This detailed and original study of early-modern agrarian society in the Somerset Levels examines the small landholders in a group of sixteen contiguous parishes in the area known as Brent Marsh. These were farmers with lifehold tenures and a mixed agricultural production whose activities and outlook are shown to be very different from that of the small 'peasant' farmers of so many general histories. Patricia Croot challenges the idea that small farmers failed to contribute to the productivity and commercialization of the early-modern economy. While the emergence of large capitalist farms was an important development, these added to the production of existing small cultivators, rather than replacing them. The idea that only large-scale, specialized farmers were involved in agricultural progress, or that their contribution alone was enough to account for the great increase in food production by the late 17th century is questioned; small farmers continued to make a living, contributed to the market, and survived alongside the new, bigger farms. Croot's in-depth study not only adds to our knowledge of agrarian society generally, but shows that far from being backward and interested primarily in subsistence farming, small producers in this area sought profit in making the best use of their resources, however limited, being flexible in their production and growing new or unusual crops. The main land tenures, copy and lease for lives, are also covered in detail, contributing to current debates on landholding and sub-tenancy. The author shows the uses to which lifehold tenures could be put, resulting in the increasing financial strength of copyholders and their dominance in local society. The effects of the tenure and profits of farming can be seen in the way that families were provided for, as well as in the roles that women played and the responsibility they had in economic and social life, while the wider interests of the inhabitants are shown in their religious and political engagement in events of the 17th century. Patricia Croot's meticulous study is a valuable contribution to English agrarian history, and in particular to the history of this under-researched region.
Either we have a small farm future, or we face collapse and extinction."—Vandana Shiva "Every young person should read this book."—Richard Heinberg In a groundbreaking debut, farmer and social scientist Chris Smaje argues that ...
Patricia Croot challenges the idea that small farmers failed to contribute to the productivity and commercialization of the early-modern economy.
This volume provides information on what can be done to increase the well-being and productivity of the small farmer in the Third World, focusing on design and implementation of rural development projects in the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, ...
His simply written chronicle — one of the most popular books of its time — emphasizes that agricultural success depends not on how much you grow but on what and how.
The Future of Small Farms for Poverty Reduction and Growth
A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.
Winner of the Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize 2019 selection for the One Book One Nebraska and All Iowa state reading programs "Genoways gives the reader a kitchen-table view of the vagaries, complexities, and ...
Small Farmer Development in Asia and the Pacific: Some Lessons for Strategy Formulation and Planning
This book begins by reviewing theoretical arguments about agricultural structures, and defines family farming. This is followed by five vignettes about farming in the first half of the twentieth century.
A Revolution Down on the Farm evaluates farming in the twenty-first century and offers a distinctive meditation on alternatives to the present large scale, mechanized, subsidized, and natural resource-dependent system.Paul K. Conkin, ...