Abstract

Accurate measurement of crop yields in smallholder farming systems, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, is a pressing issue for agricultural research. Despite the widespread use of crop yield data in farm research and policymaking, there are significant challenges in generating valuable and accurate data regarding quality, quantity, and reliability, particularly in sub-Saharan African agriculture. The methodological choice of different yield estimation approaches and their suitability for context-specific settings is also not well understood. This review addresses these gaps by providing a comprehensive and qualitative overview of widely applied yield estimation approaches for grains in smallholder agriculture and analysing their trade-offs and suitability for context-specific farming systems. Additionally, key factors influencing the accuracy and variability of yield estimates in smallholder farms are discussed. By analysing these factors, this paper provides valuable insights for establishing benchmarks in crop production within smallholder farming systems, which is essential for making informed recommendations and decisions in agricultural research. The findings of this review are crucial for informing agricultural research and guiding decision-making, thereby contributing to the improvement of smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.