Characteristics and attitudes of small-scale vegetable farmers in Chile

ABSTRACT: An adequate supply of fresh, high quality and accessible vegetables is essential for a healthy food system. In Latin America, these are mostly produced by smallholder farmers. The objective of this research was to characterize the productive and commercial development of small-scale vegetable growers and to further understand and explain their attitudes on their business. A total of 335 farmers in Central Chile area were surveyed. The data was processed using descriptive and multivariate techniques. Results showed that farmers have a positive self-assessment of their technical performance, production quality and the contribution of farming to their household income. They express uncertainty about the future, as well as some disappointment with the prices they receive for their produce and their access to public support programs. There are significant differences between farmers within the sample; however, which allow two distinct clusters to be identified: “conformist” (69.05%) and “critical” (30.95%). These results suggested that these small-scale vegetable growers have certain generalizable attitudes and other divergent. The differences in attitudes coincide with differences in objective characteristics, including age, education, farm size and technology.