Smallholders and small-scale agriculture: Mapping and visualization of knowledge domains and research trends

ABSTRACT

In research literature, the terms "small-scale-agriculture" and "smallholder-agriculture" (farming) cannot be clearly distinguished and are frequently used synonymously. Taking terminology of both versions, we examine relationships between textual and bibliographic elements, identify clusters of studies and research accents, as well as developments in time. Using information science methods (big data, bibliometrics/scientometrics, visualization program Vosviewer) in the citation database Scopus, we design Boolean search statement/query (emphasis on proximity operators), analyse terms in titles and s of articles, evaluate author networks (countries, co-authorship), keywords, and links between journals. Authors from developed and developing countries collaborate widely, with the US having the most co-authored articles, Germany having the most diverse current network, and Kenya being the strongest contributor among developing countries. Most articles are published by authors from Africa. There are also two smaller clusters representing Asia and the Americas. Three clusters of research priorities are evident 1) crop production (current focus crop yield), 2) livestock production (current focus diseases), and 3) environmental issues, vulnerability to climate change, sustainability, and socio-economic themes. Future trends (hot topics and research fronts) will increasingly focus on adaptation strategies, food security, gender (women), or human health (at the time of submission, there were already dozens of papers on Covid 19 and smallholder farmers). Many topics that used to be most covered by Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Scopus Subject Area) are now increasingly covered in Social Sciences journals, becoming a complex research field on its own, which should translate into support and funding for such studies.