Small-scale food producers in Manitoba may be oceans away from their counterparts in Africa, but they share a common need for extension services relevant to their size.

Extension has historically been pivotal to helping farmers keep abreast of the ever-changing dynamics of agricultural production.

Yet when it comes to getting information on how to produce food better, whether they are in it to feed themselves or their neighbours, small farmers fall through the cracks. Industry and government extension services are heavily tilted towards helping large farmers to improve productivity.

Of the world’s roughly 570 million farms, 0.1 per cent exceeding 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) manage half of all the world’s agricultural land to produce 16 per cent of the globe’s food energy. Farms of 124 acres or more grow 55 per cent of the world’s cereals, pulses, sugar and oilseed crops, the UN-FAO reports.