How Do Smallholders Cope with Food Price Changes? Insights from a Qualitative Case Study in North-Western Bangladesh

Abstract

Small-scale producers of agricultural goods are becoming more and more involved in global commodity chains. Increasing and more volatile food prices are major challenges for smallholders who play a key role in achieving food security in many countries of the Global South but at the same time suffer from food insecurity themselves. Paradoxically, small-scale producers cannot fully benefit from increasing food prices as the global food price crisis 2007/08 showed. This paper aims to provide some initial insights into smallholder households’ decision-making in their dual role as consumers and producers of food in the light of food price changes and changing market conditions. It presents the empirical results of twelve Focus Group Discussions with smallholder farmers in four villages around Rajshahi City in North-Western Bangladesh, and the findings of additional expert interviews.