Intensity of commercialization and the dimensions of food security: the case of smallholder farmers in rural Tanzania
Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies
ISSN: 2044-0839
Article publication date: 18 May 2020
Issue publication date: 29 September 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Transformation of smallholder agriculture from subsistence to more commercially-oriented production is one of the strategies advocated for improving rural households' food security and general welfare. The purpose of this paper is to assess potential differential effects of smallholder commercialization intensity on the different dimensions of food security.
Design/methodology/approach
Using household data from rural Tanzania, the study employed Tobit regression and Generalized Propensity Score (GPS) approaches to analyze smallholder commercialization intensity and associated food security effects.
Findings
Results show that smallholder commercialization has heterogeneous effects on the different dimensions of food security. Specifically, lower levels of commercialization are associated with lower food availability, access, utilization and stability. At higher intensities of commercialization, smallholders have higher food availability and access but modest improvements in food utilization and stability. Findings suggests that heterogeneous effects of commercialization on food security and the multi-dimensional nature of food security are important aspects to consider in the design of strategies to improve smallholder agriculture for enhanced food security and welfare.
Research limitations/implications
It is important to point out that while food security is still a complex phenomenon, one that cannot be analyzed easily, so is commercialization. This study has used only one of the many definitions of commercialization.
Originality/value
Most existing literature on smallholder commercialization groups farmers into commercial and subsistence-oriented households. However, smallholders commercialize at various levels of intensity. This paper, conversely, analyzes the potential effects of different levels of commercialization on the various aspects of food security. Further, unlike extensive literature that focus on a narrow definition of food security, this paper expands the evidence of the implications of smallholder commercialization on the different dimensions of food security namely, food availability, access, utilization and stability.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support from the research project Trans-Sec (www.trans-sec.org) and would like to thank the Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade—Hannover, Germany and Ardhi University—Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for administrative and technical support provided in the course of writing the manuscript.Corrigendum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the authors of the article “Intensity of commercialization and the dimensions of food security: the case of smallholder farmers in rural Tanzania”, Luitfred Kissoly, Anja Fasse and Ulrike Grote (2020), published in the Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, Vol. 10 No. 5, submitted an author name incorrectly. The correct name for the author Grote Ulrike is Ulrike Grote. This error has now been corrected in the online version of the article. The authors sincerely apologise for this.
Citation
Kissoly, L., Fasse, A. and Grote, U. (2020), "Intensity of commercialization and the dimensions of food security: the case of smallholder farmers in rural Tanzania", Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 731-750. https://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-06-2019-0088
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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