Farms of less than 1 ha globally account for more than 70% of all farms in the world. The vast majority of the world food is produced by small-scale family farms and are central to global food security. Therefore, an active discussion on sustainable approaches to increase efficiently the resilience of horticultural production systems operated by small-scale farmers is highly relevant. This workshop, co-organized by FAO and Cirad, invited panelists representing different geographic regions, climatic conditions, and cropping systems to share field experiences and knowledge on production and protection of vegetable crops to improve livelihoods of communities as well as on scaling approaches to achieve the SDGs for better production, nutrition, environment and life. A diverse group of panelists included farmers and extension agents, researchers, NGOs and policy makers, whereas the audience gathered horticulturalists, opinion leaders, funding agencies and policy makers. All took part to the discussion on creating an enabling environment for the adoption of context-specific and cost-effective technologies adapted to small-scale farmers. Field experiences and innovative approaches were openly discussed to understand how adaptation had been achieved and what challenges were overcome to ensure sustainability, like for example, income generation, environmental protection and social equity. The workshop concluded with a series of recommendations highlighting the necessity for research to target small-scale farmers in developing technologies and practices that overcome decreased yields and incomes. The main identified limiting factors to be addressed were climate extreme events, water scarcity, land degradation, pests and diseases, limited access to technical assistance, appropriate inputs, financial resources and markets.