Doctoral Dissertation Research: Medium-scale farming systems and agricultural entrepreneuership

This doctoral dissertation research investigates the role and emergence of medium-scale farms (3-50 hectares in size) in agricultural transformation. In particular this project examines the emergence and influence of investor farmers. Investor farmers are actors that do not reside on-farm and for whom farming is a financial investment rather than an occupation or mode of subsistence. This disconnect between farm and residence may result in different farm management strategies compared to farms where the owner resides on-farm. Using a combination of interviews and archival research this research project investigates how and whether investor farmers are influencing the development of commercial agriculture in places where more traditional farming systems persist. The project advances the understanding of changing rural-urban relationships, the role of investor farmers in shaping farming systems, and the development of rural areas. The project investigates how urban-based, medium-scale investor farmers are influencing processes of agrarian change. The amount of land occupied by medium-scale farms has been increasing in many regions of the world, a process that is commonly driven by urban residents seeking financial returns through agricultural investments that they manage from afar. While investor farmers are often recognized as drivers of innovation and entrepreneurship, their actual role in transforming farming systems and advancing agricultural commercialization is unclear. A mixed methods approach is applied including semi-structured interviews with investor farmers, farm managers, landowners and government officials. Oral life histories of investor farmers are employed to understand the pathways by which investor farmers become central actors in land acquisition and agricultural transformation. Archival research of NGO reports, government reports and newspaper articles is used to identify how the process of agricultural transformations are represented by different actors and in varying outlets. All data are coded for semantic analysis using NVIVO. Given global population growth trends and the continued reliance on agriculture as a vehicle of economic development, the increasing control of rural agricultural land by investor farmers has significant implications for the future of agricultural production. This research project contributes to an understanding of the role of medium-scale farm investors and their contribution to food security, rural-urban inequalities, and economic development. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.