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

Bartol, Tomaž (author)

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 abstracts 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.

• Language: English
• Keywords: smallholder agriculture, science mapping, bibliometrics, visualization, climate change, food security, social issues, agriculture, environmental sciences, environmental studies, computer graphics, computer visualization, data preparation, data mining, development studies, environment, the developing world, regional geography, human geography, rural studies, information technology, research librarianship
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: 22 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 9, iss. 1, art. 2161778
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-143863
• UDC: 631
• ISSN on article: 2331-1886
• DOI: 10.1080/23311886.2022.2161778
• COBISS.SI-ID: 137842435
• Publication date in RUL: 16.01.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Cogent social sciences
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 2331-1886
• COBISS.SI-ID: 523039513

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: kmetijstvo, male kmetije, znanstveno kartiranje, bibliometrija, vizualizacija, klimatske spremembe, prehranska varnost, socialni problemi

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P4-0085
• Name: Agroekosistemi