A scoping review on the impacts of smallholder agriculture production on food and nutrition security: Evidence from Ethiopia context

Abstract Background Currently, food and nutrition insecurity are global challenges. Millions of people are still suffering from this problem in Ethiopia. Smallholder farmers that dominated the agricultural sector in most developing countries like Ethiopia are deemed as one avenue to address such challenges. The purpose of this review was, therefore, to scrutinize the impact of smallholder agriculture production on food and nutrition security from Ethiopian context. Empirical studies were retrieved through electronic databases and the backward searching mechanism in which the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flowchart were used to select the empirical studies and to report the review results. Results The finding of the review indicated that, smallholder farmer plays a decisive role in an effort towards improving food and nutrition security through either directly as sources food and/ or indirectly provides means and mechanisms to access the required food type at different level. Furthermore, it is found that, female contributed more in securing food and nutrition status of households compared to their male counterparts. Yet, both male and female smallholder farmers are faced different challenges including lack of access to agricultural infrastructures and facilities, plant and animal disease, and gender- based difference on access to and control over productive resources. Conclusion and recommendation. Given the contributions of smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia, there is a need to strengthen capacity of female and male smallholder farmers through provision of gender responsive agricultural advisory services and credit services tailored to the local context as options in improving food and nutrition security in Ethiopia.