Modelling the effect of household composition on the welfare of limited-resource farmers in Coastal Cañete, Peru

Family composition and its changes over time are believed to have a major impact on the welfare and sustainability of small-scale, limited resource farm households. In order to understand and test the effects of household composition on overall farm household well-being, a simulation model was developed based on information from 60 small farms from the Coastal Cañete Valley, Peru. The model accounts dynamically for the birth, age and death of household members and for crop, livestock, and economic activities. A representative farm with ten scenarios representing the range of household composition was simulated. Results in 10, 20 and 40-year runs showed that family composition has a large influence on economic stress. Families with fewer members were economically better off after 10, 20, and even 40 years. With more young or very old members, the expenses and consumption requirements exceeded the benefits from the additional labor, and debt was greater and of longer duration. Changing prices and yields across their observed ranged of variability influenced simulated financial position, but not the ranking of results among household composition scenarios.