Five in six of the world's farms are smaller than two hectares and together grow about a third of its food, yet many of the people who run them earn too little from farming to escape poverty or invest in coping with a changing climate.
Updated October 15, 2026. Written from the sources listed below, not independently peer-reviewed.
Farms smaller than two hectares make up about five in six of all farms in the world. What share of the world's agricultural land do they operate?
608 million
Family farms worldwide
More than 608 million family farms. About 84% of all farms are smaller than two hectares, and about 70% are smaller than one hectare. Estimate from national agricultural census data, published in 2021.
Data year 2021. Source: FAO, 2021
About 35%
Share of the world's food grown on farms under 2 hectares
Grown on only around 12% of the world's agricultural land. Family farms of all sizes produce about 80% of the world's food in value terms. Estimate published in 2021.
Data year 2021. Source: FAO, 2021
0.8%
Share of climate finance reaching small-scale agrifood systems
USD 5.53 billion of USD 660.2 billion in tracked climate finance in 2019/20, 44% less than in 2017/18.
Data year 2020. Source: Climate Policy Initiative, 2023
Modelled ILO estimates published by the World Bank; recent years rely more on modelling and are revised with each release. The figure covers agriculture, forestry and fishing and includes wage workers and large farms, so it shows how many livelihoods depend on the sector, not how small farmers are faring. Agriculture still employed about one in four workers worldwide in 2025.
SDG target 2.3 calls for doubling the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers by 2030, especially women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers. The UN SDG Report 2026 does not say whether the world is on track: only 25 countries had data on both productivity and income, and in most low- and middle-income countries with data both remain low.
Land is very unevenly divided. The 70% of farms that are smaller than one hectare operate only about 7% of the world's farmland, while the largest 1% of farms, those over 50 hectares, operate more than 70% of it.
Source: FAO, 2021In many of the countries that report SDG indicator 2.3.2, small-scale food producers earn less than USD 1,250 a year from farming (2017 PPP), under a quarter of what larger producers earn.
Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2026In five countries with data, four of them in Africa, farm units headed by women produced more per worker than those headed by men, but their incomes were still lower, often by a wide margin.
Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2026Indonesia's 2023 agricultural census counted 28.4 million farm households, 8.7% more than in 2013, while the number of individual farm holdings fell by 7.5% to 29.3 million. Farmers aged 19 to 39 made up only about 22% of all farmers.
Source: BPS-Statistics Indonesia, 2023Each country is shaded by its latest available value, so you can see where the gap is widest. Hover or tap a country, search for one, or open the full table.
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A context indicator, not a measure of small farmers' incomes: darker shades mark countries where more livelihoods depend on agriculture, which in low- and middle-income countries is mostly small-scale farming. Modelled ILO estimates; latest year available per country, 2025 for almost all (years can differ). Includes wage workers and large farms.
Source: ILO modelled estimates, via World Bank Open Data. Latest year available per country; years differ.
Values load from World Bank Open Data. Simplified Natural Earth borders; they imply no position on disputed territories.
Instead of one “percent solved” score, DO GOOD rates three separate dimensions. A problem can have mature solutions that still reach too few people. These ratings are an editorial reading of the sources on this page, not a measured index.
Has the situation improved in the real world?
LowIn most low- and middle-income countries with data, small-scale producers still earn less than USD 2,500 a year from farming and their labour productivity remains far below that of larger farms. There is no evidence that incomes are on a path to doubling by 2030.
How mature and validated are the available solutions?
ModerateBetter seeds, irrigation, advisory services, producer organisations and secure land rights have raised yields and incomes in many settings. But results vary widely by context, and popular market-based tools such as certification show limited and mixed effects on household income.
How widely are effective solutions actually used?
LowSmall-scale agrifood systems received only 0.8% of tracked climate finance in 2019/20, and unmet financing needs of smallholder farmers have been estimated at USD 170 billion a year.
Global counts of farms rest on agricultural censuses of differing age and coverage, and estimates of small farms' share of food production differ between studies and methods. Only 25 countries have data on both SDG indicators for small-scale producers.
Official development flows to agriculture in developing countries rose by 42% between 2015 and 2024, but agriculture's share of government budgets fell over the same period, and there is no sign of the broad income gains that target 2.3 calls for.
Most of the world's farms are small: FAO counts more than 608 million family farms, and five in six of them cover less than two hectares. Together these small farms grow roughly a third of the world's food on about an eighth of its farmland, often with family labour, little machinery and few purchased inputs. Many of the people who run them are poor. In most low- and middle-income countries with data, small-scale food producers earn less than USD 2,500 a year from farming and produce less than USD 25 worth of output per day of work (both in 2017 purchasing power parity dollars). With so little income, a failed harvest, a price drop or an illness can force families to sell livestock or land, take children out of school or cut back on food.
Small producers face higher costs and risks than large farms on almost every front. Plots are often too small to support a family, land rights are insecure, buyers and input suppliers are few, and credit, insurance and advice are hard to obtain. Women who head farm households earn less than men even where they are more productive. Climate change adds droughts, floods and new pests, but only 0.8% of tracked climate finance in 2019/20 went to small-scale agrifood systems. SDG target 2.3 aims to double the productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers by 2030, yet so few countries collect the necessary data that progress towards it cannot be measured globally.
There is no single definition of a smallholder. Studies use farm size, the role of family labour or income, and the SDG framework combines several criteria. The main ways of measuring the group and its situation are:
Farm size
The simplest and most common measure counts farms below a fixed area, usually two hectares, using agricultural census data. It is easy to compare across countries but ignores differences in land quality, irrigation and crops: two hectares of irrigated vegetables are not the same as two hectares of dry grazing land.
Family farms
A family farm is run mainly by a household and relies mainly on family labour. Most family farms are small, but the category also includes many medium-sized and some large farms, so figures for family farms and small farms should not be mixed up.
SDG 2.3.1: labour productivity
The value of production per unit of labour, compared between small-scale and larger producers. FAO counts as small-scale those producers at the lower end of their own country's distributions of land, livestock and farm revenue, so the threshold differs from country to country.
SDG 2.3.2: income
The average annual income that small-scale food producers earn from agricultural production, broken down by sex of the household head and, where possible, indigenous status. Both SDG indicators need detailed farm or household surveys, which many countries do not carry out regularly.
What works
Advisers, farmer field schools and farmer-to-farmer training help producers adopt better seeds, soil and water management, pest control and post-harvest storage. Where services are well run and adapted to local conditions, they are among the most consistent drivers of higher yields and adoption of new practices.
Limits
Public extension systems in many countries are underfunded and reach few farmers, and women and remote households are reached least. Advice only pays off if farmers can afford the inputs and sell the extra harvest.
What works
By buying inputs together, pooling harvests and meeting quality standards, small farmers can lower costs, reach larger buyers and negotiate better prices. Cooperatives are also a common channel for credit, training and certification.
Limits
Many organisations depend on outside support, are captured by better-off members or collapse when prices fall. The poorest farmers and women often find it hardest to join and benefit.
What works
Formal or customary rights that are recorded and enforced give farmers a reason to invest in soil, trees and irrigation, and can serve as collateral. SDG target 2.3 names secure and equal access to land as a route to higher productivity and incomes.
Limits
Titling programmes are slow and costly, and if poorly designed they can push aside women, pastoralists and people with customary claims. Land rights alone do not overcome lack of capital or markets.
What works
Drought- and flood-tolerant varieties, small-scale irrigation, mulching, agroforestry and crop diversification can stabilise harvests and reduce losses in bad years, which matters because small farmers have few savings to fall back on.
Limits
Many practices raise yields only after several seasons or need up-front labour and cash. Climate finance for small-scale agrifood systems fell to 0.8% of tracked flows in 2019/20, so most farmers pay for adaptation themselves.
What works
Schemes such as Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and organic labels set minimum prices or premiums and production standards. A systematic review of 43 quantitative and 136 qualitative studies found that certification usually raises the prices farmers receive and their income from the certified crop.
Limits
The same review found no clear effect on total household income or on the wages of hired workers, the quality of studies varied, and results depended strongly on the context. Certification costs, and only part of a certified harvest is often sold on certified terms.
Promising, but not proven at scale. The stage shows how far each approach has come; it is not a recommendation.
Text messages, voice calls, radio and smartphone apps can deliver weather forecasts, price information and crop advice to many farmers at low cost per person. Effects on yields in trials are usually modest, and reaching farmers without phones, literacy or the local language remains difficult.
Insurance that pays out automatically when rainfall, satellite vegetation data or regional yields cross a threshold avoids costly farm-by-farm claims. Uptake without subsidies has been low, and farmers can suffer losses that the index does not record.
Some buyers of crops such as cocoa and coffee now estimate the income a farm family needs for a decent standard of living and use it to set prices, premiums or support programmes. Methods are still being developed, and evidence on whether incomes actually reach that level is limited.
Funds that combine public or philanthropic money with private investment aim to lower the risk of lending to small farmers and agricultural small businesses. Volumes remain small compared with an estimated USD 170 billion in unmet annual financing needs of smallholder farmers.
Coordination gap
The largest 1% of farms operate more than 70% of the world's farmland, while most families farm less than one hectare. Plots that are divided further with each generation are often too small to support a household from farming alone.
Implementation gap
Climate finance for small-scale agrifood systems fell 44% to USD 5.53 billion between 2017/18 and 2019/20, and smallholder farmers' unmet financing needs were estimated at USD 170 billion a year. Lenders see small, dispersed farms as risky and costly to serve.
Implementation gap
Governments spent a record USD 725 billion on agriculture in 2024, but agriculture's share of total public spending fell from 2.09% in 2015 to 1.83% in 2024, reducing money for research, extension, roads and irrigation.
Coordination gap
Most small farmers sell to a few traders or processors and have little say over prices, and they bear most of the risk of price falls and bad harvests. Standards and certification raise prices for certified crops but have not reliably raised total household income.
Technology gap
Much agricultural research, machinery and many digital tools are built for larger, commercial farms and crops. Affordable equipment, locally adapted varieties and advice suited to very small plots, mixed crops and livestock are less developed.
Knowledge gap
Only 25 countries have data on both the productivity and the income of small-scale food producers, and the UN notes that data limits prevent a more thorough regional analysis. Without regular farm surveys, governments cannot see whether policies are working.
Unresolved questions, not vetted breakthroughs. Answering any of them would change what is possible.
As economies grow, some small farms expand and many families move into other work. Which policies help those who stay in farming earn a decent living without leaving behind those who cannot grow or leave?
Across all 25 countries with data, higher productivity of small producers does not consistently go with higher income, although it does among the 13 African countries. Why, and what turns productivity gains into money in farmers' pockets?
Which buyer practices, such as long-term contracts, living income prices or shared ownership of processing, raise the total income of farm households, not just the price of one crop, and at what cost to buyers and consumers?
Which climate adaptation measures pay off fastest for farms of one or two hectares, and how can finance for them be delivered to millions of very small producers at reasonable cost?
Look for brands and retailers that publish who grows their coffee, cocoa, spices, rice or palm oil, what prices they pay and how they work with farmer groups. Labels are a start, but published sourcing information tells you more.
Fair-trade and similar labels can raise the price farmers get for certified crops. Their effect on whole-household income is mixed, so they complement rather than replace other support.
Donate to or volunteer with organisations that work through farmer cooperatives, women's groups or local advisory services and report on farmers' incomes, not only on trainings held or trees planted.
Ask how much of your country's development and climate finance reaches small-scale farmers directly, and whether it is rising or falling.
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FAO (news release on Lowder, Sánchez and Bertini, Which farms feed the world and has farmland become more concentrated?, World Development, 23 April 2021), published 2021
Most recent global estimate of the number and size of farms: more than 608 million family farms, 84% of farms under two hectares, their share of farmland (about 12%) and food production (about 35%), and land concentration in the largest 1% of farms.
United Nations Statistics Division (data from FAO and OECD), published 2026
Official SDG progress report. Source of the target 2.3 wording, productivity and income of small-scale food producers (indicators 2.3.1 and 2.3.2), the gap with larger producers and between women- and men-headed units, data coverage, and public spending and official flows to agriculture.
Climate Policy Initiative (22 November 2023), published 2023
Tracks climate finance to small-scale agrifood systems: USD 5.53 billion in 2019/20, 0.8% of all tracked climate finance and 44% less than in 2017/18; cites unmet financing needs of USD 170 billion a year for smallholder farmers.
Oya C, Schaefer F, Skalidou D. World Development 112 (2018) 282–312, doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.08.001, published 2018
Systematic review of 43 quantitative and 136 qualitative studies on certification schemes such as Fairtrade: higher prices and income from certified production, but no clear effect on total household income or workers' wages.
BPS-Statistics Indonesia (press release, 4 December 2023), published 2023
Indonesia's 2023 agricultural census: 28.4 million farm households (up 8.74% since 2013), 29.3 million individual farm holdings (down 7.45%) and 21.93% of farmers aged 19 to 39.
International Labour Organization, ILO Modelled Estimates database, via World Bank Open Data, published 2026
Global and country shares of employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 1991 to 2025. Used for the trend and the world map as context for how many livelihoods depend on farming.