than 5 ha of agricultural land and a standard output below 4 000 euro per year (Eurostat, 2015). A commonly agreed definition of small farms does not exist (EC, 2011), as different criteria can be referred to, including economic size, value of production, labor units and family involvement (Hubbard, 2009). Smaller farms are often operated as family-run businesses, passed through generations, and most labor input in agriculture derives from members of the family. Often, small family farms turn to off-farm employment, and many more receive social welfare transfers (i.e. pensions). There is recognition that small farms make up an important share of total agricultural employment and play an important role in many rural economies particularly in more fragile and disadvantaged regions (EC, 2014). There is a call for research aimed at improving the understanding on the role of small farms and food businesses in food and nutrition security and their resilience to shocks in an increasingly complex and uncertain world (HLPE, 2013; FAO, 2006). The connections between family farming, small farms and food and nutrition security – in the dimensions of availability, access, utilization and stability – fairly documented in developing countries (Riesgo et al. 2016), and in new member states (Davidova, 2012), are recognized also by the European Commission (EC, 2014). This contribution develops within the H2020 research project SALSA, “Small farms, small food businesses and sustainable food and nutrition security”, which addresses the question: what is the distinctive role of small(er) farms in relation to food and nutrition security in different regions? This paper presents the conceptual framework adopted in the project and an illustration in one of the regions covered by the research.