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TWN Environment & Development Series no. 7 Small Farms as a Planetary Ecological Asset: Five Key Reasons Why We Should Support the Revitalisation of Small Farms in the Global South by Miguel A Altieri Publisher: TWN (ISBN: 978-983-2729-56-3) Year: 2008 No. of pages: 24 ABOUT THE BOOK Humanity is quickly realising that the fossil fuel-based, capital-intensive, industrial-agricultural model is not working to meet the global food demands. Soaring oil prices are increasing production costs and food prices, and the problem is aggravated by other factors such as farmland being turned from food production to biofuels and climate change reducing crop yields. This book argues that small, biodiverse, agroecologically managed farms in the global South are the only viable form of agriculture that will feed the world under the new ecological and economic scenario. Five reasons are given for supporting the maintenance and revitalisation of small farms: · Small farms are the key to the world's food security; · Small farms are more productive and resource-conserving than large-scale monocultures; · Small traditional and biodiverse farms represent models of sustainability; · Small farms represent a sanctuary of GMO-free agrobiodiversity; · Small farms cool the climate. ABOUT THE AUTHOR DR MIGUEL A ALTIERI is a Professor of Agroecology at the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Contents 1. INTRODUCTION 2. WHY WE SHOULD SUPPORT SMALL FARMS a) Small farms are the key to the world’s food security b) Small farms are more productive and resource-conserving than large-scale monocultures c) Small traditional and biodiverse farms present models of sustainability d) Small farms represent a sanctuary of GMO-free agrobiodiversity e) Small farms cool the climate