[2014] ESCOBAR, Germán y Manuel GLAVE. Latin America’s rural family farmers: evolutions in access to markets and rural income structure. ELLA. Economic development, Smallholder farmers and rural development, 1

In order to understand Latin America’s current experience with small-holder farming, it is helpful to understand two key changes in the region’s rural areas that have been evolving mainly over the past two decades: farmers’ increased access to markets and diversification of their income sources. This Brief takes a closer look at these two key evolutions, assessing the impact on small farmers and some of the driving forces, in particular by analysing the liberalisation policies of the 1990s and 2000s that played a strong role in driving forward these changes. It concludes by presenting some of the present policy priorities as well as some lessons learned based on the Latin American experience.