Sustainable Intensification in Smallholder Agriculture
An integrated systems research approach
Earthscan Food and Agriculture Series

Sustainable intensification has recently been developed and adopted as a key concept and driver for research and policy in sustainable agriculture. It includes ecological, economic and social dimensions, where food and nutrition security, gender and equity are crucial components. This book describes different aspects of systems research in agriculture in its broadest sense, where the focus is moved from farming systems to livelihoods systems and institutional innovation.

Much of the work represents outputs of the three CGIAR Research Programs on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics, Aquatic Agricultural Systems and Dryland Systems. The chapters are based around four themes: the conceptual underpinnings of systems research; sustainable intensification in practice; integrating nutrition, gender and equity in research for improved livelihoods; and systems and institutional innovation.

While most of the case studies are from countries and agro-ecological zones in Africa, there are also some from Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

1. Integrated Systems Research for sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Agriculture Ingrid Ӧborn, Bernard Vanlauwe, Kwesi Atta-Krah, Richard Thomas, Michael Phillips and Marc Schut Part 1: Conceptual Underpinnings of Systems Research 2. Systems Research for Agricultural Development: Past, Present and Future David Norman and Kwesi Atta-Krah 3. Systems Science at the Scale of Impact: Reconciling Bottom up Participation with the Production of Widely Applicable Research Outputs Fergus L. Sinclair 4. Understanding African Farming Systems as a Basis for Sustainable Intensification Dennis Garrity, John Dixon and Jean-Marc Boffa 5. Does Sustainable Intensification Offer a Pathway to Improved Food Security for Aquatic Agricultural System-dependent Communities? Simon Attwood, Sarah Park, Jacqueline Loos, Michael Phillips, David Mills and Cynthia McDougall 6. What Works Where for Which Farm Household: Rapid Approaches to Food Availability Analysis Randall S. Ritzema, Romain Frelat, James Hammond and Mark T. van Wijk 7. Approaches to Operationalizing Integrated Systems Research Hervé D. Bisseleua and Ann Degrande 8. Systems Thinking: Towards Transformation in Praxis and Situations Bernard Hubert and Ray Ison 9. Foresight for Institutional Innovation and Change in Agricultural Systems: Three Examples Marie de Lattre-Gasquet, Bernard Hubert and Joost Vervoort 10. Exploring Futures of Aquatic Agricultural Food Systems in Southern Africa: From Drivers to Future-smart Research and Policy Options Ranjitha Puskur, Sarah Park, Robin Bourgeois, Emma Hollows, Sharon Suri and Michael Phillips Part 2: Sustainable Intensification in Practice 11. System Productivity and Natural Resource Integrity in Smallholder Farming: Friends or Foes? Bernard Vanlauwe, Edmundo Barrios, Tim Robinson, Piet Van Asten, Shamie Zingore and Bruno Gérard 12. Using Local Knowledge to Understand Challenges and Opportunities for Enhancing Agricultural Productivity in Western Kenya Mary Mutemi, Maureen Njenga, Genevieve Lamond, Anne Kuria, Ingrid Öborn, Jonathan Muriuki and Fergus L. Sinclair 13. Exploring Options for Sustainable Intensification through Legume Integration in Different Farm Types in Eastern Zambia Carl Timler, Mirja Michalscheck, Stéphanie Alvarez, Katrien Descheemaeker and Jeroen C.J. Groot 14. Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Agriculture in Northwest Vietnam: Exploring the Potential of Integrating Vegetables To Thi Thu Ha, Pepijn Schreinemachers, Fenton Beed, Jaw-Fen Wang, Nguyen Thi Tan Loc, Le Thi Thuy, Dang Thi Van, Ramasamy Srinivasan, Peter Hanson and Victor Afari-Sefa 15. Improved Grain Legumes for Smallholder Maize-based Systems in Western Kenya Paul L. Woomer, Bonface Omondi, Celister Kaleha and Moses Chamwada Part 3: Integrating Nutrition, Gender and Equity in Research for Improved Livelihoods 16. Balancing Agrifood Systems for Optimal Global Nutrition Transition Linley Chiwona-Karltun, Leif Hambraeus and Friederike Bellin-Sesay 17. Nutrition-sensitive Landscapes: Approach and Methods to Assess Food Availability and Diversification of Diets Gina Kennedy, Jessica Raneri, Celine Termote, Verena Nowak, Roseline Remans, Jeroen C.J. Groot and Shakuntala H. Thilsted 18. Integrated Systems Research in Nutrition-sensitive Landscapes: A Theoretical Methodological Framework Jeroen C.J. Groot, Gina Kennedy, Roseline Remans, Natalia Estrada-Carmona, Jessica Raneri, Fabrice DeClerck, Stéphanie Alvarez, Nester Mashingaidze, Carl Timler, Minke Stadler, Trinidad del Rio Mena, Lummina Horlings, Inge Brouwer, Steven M. Cole and Katrien Descheemaeker 19. Gender and Systems Research: Leveraging Change Cynthia McDougall 20. Gender Norms and Agricultural Innovation: Insights from Uganda Anne Rietveld 21. Gender Transformative Approaches in Agricultural Innovation: The Case of the Papa Andina Initiative in Peru Silvia Sarapura Escobar, Helen Hambly Odame and Amare Tegbaru Part 4: Systems and Institutional Innovation 22. What Kinds of ‘Systems’ are we Dealing With? Implications for Systems Research and Scaling Cees Leeuwis and Seerp Wigboldus 23. How can External Interventions Build on Local Innovations? Lessons from an Assessment of Innovation Experiences in African Smallholder Agriculture Bernard Triomphe, Anne Floquet, Brigid Letty, Geoffrey Kamau, Conny Almekinders and Ann Waters-Bayer 24. Constraints and Opportunities in Using Multi-stakeholder Processes to Implement Integrated Agricultural Systems Research: the Humidtropics Case Lisa Hiwasaki, Latifou Idrissou, Chris Okafor and Rein van der Hoek 25. Learning System for Agricultural Research for Development (LESARD): Documenting, Reporting, and Analysis of Performance Factors in Multi-stakeholder Processes Murat Sartas, Marc Schut and Cees Leeuwis

Ingrid Öborn is Regional Coordinator for Southeast Asia at ICRAF, The World Agroforestry Centre, Bogor, Indonesia, and Professor of Agricultural Cropping Systems at the Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.

BernardVanlauwe is R4D Director for the Central Africa hub and the Natural Resource Management Research Area of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nairobi, Kenya.

MichaelPhillips is Director of the Sustainable Aquaculture Program at WorldFish, Penang, Malaysia.

RichardThomas is Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Drylands Systems at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman, Jordan.

Willemien Brooijmans is a rural development sociologist and a consultant at Humidtropics, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria.

Kwesi Atta-Krah is Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics) at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria.