Review and Synthesis of Sustainable Land Management on Small Family Farms in Developing Countries

Abstract

Despite efforts to restore land and fight food insecurity, sustainable land management (SLM) technologies are not yet widely adopted in developing countries. This article reviews and synthesizes studies that have been conducted in developing countries over the last few decades. A total of 145 documents were used in this synthesis. A key finding of this paper is the identification of a theoretical gap that provides information for future studies on SLM practices.

Another one is that, studies focusing on adoption in this synthesis have not considered awareness of technology as a key part of the adoption process. Most econometric studies focus on econometric regression and consider SLM adoption as a dichotomous choice. The use of mathematical models such as existing dynamic Discrete Stochastic Programming (DSP) models could provide more robust results to overcome this limitation observed in statistical regression results. Additionally, it would be interesting to analyze smallholder farmers’ preferences for SLM practices because very little is currently known about their preferences.