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A smallholding is a small farm. In third world countries, smallholdings are usually farms supporting a single family with a mixture of cash crops and subsistence farming. As a country becomes more affluent and farming practices become more efficient, smallholdings may persist as a legacy of historical land ownership practices. In more affluent societies, smallholdings may be valued primarily for the rural lifestyle that they provide for the owners, who often do not earn their livelihood from the farm. There are an estimated 500 million smallholder farms in the world, supporting almost 2 billion people.〔International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD): http://www.ifad.org/operations/food/farmer.htm〕 Today some companies try to include smallholdings into their value chain, providing seed, feed or fertilizer to improve production. Some say that this model shows benefits for both parties. ==Smallholdings in Britain== In British English usage, a smallholding is a piece of land and its adjacent living quarters for the smallholder and stabling for farm animals. It is usually smaller than a farm but larger than an allotment, usually under . It is often established for breeding farm animals organically on free-range pastures. Alternatively, the smallholder may concentrate on growing vegetables by traditional methods or, in a more modern way, using plastic covers, Polytunneling or cloches for quick growth. Generally, a smallholding offers its owner a means of achieving self-sufficiency for their family's needs. They may be able to supplement their income by selling surplus produce at a farmers market or at a permanent shop on the smallholding. In a separate development, so-called ''pick-your-own'' farms have appeared over the years near towns, which in type of management belong more to the category of smallholdings than to farms. ''Pick your own Strawberries'' were pioneered in the UK by Ted Moult in 1961. This kind of business usually consists of a large field which has been subdivided into areas for fruit trees, shrubs, or various vegetables which ripen in different seasons. The smallholder maintains the gardens, and the consumers pay to harvest their own produce. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「smallholding」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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