While many sources indicate that smallholder commodity farmers are poor, there is a lack of data on the number and the depth of poverty. Using datasets on smallholder cocoa and tea farmers in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Kenya, combined with existing literature, this paper finds that a large proportion of smallholders do not have the potential to earn a living income.

The paper finds that short- to medium-term interventions are most effective for improving the livelihoods of poor farmers, including food security and health, off-farm employment, and social assistance.