Fourteenth International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses

Abstract

Most of the world’s farmers and the land they own are classified as small-scale (<2 hectares). Small-scale farmers produce enough food to feed the world. The vast majority of small-scale farmers live in developing nations, however, this population is faced with some of the highest rates of malnutrition. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Number 2 is slotted to remedy the issue of the future of world hunger in the face of climate impacts. In addition, SDG 2.4.1 was developed to significantly increase the amount of sustainable agriculture. Despite this, the methodologies used to create the indicators under this goal do not mention small-scale farmer narratives, specific data, or management practices. Successful participatory sustainable development models point to bilateral approaches to indicator production. In this study, I investigate: 1) the importance of small-scale farmers for the success of international sustainable agriculture policy and 2) exploring new methods of participatory sustainable development as it relates to land management.