Böcker av Harold Brookfield

Presents a review of theoretical arguments about agricultural structures, and defines family farming. This book analyses the conditions of access to land and water, labour, livestock, tools and seed and reviews marketing arrangements and how they have changed since 1900. It explores issues of the farmer as steward of the environment.

Traces the evolution of ideas about world inequality and the problem of development from the days before the 'underdeveloped countries' were considered to be a major problem, through the years dominated by 'economic growth', to the more searching approaches of the contemporary era.

Small farmers are often viewed as engaging in wasteful practices that wreak ecological havoc. Exploring Agrodiversity sets the record straight: Small farmers are in fact ingenious and inventive and engage in a diverse range of land-management strategies, many of them resourcefully geared toward conserving resources, especially soil. They have shown considerable resilience in the face of major onslaughts against their way of life by outsiders and government.Using case studies from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific, this book provides in-depth analysis of agricultural diversity and explores its history. The book also considers the effect of the "e;gene revolution"e; on small farmers and reviews the effects of the "e;green revolution"e; in Asian countries. In conclusion, it questions whether the diverse agricultural practices employed by small farmers can survive modern pressures and the global ambitions of the biotechnology industry.