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smallholder

smallholder

1 5.8
A person who farms a small piece of land, often with family help
  • noun
  • /ˈsmɔlˌhoʊldər/
  • UK
translation icon : pequeño agricultor
  • Cotton was then clearly a smallholder crop in the lower Sorocabana region, not an area of major coffee production.
  • smallholder farmers
  • smallholder production
  • smallholder agriculture

Examples

  • Mechanized irrigation is problematic for most smallholders, so they practice labor-intensive splash irrigation.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Estate owners were expropriated, and the land was distributed to smallholders or, in some cases, transferred to state farms.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Smallholder involvement was initiated in 1979, involving estate and smallholder schemes.

    Academic text (2000)
  • As many as 22,000 smallholders signed up, generally through regional associations.

    Academic text (2002)
  • For the most part, coffee production has helped smallholders in highland Costa Rica improve their lives and build better communities.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Thus, in both countries, agrarian reforms installed a mass of smallholders as the dominant force in the countryside.

    Academic text (1993)
  • But state policies have not always favored the smallholder in Costa Rica, nor have they done so uniformly throughout the country.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The disintegration of feudalism ushered in the advent of smallholder farming.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Many of the farmers involved in shifting their plots downslope are marginal smallholders.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Many smallholders depend on local markets to sell their fresh produce.

Synonyms

farmer
vssmallholder
898 1.0

A person who grows crops or raises animals on a farm

refers specifically to someone working a relatively small piece of farmland
small farmer
vssmallholder
9 2.0

A person who owns or works on a small farm to grow food

is the term for someone who owns or rents a very small plot
tenant farmer
vssmallholder
3 3.7

A farmer who rents land from a landowner instead of owning it

may own the land as well as renting or managing a small plot
crofter
vssmallholder
  • UK
1 9.4

A person who works a very small farm often in Scotland or northern England

is the general word not specific to that regional use
cropper
vssmallholder
1 7.5

A small farmer who grows and gathers food plants

emphasizes owning or renting and farming a small plot rather than only harvesting

How Big

landowner
42 2.5
farmer
898 1.0
smallholder
  • UK
1 5.8
landless
2 4.9

Surface Forms

smallholder singular
smallholders plural

Morphology

smallholder = small + holder (transparent) = small + holder

The word is a straightforward compound of 'small' + 'holder', so its meaning 'person who holds/owns a smallholding' is directly inferable.

Etymology

Smallholder comes from the simple parts small and holder, where holder means 'one who holds', so picture a person who 'holds' a small piece of land. That's why a smallholder is someone who owns or farms a small plot of land.