Summary
This paper addresses the challenge of farm typology construction by developing a generalised framework that clarifies and quantifies the subjective decisions inherent in categorising diverse smallholder farming systems, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors have encapsulated this framework in an open-source RShiny application (TypologyGenerator) to support researchers and practitioners in designing sampling schemes, targeting interventions, and scaling agricultural research without requiring deep technical expertise in implementation. This contribution improves transparency and reproducibility in farm typology development, a fundamental tool for understanding farming system diversity.
UK applicability
Whilst developed for sub-Saharan African contexts, the generalised framework and TypologyGenerator tool may be applicable to UK farm classification and targeting of agri-environmental schemes or research, though UK farm structure and data availability differ substantially from smallholder contexts.
Key measures
Subjective decision points in farm typology construction; impact of methodological choices on typology outcomes; usability of the TypologyGenerator tool
Outcomes reported
The study presents a generalised framework for constructing farm typologies and quantifies the impact of subjective decisions on resulting typologies. The framework has been operationalised in an open-source RShiny application (TypologyGenerator) to facilitate consistent typology development.
Topic tags
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