Environmental and Socioeconomic Drivers Influencing Agriculture Development among Smallholder Farmers in Ecuador

Abstract

Understanding smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate change, technology, association involvement, and government policy, including its indicators, impacts, and impediments, is critical for promoting sustainable agriculture. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the most significant social and environmental factors restricting the agricultural development of small farmers in terms of credit facilities and government subsidies. The agriculture area of Colon (Ecuador) was selected for a stakeholder analysis to identify and assess the priority, needs, goals and requirements of key people regarding agriculture and environmental management. Besides, a logistic regression model was applied to estimate the effect of social and environmental independent variables on credit facilities and government benefits. According to results, smallholder farmers face many challenges, but targeted policy development, supporting the perception of climate change, and enhancing access to markets can help them overcome these obstacles.