Defining smallholders to monitor target 2.3. of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
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Despite the central position occupied by smallholder agriculture in the current development debate, a general and operational definition of smallholders still does not exist. The question “what is a small farm?” keeps receiving different answers depending on the context in which is posed. Alternative ways of defining smallholders reflect heterogeneous historical, institutional, eco-systemic contexts and depend upon what is the role of small-scale agriculture in the rural economy. A harmonized an d unique definition of smallholder agriculture still needs to be established and operationalized. This has become a pressing issue given the need to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which refers to the concept of smallholder in indicators 2.3.1 and 2.3.2. Within this context, this present paper reviews different approaches adopted in the literature to define small-scale food producers, and highlights pros and cons associated with each alternative. It identifies criteria to be c onsidered in a harmonized definition of this concept and reflects on the difference between absolute and relative approaches. Given the absence of a one-size-fits-all solution, the “right” definition will likely depend on the particular purposes of the analysis and the trade-off between completeness and feasibility.