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Malnutrition linked to poor quality diets affects at least 2 billion people. Forests, as well as agricultural systems linked to trees, are key sources of dietary diversity in rural settings. In the present article, we develop conceptual links between diet diversity and forested landscape mosaics within the rural tropics. First, we summarize the state of knowledge regarding diets obtained from forests, trees, and agroforests. We then hypothesize how disturbed secondary forests, edge habitats, forest access, and landscape diversity can function in bolstering dietary diversity. Taken together, these ideas help us build a framework illuminating four pathways (direct, agroecological, energy, and market pathways) connecting forested landscapes to diet diversity. Finally, we offer recommendations to fill remaining knowledge gaps related to diet and forest cover monitoring. We argue that better evaluation of the role of land cover complexity will help avoid overly simplistic views of food security and, instead, uncover nutritional synergies with forest conservation and restoration.

Dairy development provides substantial potential economic opportunities for smallholder farmers in East Africa, but productivity is constrained by the scarcity of quantity and quality feed. Ruminant livestock production is also associated with negative environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air pollution, high water consumption, land-use change, and loss of biodiversity. Improved livestock feeding and forages have been highlighted as key entry point to sustainable intensification, increasing food security, and decreasing environmental trade-offs including GHG emission intensities. In this perspective article, we argue that farming systems approaches are essential to understand the multiple roles and impacts of forages in smallholder livelihoods. First, we outline the unique position of forages in crop-livestock systems and systemic obstacles to adoption that call for multidisciplinary thinking. Second, we discuss the importance of matching forage technologies with agroecological and socioeconomic contexts and niches, and systems agronomy that is required. Third, we demonstrate the usefulness of farming systems modeling to estimate multidimensional impacts of forages and for reducing agro-environmental trade-offs. We conclude that improved forages in East Africa are at a crossroads: if adopted by farmers at scale, they can be a cornerstone of pathways toward sustainable livestock systems in East Africa.

Own production contributes much of the food supply in smallholder production systems in low‐ and middle‐income countries like Ethiopia. Understanding the potential as well as constraints of these production systems in terms of nutrient supplies is thus a critical step to design interventions to improve nutrient intakes. The objectives of this study were (1) to assess the usual total intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc among rural children and (2) to investigate whether the intakes these nutrients are associated with differences in the dominant farming systems between spatial clusters. Using nationally representative intake data of 4,902 children 6–35 months of age, usual intake and the proportion of inadequate intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc were calculated. A multi‐level model was used to examine the association between individual‐level and cluster‐level variables with the usual total dietary intakes of these nutrients. The diet was dominated by starchy foods. Consumption of animal source foods, vitamin A‐rich fruits and vegetables was low. We found a high prevalence of inadequate intake of vitamin A and zinc (85.4% and 49.5%, respectively). Relatively, low prevalence of inadequate intake of iron (8.4%) was reported. The spatial farming systems diversity across the rural clusters explained 48.2%, 57.2% and 26.7% of the observed variation in the usual total dietary intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc, respectively. Our findings indicated the importance of farming system diversity at the landscape level as one of the determinant factors for individual usual total dietary intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc.

To increase understanding of agricultural intensification processes over time and their sustainability, we studied dimensions of sustainability in the context of ongoing expansion of intensive, commercial mono-cropping of banana in Southwestern Uganda. In our approach we considered five dimensions of sustainability: economic, agricultural productivity, environment, social and human. We compared farming systems in 1998 and 2018 and integrated a gender lens. A total of four focus group discussions, two group interviews and fifteen individual interviews (8m / 7f) were conducted, complemented with a discourse analysis of newspaper articles. Results show that although intensification of banana production increased the average income level indicating improvement in the economic dimension, it did not yield sustainable outcomes in the other dimensions. The integrated analysis of five dimensions of sustainability illuminated aspects often neglected in assessment studies or policy-making around agricultural intensification, in particular socio-economic and gender dynamics. We further recognized that the observed local trends are part of a set of patterns that take place throughout the world. We conclude that to advance sustainable development, stakeholders should move away from the current over-emphasis on economic values prioritizing the individual, and that avoiding patterns of unsustainable development requires broadening to environmental and community values.

Due to complexity of smallholder farms, many times technologies with great potential fail to achieve the desired impact in leveraging productivity and profitability of the farming community. In the Indo-Gangetic Plains there is an urgent need to understand the diversity of farm households, identifying the main drivers deciding their system thus, classifying them into homogenous groups. In the present study, the diversity of smallholder farms was assessed using crop, livestock and income related characteristics and associated farm mechanization. Using principal component analysis and cluster analysis for 252 farm households, 4 farm types were identified i.e. Type 1. Small Farm households with cereal-based cropping system and subsistence livestock (39%), Type 2. Small Farm households with diversified cropping system dominated by cereal and fodder crops with only cattle herd (9%), Type 3. Marginal Farm household with diversified cropping system dominated by cash crop and herd comprising of only cattle (39%), Type 4. Marginal Farm household with diversified cropping system dominated by cereal crops and herd dominated by small ruminants (12%). Based on the constraints identified for different components of farming systems, low-cost interventions were planned for each farm type. These interventions have resulted in 84.8–103.2 per cent increase in the income of the farm HH under study suggesting usefulness of typology-based intervention planning in increasing income of small farm holders.

Assessing progress towards healthier people, farms and landscapes through nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) requires transdisciplinary methods with robust models and metrics. Farm-household models could facilitate disentangling the complex agriculture-nutrition nexus, by jointly assessing performance indicators on different farm system components such as farm productivity, farm environmental performance, household nutrition, and livelihoods. We, therefore, applied a farm-household model, FarmDESIGN, expanded to more comprehensively capture household nutrition and production diversity, diet diversity, and nutrient adequacy metrics. We estimated the potential contribution of an NSA intervention targeting the diversification of home gardens, aimed at reducing nutritional gaps and improving livelihoods in rural Vietnam. We addressed three central questions: (1) Do ‘Selected Crops’ (i.e. crops identified in a participatory process) in the intervention contribute to satisfying household dietary requirements?; (2) Does the adoption of Selected Crops contribute to improving household livelihoods (i.e. does it increase leisure time for non-earning activities as well as the dispensable budget)?; and (3) Do the proposed nutrition-related metrics estimate the contribution of home-garden diversification towards satisfying household dietary requirements? Results indicate trade-offs between nutrition and dispensable budget, with limited farm-household configurations leading to jointly improved nutrition and livelihoods. FarmDESIGN facilitated testing the robustness and limitations of commonly used metrics to monitor progress towards NSA. Results indicate that most of the production diversity metrics performed poorly at predicting desirable nutritional outcomes in this modelling study. This study demonstrates that farm-household models can facilitate anticipating the effect (positive or negative) of agricultural interventions on nutrition and the environment, identifying complementary interventions for significant and positive results and helping to foresee the trade-offs that farm-households could face. Furthermore, FarmDESIGN could contribute to identifying agreed-upon and robust metrics for measuring nutritional outcomes at the farm-household level, to allow comparability between contexts and NSA interventions.

Agricultural techniques and technologies that could foster sustainable intensification of farming (hereafter: SI practices) can originate from existing farm practices, from the adoption of externally suggested new practices, or from an adaptation of existing or new practices. The rate at which farmers use SI practices is often low and influenced by on-farm biophysical and socio-economic conditions. There is a narrow understanding of the role of motivations and the balance between external incentives and intrinsic motivations for use of SI practices. We analysed the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations among 246 sampled households alongside the perceived benefits and constraints from SI practices in five districts of Malawi and Tanzania. Our results showed that farmer decisions were not exclusively dependent on external incentives, but also on intrinsic values which farmers attach to their production resources and farming practices. Despite various benefits perceived, farmers highlighted the lack of financial resources as a major constraint to the use of externally proposed SI practices. While we hypothesized that intrinsic motivation would be much stronger than extrinsic in influencing decisions to use SI practices, our results demonstrated equal importance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in influencing the number of SI practices which smallholder farmers used. We suggest explicitly addressing both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in further research in combination with socio-economic and biophysical variables to give a better reflection of what drives farmers’ decisions to use more sustainable farming practices. We argue that the design of SI research programs should support motivations of diversified farmers to participate in such programs. Emphasising farmers’ autonomy, a key to intrinsic motivation, can stimulate ownership of SI projects and smoothen the process of adoption, adaptation and use of SI practices by farmers, and is expected to reduce the mismatch between proposed practices and farmers’ expectations.

Appreciating and dealing with the plurality of farmers’ perceptions and their contextual knowledge and perspectives of the functioning and performance of their agroecosystems— in other words, their ‘mental models’—is central for appropriate and sustainable agricultural development. In this respect, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) aim to eradicate poverty and food insecurity by 2030 by envisioning social inclusivity that incorporates the preferences and knowledge of key stakeholders, including farmers. Agricultural development interventions and policies directed at sustainable intensification (SI), however, do not sufficiently account for farmers’ perceptions, beliefs, priorities, or interests. Considering two contrasting agroecological systems in coastal Bangladesh, we used a fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM)-based simulation and sensitivity analysis of mental models of respondents of different farm types from 240 farm households. The employed FCM mental models were able to (1) capture farmers’ perception of farming system concepts and relationships for each farm type and (2) assess the impact of external interventions (drivers) on cropping intensification and food security. We decomposed the FCM models’ variance into the first-order sensitivity index (SVI) and total sensitivity index (TSI) using a winding stairs algorithm. Both within and outside polder areas, the highest TSIs (35–68%) were observed for effects of agricultural extension on changes in other concepts in the map, particularly food security and income (SI indicators), indicating the importance of extension programs for SI. Outside polders, drainage and micro-credit were also influential; within polders, the availability of micro-credit appears to affect farmer perceptions of SI indicators more than drainage. This study demonstrated the importance of reflection on the differing perspectives of farmers both within and outside polders to identify entry points for development interventions. In addition, the study underscores the need for micro-farming systems-level research to assess the context-based feasibility of introduced interventions as perceived by farmers of different farm types. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche Fil: Aravindakshan, Sreejith. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Krupnik, Timothy J. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center; Bangladesh Fil: Shahrin, Sumona. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Shahrin, Sumona. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center; Bangladesh Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Groningen University. Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences; Holanda Fil: Siddique, Kadambot H. M. University of Western Australia. The UWA Institute of Agriculture; Australia Fil: Ditzler, Lenora. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Groot, Jeroen C.J. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Groot, Jeroen C.J. Bioversity International; Italia Fil: Groot, Jeroen C.J. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center; Mexico

Land degradation caused by erosion and nutrient depletion in the Andes poses serious existential threats to small-scale farming. Although the potential of hedgerows to decrease water erosion is well recognised, their potential dual-use as a source of organic amendments to supplement farmer inputs is much less studied. The objective of this investigation was therefore to explore locally developed options for hedgerows that address these twin challenges. Experimental plots were installed to assess water erosion control by hedgerows and the effect of organic amendments harvested from the hedgerows on soil productivity, soil moisture, and soil fertility over the course of 2 years and three crop cycles (two of barley and one of rye). The experiment was conducted in two sites within the community at distinct elevations and associated biophysical contexts. At each site, four treatments were established, comparing a control treatment versus three types of hedgerows: (a) Andean alder, (b) canary grass strips, and (c) mixed canary grass and Andean alder. Results demonstrated that hedgerows and associated organic inputs comprised canary grass, and mixed canary grass and Andean alder reduced water erosion by 50–60% and increased biomass production by up to 1.1 Mg ha−1 and grain yield by up to 0.5 Mg ha−1. We conclude that although hedgerows are unlikely to produce sufficient quantities of organic resources to satisfy all nutrient input requirements, their potential to decrease erosion and supplement existing organic matter inputs indicates that they should be strongly considered as an option for improved agricultural management within this and similar resource constrained contexts.

A poor understanding of the interactions between biophysical and social elements within rural mountainous landscapes can lead to suboptimal management and recommendations. The objective of this study was to contribute to more contextualized natural resource management in a rural landscape in the Ecuadorian Andes by (1) identifying biophysical patterns in soil properties, biodiversity, and C stocks that emerge from natural landscape pedogenic processes, resulting from elevation-induced climate gradients, erosion and soil textural patterns, and (2) assessing farm management and land-use effects on and their interactions with these biophysical patterns. Our findings revealed that the climate and soil texture gradients within the landscape led to an exponential increase in SOC with elevation moderated by slope gradient, indicating significant erosion processes. Farmers adapted their farm management according to the observed environmental patterns creating three distinct management zones. Differentiated agricultural management in these zones and asymmetrical distribution of land-uses in turn were observed to significantly influence soil and agroecosystem properties. For example, available P was found to be significantly higher in the upper and middle agricultural management zones (24.0 and 28.7 mg/kg, respectively), where agricultural inputs were higher compared to the lower agricultural management zone (8.9 mg/kg, P < 0.001). Mixed hedgerows, on the other hand, displayed significantly higher Shannon index scores for ground vegetation (1.8) and soil macrofauna (2.0) compared to agricultural land-uses (1.0 and 1.7). Our results provide important insights into how agroecosystem patterns and land management co-developed through complex environment, management, and land-use interactions. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche Fil: Caulfield, Mark E. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology; Holanda Fil: Fonte, Steven J. Colorado State University. Department of Soil and Crop Sciences; Estados Unidos Fil: Groot, Jeroen C. J. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda Fil: Vanek, Steven J. Colorado State University. Department of Soil and Crop Sciences; Estados Unidos Fil: Sherwood, Stephen. Wageningen University & Research. Knowledge Technology and Innovation; Holanda Fil: Oyarzun, Pedro. Fundacion EkoRural; Ecuador Fil: Borja, Ross Mary. Fundacion EkoRural; Ecuador Fil: Dumble, Sam. Statistics for Sustainable Development; Inglaterra Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; Argentina

We analyse the impact of two large-scale regime shifts caused by disease incidence or climate change, and associated crop productivity and price changes, on banana-based smallholders in Uganda. We evaluate these farmers' vulnerability and assess the potential of using increased crop diversity to improve their resilience. We further explore trade-offs and synergies between environmental, economic and nutritional outcomes faced by the farmers in their decision making when a regime shift occurs. We simulate the large-scale scenarios with the IMPACT model and use the results obtained to assess their effect at the local level using the bio-economic farm-household model, FarmDESIGN. Our results indicate that climate change can lead to a regime shift that expands revenue variance, increases soil erosion and reduces vitamin A yield for farmers. Banana disease can negatively impact income levels and species diversity. We show that under both scenarios farmers have scope to reconfigure their farms and recover farm performance. Specifically, we discuss the benefits of species diversity; increasing agrobiodiversity by adding new crops increases the farm's adaptive capacity and resilience, allowing for much higher revenues, on-farm crop diversity and vitamin A production. The conceptual approach and the method we developed can be applied to assess the local synergies and trade-offs between crop diversity conservation, nutrition, environmental protection and human nutrition that farmers face as a result of global drivers. Our results offer a further understanding of how biodiverse systems respond to regime shifts, which can inform effective policy design. Our method can be also useful to help farmers manage their farms in a way to better meet their complex needs.

The projected increase of the world's population and the sustainability challenges the agricultural sector is facing, call for the enhancement of multi-functionality in agriculture in order to simultaneously provide food while meeting environmental targets. Here, we use the Functional Land Management (FLM) framework to assess the supply of and the demand for soil functions to inform agri-environmental policy for Udalo, a mountainous site in the Philippines. As many emerging communities in developing nations, Udalo is on the cusp of rapid development due to the construction of a major road increasing its accessibility and attractiveness for land investment. We assessed the supply of four soil functions in relation to six land-use types and four slope categories. The function "productivity" was assessed by interviews with 128 farmers, "habitat for biodiversity" by a vegetation survey, and "soil conservation" and "water conservation" via a literature review. The demand for functions was first assessed from the "top-down" policy perspective via interviews and reviews of policy targets, then complemented by integrating the local "bottom-up" demands for functions. These were assessed by applying a Q methodology, providing insights in the prioritisation of functions from the perspective of 22 local actors. Maps of supply and demands were generated for each function: supply maps by overlaying land use and slope category, top-down demand maps from administrative zoning/land-use plans, and bottom-up demand maps from local actors designation of geomorphological areas. Our results revealed contrasting demands for functions, as well as a heterogeneous spatial distribution of supply and demands. Discrepancies emerged (i) between supply and demand, (ii) between bottom-up (local) demands and the top-down (policy driven) demand, and (iii) among local actors perspectives. Our study indicates that discrepancies are not necessarily conflicting, but can uncover pathways for defining compromises, representing attainable policy entry points. Not one single development model can meet the needs of every stakeholder; however, a combination of land uses and management strategies can meet divergent interests and allow for optimisation of functions. This integrative approach of FLM provides a socially embedded biophysical analysis and is a valuable tool for the design of customized land-use and agri-environmental policies.

Scarcity of quantity and quality feed has been a key constraint to productivity of smallholder crop-livestock systems. Tropical forages include a variety of annual and perennial grasses, herbaceous and dual-purpose legumes, and multipurpose trees and shrubs. They have been promoted in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for increasing livestock productivity and household income through higher quantity and quality of herbage, while contributing to soil improvement and higher food crop yields. For the first time, we quantitatively reviewed 72 experimental studies from across SSA to take stock of geographical distribution and forage technology focus of past research; quantify magnitudes of multidimensional impacts of forage technologies; and present variability in forage agronomy data. Improved forage technologies were classified into four groups: (i) germplasm, (ii) management, (iii) cropping system integration, and (iv) feeding regime. Mean weighted response ratios were calculated from 780 pairs of observations for 13 indicators across the five impact dimensions. Improved forage germplasm had on average 2.6 times higher herbage productivity than local controls, with strongest effect in grasses. Feeding regimes with improved leguminous forages increased milk yield by on average 39%, dry matter intake by 25%, and manure production by 24%. When forage technologies were integrated with food crops, soil loss was almost halved, soil organic carbon increased on average by 10%, and grain and stover yields by 60% and 33%, respectively. This study demonstrates the central role improved forages could play in sustainable intensification of crop-livestock systems in SSA. It highlights the need for multidisciplinary and systems-level approaches and studies to quantify synergies and tradeoffs between impact dimensions. Further research is needed to explain forage agronomic yield variability, unraveling interactions between genotype, on-farm environmental conditions, and management factors. Results from this review can inform development programs, prioritizing technologies proven successful for dissemination and indicating magnitudes of expected impacts.

South East Asia's agricultural landscape is rapidly transitioning from subsistence to intensive and market-oriented production, often with negative impacts on soil fertility. Ensuring that this transition is conducted in a sustainable way is critical, especially for the poorest who rely exclusively on natural resources that are of limited quality and quantity. This study aims to evaluate sustainable intensification options for smallholder ethnic minority farmers of the Lao uplands. Following a systematic selection of case study crop-livestock farms with different degrees of diversification and market orientation, we adopted a detailed nutrient flow approach to quantify nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) balances at farm level using a whole farm modelling tool. This was then used to simulate alternative sustainable intensification options relative to the baseline and their impact on farm performance and N and P cycling. Irrespective of the intensification level, nutrient balances were negative on all farms, with net nutrient removal between −34 and −130 kg N ha−1y−1 and between −9 and −20 kg P ha−1y−1. The positive effect of the sustainable intensification options on selected system performance variables was up to 15 times higher when its baseline value was low, i.e. when potential for improvement was high. Compared to the baseline (rice and maize monocropping systems), fallow plots during the dry season and low level of residues recycling, all intensification options increased land productivity and N balance by at least 12% on each farm, whereas the P balances were negatively impacted. The positive effects on the N balances might not be sufficient to reverse nutrient depletion, and additional nutrient inputs would be necessary. Four management principles are key to ensure a smooth transition from subsistence to intensive production: no residue burning, stay diverse, integrate livestock and use small amounts of P mineral fertilizer. If combined with efficient and integrative agricultural extension, seed systems and market development, these basic principles could be the key success factor for a sustainable development of the Lao uplands.

Smallholder agriculture is an important source of livelihoods in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In these regions the highest concentrations of nutritionally vulnerable populations are found. Agricultural development needs to be nutrition-sensitive, and contribute simultaneously to improving household nutrition, farm productivity and environmental performance. We explored the windows of opportunities for farm development and the potential of crop diversification options for meeting household dietary requirements, whilst concurrently improving household economic performance in contrasting smallholder farm systems in Kenya and Vietnam. Farm and household features and farmer perspectives and priorities were integrated into a farm-household model that allowed quantification of a diverse set of nutritional, labour and productive indicators. Using a multiobjective optimization algorithm, we generated ‘solution spaces’ comprising crop compositions and management configurations that would satisfy household dietary needs and allowed income gains. Results indicated sitespecific synergies between income and nutritional system yield for vitamin A. Diversification with novel vegetables could cover vitamin A requirements of 10 to 31 extra people per hectare and lead to greater income (25 to 185% increase) for some households, but reduced leisure time. Although the Vietnamese sites exhibited greater nutrient system yields than those in Kenya, the household diets in Kenya had greater nutrient adequacy due to the fact that the Vietnamese farmers sold greater proportions of their on-farm produced foods. We conclude that nutrition-sensitive, multi-method approaches have potential to identify solutions to simultaneously improve household income, nutrition and resource management in vulnerable smallholder farming systems. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche Fil: Timler, Carl. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Alvarez, Stéphanie. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: DeClerck, Fabrice. Bioversity International; Italia Fil: DeClerck, Fabrice. EAT Foundation, Stockholm Resilience Center; Suecia Fil: Remans, Roseline. Bioversity International; Italia Fil: Remans, Roseline. Ghent University, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health; Belgica Fil: Raneri, Jessica. Bioversity International; Italia Fil: Raneri, Jessica. Ghent University, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health; Belgica Fil: Estrada Carmona, Natalia. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Estrada Carmona, Natalia. Bioversity International; Italia Fil: Mashingaidze, Nester. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Chatterjee, Shantonu Abe. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Chiang, Tsai Wei. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Termote, Celine. Bioversity International; Italia Fil: Yang, Ray-Yu. The World Vegetable Centre; Taiwan Fil: Descheemaeker, Katrien. Wageningen University, Plant Production Systems Group; Holanda Fil: Brouwer, Inge D. Wageningen University. Division of Human Nutrition; Holanda Fil: Kennedy, Gina. Bioversity International; Italia Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Groot, Jeroen C.J. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology Group; Holanda Fil: Groot, Jeroen C.J. Bioversity International; Italia Fil: Groot, Jeroen C.J. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center; Mexico

Many development countries are currently undergoing major demographic shifts as the percentage of young people of the total population rapidly increases. This shift is associated with high rates of migration, unemployment and instability. In policy discourses, engaging youth in commercial agricultural is often presented as a measure to control or even counter these trends. In Uganda, a country with one of the youngest populations in the world, we investigated whether young people themselves see a career in farming as an option. We studied the livelihood pathways of rural-born young men and women from Central Uganda and in particular; 1) their aspirations, 2) the extent to which these aspirations are associated with agriculture, and 3) the importance of gender in shaping their opportunity spaces. Data consisted of in-depth interviews with 8 young men and 8 young women originating from the same rural community in Central Uganda (2017) and was supported by three additional datasets collected between 2010 and 2014; one qualitative case-study conducted in the same site (2014) and two survey datasets collected in three rural sites in Central Uganda in 2010 (N = 199) and 2012 (N = 54). Our findings suggest a large proportion of youth out-migrating from the rural communities, with young women migrating more often than young men. Farming was seldom an aspiration but irrespective of sex or residence most young men and women did remain engaged in agriculture in some way. The nature of the engagement was different for men and women though, with young women specifically refraining from commercial agriculture. By analyzing the opportunity space of young men and women, we uncovered how their livelihood pathways were linked to a set of normative and structural constraints maintaining gender inequality. Examples were young women's weaker resource base (land) and gender norms which discourage young women's independent commercial (agricultural) activities. To advance the engagement of young men and especially women in commercial agriculture, it is important to acknowledge these patterns and their underlying structural gender differences.

Improving farming systems in resource-poor contexts is often difficult as farmers face multiple challenges to implement the innovations developed by researchers. Viable solutions may however be present within local communities by positive deviant farmers, i.e. farmers that outperform positively compared to others. This study develops a positive deviance informed methodology to support redesign of farming systems, with the aim to improve farm productive, economic and environmental performances. We tested the methodology in Bihar, India, using survey data from 43 farms and the indicators of operating profit, soil organic matter balance, water use and dietary energy production. Positive deviant farms and practices were first identified and then recombined into a redesigned farm in consultation with farmers. The FarmDESIGN model was used to calculate current farm performance and to explore potential alternative farm configurations in the redesign. We found that outstanding performance on all indicators could only be reached by integrating high livestock density with an optimal combination of crop practices, which confirms the key role of interactions among components in mixed crop-livestock systems to improve all dimensions of farm sustainability. The redesigns outperformed all real farms on the indicators assessed. Farmers confirmed the viability of the redesigns in focus group discussions and their suggestions can serve as useful input for a next cycle of farm redesign. Since all suggestions are locally practiced and have proven to be accessible, affordable and recognizable, we conclude that our methodology based on positive deviant farms and practices yields promising results with a large potential to boost agricultural development for resource-scarce smallholder farmers.

Socio-economic factors that influence the adoption of management practices and technologies by farmers have received wide attention in the adoption literature, but the effects of socio-psychological farmer features such as perceptions and motivations have been analysed to a lesser extent. Using farm household survey data from three regions in northern Ghana, this study explores farmers’ motivations and perceived adoption impediments for three sustainable intensification practices (SIPs): improved maize varieties, cropping system strategies, and combined SIPs (i.e. improved maize and cropping system strategies), and the effect of motivational factors on decisions to adopt SIPs. First, explorative factor analysis (EFA) was used in identifying factors of motivations and impediments for adoption of SIPs. Then, a multinomial logit model was used to analyze the effect of socio-economic farm characteristics and motivational factors on farmers’ decisions to adopt SIPs. EFA identified three motivational factors: personal satisfaction, eco-diversity and eco-efficiency, which differed in importance between the three regions. Across these regions, higher scores for aspects of personal satisfaction were associated with lower interest in improved maize varieties compared to cropping system strategies, while the opposite was true for eco-efficiency which was related to a stronger preference for improved maize varieties. Uncertainty, absence of social support, and resource constraints were identified as impediment factors. The logit model demonstrated that extension services seemed to support the use of improved maize varieties more than the implementation of cropping system strategies. We conclude that motivational factors significantly influence farmer adoption decisions regarding sustainable intensification practices and should be considered systematically in combination with socio-economic farm features and external drivers to inform on-farm innovation processes and supporting policies.

Coastal systems are facing natural and human-driven change coupled with a rising population. With increasing shifts in socioecological conditions during the past several decades, it is important to understand how socioecological drivers at different hierarchical levels: -micro, -meso, and -macro affect coastal farming systems, which play a crucial role in the livelihoods of coastal dwellers. Mixed rice-livestock-aquaculture farming in Southern Bangladesh exemplifies the rapid change occurring in many of the world's coastal farming systems in response to these drivers. We used panel data observations from the above study area and modeled trajectories of farm typologies, and the impact of multi-level socioecological drivers by a novel approach. Our approach integrates: (1) a well-articulated conceptual frame of change observed using (2) a temporal view of the potential drivers, change process and farm type outcomes, with the twenty years panel data of 502 households that is analyzed by means of (3) multivariate statistics in conjunction with panel data models that operationalize the conceptual frame. Our approach allows (a) estimating dynamic effects over time that typically cannot be estimated in a cross-sectional data set, (b) distinguishing between time-invariant fixed and time dependent random effects of multi-level socioecological drivers, and (c) controlling for omitted variables to a certain extent. Considering farming systems both within and outside of polder embankment systems intended to protect against oceanic water intrusion, we found a gradual shift from heterogeneous, rice-livestock farm types to more homogenous farms with less livestock and more off-farm activities. Micro-level factors including farm plot fragmentation, farmers' experience in cropping, machinery, salinity and soil fertility were influencing changes in farming systems. Meso-level factors including markets, road infrastructure, labor availability, access to extension and land tenure also affect the trajectory of farming systems change. Among macro-level drivers, increasing population density positively and significantly influenced cropping intensity among farms outside polder systems. Within polders, a positive but non-significant trend was observed for the influence of population density on cropping intensity. Our data also indicate negative and significant influence of cyclonic storms on cropping intensity over time in both areas. Our results underscore the importance of accounting for multiple levels of socioecological drivers of change when developing appropriate policy options for sustainable development in South Asia's coastal farming systems.

Food insecurity and malnutrition are challenges in rural Rwanda that are presumed to be affected by differential household socioeconomic status, but the relationship between food and nutrition security and socioeconomic status is not well-understood. We used a participatory and multidisciplinary study comprising nutrition survey, focus group discussion (FGD), detailed household/farm characterization, and interviews to construct a participatory household typology and to determine differences in the socioeconomic, food, and nutrition security status of 17 households representing the identified household types in Nyabihu District of Western Province. Strategies to improve household food and nutrition security were identified by the case study households themselves. During the FGDs, it was hypothesized that financial, physical, and natural capitals varied, resulting in high, medium, and low resource endowed households, abbreviated as HRE, MRE, and LRE, respectively. The HRE households had the most educated household heads, largest landholdings (~1 ha), and highest agricultural biodiversity and total farm income per annum. This probably resulted in better diets for women, children higher household food consumption relative to the other households. In contrast, the LRE households were the least food-secure, with poor household food consumption and low dietary diversity across seasons, probably due to limited physical and economic access to food. However, anthropometry of women and children did not differ with household type. Half of the children were stunted, including some from the more food-secure HRE households. Undiversified, nutritionally inadequate diets and bouts of illness likely contributed to chronic malnutrition in children. Making agricultural programs more nutrition-sensitive, creating diverse employment opportunities, and sensitizing communities to nutrition and adequate feeding practices of children could complement the interventions identified by households to improve their food and nutrition security.

Agriculture in rural Bihar needs to maintain its productivity while enhancing its biophysical sustainability. To sustainably intensify the predominant rice-wheat systems, alternative cropping patterns with short duration legumes, planted in the usually fallow summer season, were developed. The addition of the legume ensures near-permanent soil cover, breaks the cereal-cereal cycle, and aims to improve soil quality while yielding between 0.6 and 1.2 Mg ha-1 of protein-rich dry matter. On-station experiments previously demonstrated the agronomical feasibility of the alternative cropping patterns while this study addresses the implications of such field-level changes at farm-level for different types of smallholders. We used the model FarmDESIGN to 1) assess current farm performance, 2) explore options to rearrange cropping patterns and 3) assess the impact of cropping patterns with mung bean. We found diverse farm performances, indicating a heterogenous farming community. Re-arranging current cropping patterns gave all farms possibilities to save water, increase soil organic matter content and decrease nitrogen losses but showed trade-offs with operating profit. Higher resource endowed farms had most potential to favourably rearrange the farm and improve multiple performance indicators. Two out of the five farms assessed did not benefit from including the alternative cropping patterns. We conclude that the impact of innovations greatly depends on farm type and current farm features and performance, described by a farm typology.

Extreme weather events and pest outbreaks decrease rice yields and increase their variability, presenting challenges for the agricultural agenda to increase rice productivity and yield stability in Asia. The integration of azolla, fish and ducks has been shown to create robust systems that maintain high yields under heavy rainfall, but no clear evidence exists that rice yields in these systems are stable across locations and throughout time under divergent weather conditions. We show that the introduction of additional elements into the rice cropping system enhanced the adaptive capacity to extreme weather events across four locations and three cropping cycles. The complex system showed both static and dynamic stability, and had the highest reliability index, thereby outperforming the conventional and organic monoculture systems. The complex rice system design provides a promising example for resilience towards the impacts of climate change on rice production and for safeguarding food security in Asia and beyond.

Rwanda's agricultural sector is facing severe challenges of increasing environmental degradation, resulting in declining productivity. The problem is likely to be further aggravated by the growing population pressure. A viable pathway is climate smart agriculture, aiming at the triple win of improving food security and climate change adaptation, while contributing to mitigation if possible. The Government of Rwanda has initiated ambitious policies and programs aiming at low emission agricultural development. Crop focused policies include the Crop Intensification Program (CIP) which facilitates access to inorganic fertilizer and improved seeds. In the livestock subsector, zero-grazing and improved livestock feeding are encouraged, and the Girinka program provides poor farm households with a crossbred dairy cow. In this study, we aimed at assessing the potential impact of these policy programs on food availability and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 884 households across different agro-ecologies and farming systems in Rwanda. Household level calculations were used to assess the contribution of current crops, livestock and off-farm activities to food availability and GHG emissions. Across all sites, 46% of households were below the 2500 kcal MAE − 1 yr − 1 line, with lower food availability in the Southern and Eastern Rwanda. Consumed and sold food crops were the mainstay of food availability, contributing between 81.2% (low FA class) to 53.1% (high FA class). Livestock and off-farm income were the most important pathways to higher FA. Baseline GHG emissions were low, ranging between 395 and 1506 kg CO 2 e hh − 1 yr − 1 per site, and livestock related emissions from enteric fermentation (47.6–48.9%) and manure (26.7–31.8%) were the largest contributors to total GHG emissions across sites and FA classes. GHG emissions increased with FA, with 50% of the total GHG being emitted by 22% of the households with the highest FA scores. Scenario assessment of the three policy options showed strong differences in potential impacts: Girinka only reached one third of the household population, but acted highly pro-poor by decreasing the households below the 2500 kcal MAE − 1 yr − 1 line from 46% to 35%. However, Girinka also increased GHG by 1174 kg CO 2 e hh − 1 yr − 1 , and can therefore not be considered climate-smart. Improved livestock feeding was the least equitable strategy, decreasing food insufficient households by only 3%. However, it increased median FA by 755 kcal MAE − 1 yr − 1 at a small GHG increase (50 kg CO 2 e hh − 1 yr − 1 ). Therefore, it is a promising option to reach the CSA triple win. Crop and soil improvement resulted in the smallest increase in median FA (FA by 322 kcal MAE − 1 yr − 1 ), and decreasing the proportion of households below 2500 kcal MAE − 1 yr − 1 by 6%. This came only at minimal increase in GHG emissions (23 kg CO 2 e hh − 1 yr − 1 ). All policy programs had different potential impacts and trade-offs on different sections of the farm household population. Quick calculations like the ones presented in this study can assist in policy dialogue and stakeholder engagement to better select and prioritize policies and development programs, despite the complexity of its impacts and trade-offs.

CONTEXT: Policy-based or technological interventions are more likely to be effective if aligned with farmers' objectives, constraints, and decision-making processes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore trade-offs and synergies of farming systems in response to innovative rice cultivation activities by understanding current farming systems, main drivers impacting farm management and farmers' perspectives on rice intensification. Understanding these interrelations is key in rice production areas, where smallholder farmers largely depend on growing rice to subsist. METHODS: A rapid system analysis was conducted interviewing 20 farmers in 4 villages along the Senegal River Valley (SRV) to obtain a general view on farm functioning and farmers' perspectives on farming systems. A detailed system analysis with four farmers was subsequently conducted to provide an insight into the underlying processes regulating farm management. A multi-objective optimization model was used to quantitatively evaluate and explore farm performances based on four selected indicators representing: rice production, household agricultural profit, household labour and farm nutrient balance. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study showed that government programmes and farmers' Unions were strongly influencing farmers' decision-making in agricultural production. Farmers also reported that although rice was still essential for their livelihoods, there were transitions towards less rice production in the wet season with short duration rice varieties and more vegetable production. Both farmers' interviews and the modelling results suggested that farmers would be unlikely to increase or even maintain the area of rice double cropping, which has been strongly promoted by the Senegalese government. Instead, farmers would rather keep investing in vegetable production. SIGNIFICANCE: This modelling study shows the consequences of policy-based and technological interventions for farming systems and may inform both policy makers and farmers in situations where objectives are strongly divergent. Hence, modelling outcomes may be used to inspire discussion and innovation in order to align the government priority of ensuring national food security and farmers' objectives and constraints in the SRV.

Changes in land-use have been observed in banana-based systems in the African Great Lakes region affected by Xanthomonas wilt disease (XW) of banana. Through focus group discussions (FGDs) and the 4-cell method (to map the area under production and the number of households involved), changes in land-use were assessed in 13 XW-affected landscapes/villages along a 230 km transect from Masisi (where XW arrived in 2001) to Bukavu (XW arrived around 2014) in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Farmers&rsquo, perceptions on the sustainability of new land uses were also documented. Soil nutrient content and erosion levels were measured for five major land-use options/trajectories on 147 fields across 55 farms in three landscapes along the transect. From banana being ranked the most important crop (92% of landscapes) before XW outbreaks, its importance had declined, with it grown on smaller farms by most households in 36% of the landscapes, while in 64% of cases by few households on smaller plots. Farmers uprooted entire banana mats or fields, expanding land under other crops. Species richness did not change at landscape level, although 21 crops were introduced at farm level. Banana is, however, still perceived as more sustainable due to its multi-functional roles. Soils under banana had better chemical attributes, while high erosion levels (Mg ha&minus, 1 year&minus, 1) occurred under cassava (1.7&ndash, 148.9) compared with banana (0.3&ndash, 10.7) and trees (0.3&ndash, 5.9). The shifts from banana could thus affect supply of key services and sustainability of the farming systems. This study offers a good basis for interventions in XW-affected landscapes.

Banana production landscapes in the African Great Lakes Region (AGLR) have been under immense pressure from Xanthomonas wilt (XW) disease over the past two decades. XW, first reported on banana in central Uganda and eastern DR Congo in 2001, has since spread to the entire AGLR. XW is currently spreading westwards from hot spots in eastern DR Congo highlands, putting the plantain (Musa AAB genome) belt of central and west Africa at risk. In-depth understanding of the key variables responsible for disease spread, current hotspots, and vulnerable landscapes is crucial for disease early warning and management. We mapped aggregated disease distribution and hotspots in the AGLR and identified vulnerable landscapes across African banana production zones. Available data on disease prevalence collected over 11 years was regressed against environmental and expert developed covariates to develop the AGLR XW hotspots map. For the Africa-wide risk map, precipitation, distance to hotspots, degree of trade in fresh banana products, production zone interconnectedness and banana genotype composition were used as covariates. In the AGLR, XW was mainly correlated to precipitation and disease/banana management. Altitude and temperature had unexpectedly low effects, possibly due to an overriding impact of tool-mediated spread which is part of the management covariate. In the AGLR, the eastern part of DR Congo was a large hotspot with highest vulnerability. Apart from endemic zones in the AGLR and Ethiopia, northern Mozambique was perceived as a moderate risk zone mainly due to the predominance of ‘Bluggoe’ (Musa ABB type) which is highly susceptible to insect-vectored transmission. Presence of XW hotspots (e.g. eastern DR Congo) and vulnerable areas with low (e.g. north-western Tanzania) or no disease (e.g. Congo basin, western DR Congo and northern Mozambique) pressure suggest key areas where proactive measures e.g. quarantines and information sharing on XW diagnosis, epidemiology, and control could be beneficial.

Formal seed systems aim to provide farmers with high-quality planting material that meets evolving demands and cultivation challenges. East African banana (Musa sp.) systems rely strongly on informal seed exchange. For seed system interventions to have a larger and more sustainable impact in such a context, it is necessary to better understand the informal seed system. We studied the management and replacement dynamics around banana suckers and mats by smallholder farmers in Central Uganda. Data were collected through Focus Group Discussions (n = 4) and semi-structured interviews (n = 23). This study showed that, on average, banana farmers grew 10 different banana cultivars to ensure year-round harvesting and to accommodate multiple consumption and cultural needs. They included cultivars from the formal seed system within their portfolios of banana cultivars while also conserving cultivar diversity. Farmers used a broad array of evaluation criteria to select suckers and preferred to use known sources to assure plant quality. Household characteristics, such as age or wealth, are determinants of mat management and replacement. We concluded that a flexible blend of formal-informal approaches to developing the banana seed system is needed to meet the multiple needs of farm households and to support them in improving productivity and dealing with emerging challenges.

Farm models have the potential to describe farming systems and livelihoods, identify trade-offs and synergies, and provide ex-ante assessments of agricultural technologies and policies. We developed three new modules related to budget, labor, and human nutrition for the bio-economic whole-farm model ‘FarmDESIGN’. The expanded model positions the farming enterprise within the farm household. We illustrate the model's new capabilities for farm households in two villages in Northwest Vietnam, where we conducted multi-objective optimization to identify options for improving the farm households' current performance on key sustainability and livelihood indicators. Modeling results suggest trade-offs between environmental, economic, and social objectives are common, although not universal. The new modules increase the scope for modeling flows of resources (namely cash, labor, and food) between the farm enterprise and the farm household, as well as beyond the farm gate. This allows conducting modeling explorations, optimization routines, and scenario analyses in farming systems research.

Typologies may be used as tools for dealing with farming system heterogeneity. This is achieved by classifying farms into groups that have common characteristics, i.e. farm types, which can support the implementation of a more tailored approach to agricultural development. This article explored patterns of farming system diversity through the classification of 70 smallholder farm households in two districts (Savelugu-Nanton and Tolon-Kumbungu) of Ghana⿿s Northern Region. Based on 2013 survey data, the typology was constructed using the multivariate statistical techniques of principal component analysis and cluster analysis. Results proposed six farm types, stratified on the basis of household, labour, land use, livestock and income variables, explaining the structural and functional differences between farming systems. Types 1 and 2 were characterized by relatively high levels of resource endowment and oriented towards non-farm activities and crop sales respectively. Types 3 and 4 were moderately resource-endowed with income derived primarily from on-farm activities. Types 5 and 6 were resource constrained, with production oriented towards subsistence. The most salient differences among farm types concerned herd size (largest for Type 1), degree of legume integration (largest for Types 2⿿4), household size and hired labour (smallest household size for Types 4 and 6, and largest proportion of hired labour for Type 4), degree of diversification into off/non-farm activities (highest for Type 1 and lowest for Type 5) and severity of resource constraints (Type 6 was most constrained with a small farm area and herd comprised mainly of poultry). It was found that livelihood strategies reflected the distinctive characteristics of farm households; with poorly-endowed types restricted to a ⿿survival strategy⿿ and more affluent types free to pursue a ⿿development strategy⿿. This study clearly demonstrates that using the established typology as a practical framework allows identification of type-specific farm household opportunities and constraints for the targeting of agricultural interventions and innovations, which will be further analysed in the research-for-development project. We conclude that a more flexible approach to typology construction, for example through the incorporation of farmer perspectives, might provide further context and insight into the causes, consequences and negotiation of farm diversity.

Strategies that strengthen and use biodiversity are crucial for sustained food production and livelihoods in semiarid West Africa. The objective of this paper was to examine the role of biodiversity in sustaining diverse forms of multifunctional farming practices while at the same time providing ecological services to subsistence-oriented farming families in the region of study through mechanisms as (a) crop species diversification, (b) management of spatial heterogeneity, and (c) diversification of nutrition-sensitive landscapes. Our analysis shows that crop associations between cereals and legumes or between perennials and annuals, have overall positive effects on soil characteristics and often improve crop yields. Soil heterogeneity is produced by woody perennials and termites. Local management provides opportunities to collect a diversity of nutrition-rich species year-round and sustain household nutrition. Fil: Félix, Georges F. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology; Holanda Fil: Diedhiou, Ibrahima. University of Thiès. ENSA; Senegal Fil: Le Garff, Marie. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology; Holanda Fil: Timmermmann, Cristian. Universidad de Chile. Instituto de Estudios Internacionales; Chile Fil: Clermont-Dauphin, Cathy. Institute of Research for Development. Functional Ecology and Biochemistry of Soils and Agroecosystems; Francia Fil: Cournac, Laurent. Institute of Research for Development. Functional Ecology and Biochemistry of Soils and Agroecosystems; Francia Fil: Groot, Jeroen C.J. Wageningen University. Farming Systems Ecology; Holanda Fil: Tittonell, Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina

Maize-legume intercropping is a fundamental component of mixed farming systems in the mid-hills of Nepal. However, its productivity is constrained by several biophysical and social factors, and limited adoption of proven agricultural innovations. In this study, we assessed the productivity impact of a selection of relevant agricultural innovations and changes in the associated perceptions of farmers through a series of two-year participatory on-farm trials. The evaluated innovations resulted in higher yields as compared to farmers’ current practices. The active involvement of farmers enlarged our understanding of underlying decisionmaking factors to adopt or non-adopt agricultural innovations. Additionally, the indepth farmer engagement in our onfarm trials positively influenced farmer perceptions of the innovations and their interest to adopt the agricultural innovations. Yet, farmers final decisions to adopt some of the evaluated innovations were limited by a host of factors including labour scarcity, the availability of inputs, and by cultural preferences despite the increased yields. This was particularly true for low and medium resource-endowed farmers. This study shows the importance of active farmer participation and context-specific design of research and development projects aiming for local impact. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche Fil: Alomia-Hinojosa, Victoria. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda Fil: Speelman, Erika N. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda Fil: Thapa, Arun. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda Fil: Wei, Hsiang-En. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda Fil: McDonald, Andrew J. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT); Nepal Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Área de Recursos Naturales; Argentina Fil: Groot, Jeroen C.J. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda

Creating typologies is a way to summarize the large heterogeneity of smallholder farming systems into a few farm types. Various methods exist, commonly using statistical analysis, to create these typologies. We demonstrate that the methodological decisions on data collection, variable selection, data-reduction and clustering techniques can bear a large impact on the typology results. We illustrate the effects of analysing the diversity from different angles, using different typology objectives and different hypotheses, on typology creation by using an example from Zambia's Eastern Province. Five separate typologies were created with principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), based on three different expert-informed hypotheses. The greatest overlap between typologies was observed for the larger, wealthier farm types but for the remainder of the farms there were no clear overlaps between typologies. Based on these results, we argue that the typology development should be guided by a hypothesis on the local agriculture features and the drivers and mechanisms of differentiation among farming systems, such as biophysical and socio-economic conditions. That hypothesis is based both on the typology objective and on prior expert knowledge and theories of the farm diversity in the study area. We present a methodological framework that aims to integrate participatory and statistical methods for hypothesis-based typology construction. This is an iterative process whereby the results of the statistical analysis are compared with the reality of the target population as hypothesized by the local experts. Using a well-defined hypothesis and the presented methodological framework, which consolidates the hypothesis through local expert knowledge for the creation of typologies, warrants development of less subjective and more contextualized quantitative farm typologies. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche Fil: Alvarez, Stephanie. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology; Holanda Fil: Timler, Carl J. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology; Holanda Fil: Michalscheck, Mirja. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology; Holanda Fil: Paas, Wim. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology; Holanda Fil: Descheemaeker, Katrien. Wageningen University & Research. Plant Production Systems; Holanda Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Área de Recursos Naturales; Argentina Fil: Andersson, Jens A. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); Zimbawe Fil: Groot, Jeroen C. J. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda

Agricultural production in Northern Ghana is dominated by smallholder farm systems, which are characterized by low inputs and low outputs, declining soil fertility, large yield gaps and limited adoption of agricultural technologies. There is an urgent need for alternative farm designs that are more productive, yet more sustainable. Technology packages for sustainable intensification are promoted by an R4D project in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions of Ghana. In this paper, we analyse differences in perceived suitability, and modelled technical impact per technology package. We used a locally validated framework to categorise farm systems diversity that considers both, the horizontal (between households) and vertical (within households) dimension of diversity. Farm households were classified along a gradient of resource endowment. We selected one representative farm per type and per region to assess and compare their socio-economic and environmental performance (farm profitability, labour and soil organic matter inputs) using the whole-farm model Farm DESIGN. We then used Farm DESIGN to assess the potential impact of five proposed technology packages and to explore promising alternative farm configurations. We discussed model assumptions and results with farmers, including alternative cropping patterns and trade-offs. We evaluated the packages with different household members using a weighted scoring technique, subsequently juxtaposing model results with farmer perceptions. Large differences prevailed among and within farms per type and per region, with low resource endowed farms being projected to benefit most in relative and least in absolute terms from an adoption of the packages. Farmer feedback confirmed the accuracy of alternative farm configurations, as determined by the model. However, the feedback also revealed that the most profitable farm designs would be hard to attain in reality, particularly for members of low and medium resource endowed households, due to high initial investment costs. Within households, women were more positive about the packages than men, since men heavily penalized extra costs and labour, translating into a greater congruence of model results with the male evaluation. We discuss the importance of distinguishing between technical (technology i.e. purchased tools and inputs) and managerial (techniques e.g. row planting) package components. We conclude that operationalizing inter- and intra-household diversity is a fundamental step in identifying sensible solutions for the challenges smallholder farm systems face in Northern Ghana.

The concept of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is gaining momentum across the globe. However, it is not specific on what should be covered under its three pillars—productivity, resilience and mitigation. Consequently, CSA encompasses many different agricultural practices/technologies, making it difficult to prioritise CSA objectives. Firstly, there is a lack of clear and workable criteria as well as methods for assessing the climate-smartness of interventions. Secondly, little information exists about the impact of the various interventions already promoted as CSA, especially in the developing world. Finally, CSA prioritisation does not take into account stakeholders’ perspectives to ensure that the interventions are applicable, suitable and of high adoption-potential. Here, we describe a new participatory protocol for assessing the climate-smartness of agricultural interventions in smallholder practices. This identifies farm-level indicators (and indices) for the food security and adaptation pillars of CSA. It also supports the participatory scoring of indicators, enabling baseline and future assessments of climate-smartness to be made. The protocol was tested among 72 farmers implementing a variety of CSA interventions in the climate-smart village of Lushoto, Tanzania. Farmers especially valued interventions that improved soil fertility and structure, reduced surface runoff, and reclaimed degraded land due to the positive impacts on yield and off-season crop agriculture. Mostly, the CSA interventions increased animal production, food production, consumption and income. The protocol is easy to adapt to different regions and farming systems and allows for the better prioritisation of interventions. But we recommend that CSA is adopted as part of a monitoring, evaluation and learning process.

Understanding the diversity of current states, life cycles and past trajectories of households and agroecosystems is essential to contextualise the co-design of more sustainable agroecosystems. The objective of this paper was to document and analyse current states, trajectories of changes and their major drivers of households in a highly populated maize-based agroecosystem of Western Kenya. In 2013, we revisited 20 rural households that were surveyed, analysed and categorised 10 years ago (2003) in order to describe major changes in livelihood strategies, land use and soil fertility status. The household-level analysis was complemented with the analysis of secondary data on changes in drivers at the national level for the study period. The diachronic study showed a close association between drivers such as market and transport development, and the structure of rural households in terms of demographic shifts, land and labour exchanges, increased costs of agricultural inputs and better connectivity to markets. Between 2003 and 2013, the surveyed households experienced an increase in non-agricultural income by 30 %; intensity of land cultivation by 60 %; use of hybrid maize seeds by 35 %; and of synthetic fertilisers by almost 50 %. Local households increase their number of cross-bred livestock in detriment of local breeds and used less manure to fertilise their soils. In contrast, there were few changes in terms of food self-sufficiency (around 9 months per year) and in soil conditions (soil fertility was already poor in 2003). In terms of livelihood strategies, better-endowed households tended to diversify and acquire land that enabled them to adapt and benefit from the major changes observed in external drivers. In contrast, more vulnerable households sold labour and land to cope with such changes, remaining in a poverty trap. Households combine and explore diverse strategies to act, cope and adapt to fast-changing local and regional drivers. Policy or development programmes need to account for such diversity and dynamics to support the co-development of more adaptive and sustainable smallholder agroecosystems.

South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are two regions of the world with the highest concentration of nutritionally vulnerable populations that depend to a large extent on agriculture as an important source of livelihood (Gillespie et al., 2015). The vast majority of farmers in these regions have small landholdings due to land fragmentation (Jayne et al., 2014; Valbuena et al., 2015) and are often constrained in their access to resources and agricultural inputs (Herrero et al., 2010), especially women (e.g., Cole et al., 2015). As a consequence, productivity levels are low, and because income sources are also limited, dependence on surrounding landscapes and ecosystem services is high in terms of safeguarding supplies of clean water, human and animal foods, construction materials and fuel wood. People shape their physical landscapes (Ellis, 2015), influenced by cultures, values and livelihood opportunities (Horlings, 2015). People’s utilization of their physical landscapes is shaped by various conditions such as soil properties, topography, climate and flooding patterns. People’s dependence on their physical landscapes is strong and expected to increase due to climate change, resulting in gradual but persistent changes including adjustments in frequency, timing and severity of anomalies such as droughts and floods (Naylor et al., 2007; Gornall et al., 2010).

Global challenges—including unsustainable food systems, environmental degradation, and the double burden of malnutrition (under-nutrition and obesity) are interconnected and require a fresh look at how people interact with their environment to fulfill the goals of food and nutrition security. Current agricultural practices are moving toward intensified monocultures, which increase grain yields in the short term, but limit dietary and biological diversity. In addition, population growth, climate change and changing consumer preferences add pressure to these vulnerable systems. A landscape focus on nutrition is called for in order to place greater focus and emphasis on building diversity and ecosystem service based approaches into meeting human dietary and nutritional needs in production landscapes. We provisionally call this the Nutrition Sensitive Landscapes approach (NSL). NSL goes beyond traditional “no harm” approaches toward one that is system and landscape based. The NSL method offers proactive management towards more sustainable diets for vulnerable populations. The approach asks: (1) what are potential synergies and trade-offs between agricultural production, the environment, and food and nutrition security in a given landscape; (2) how do human food choices and food system dynamics have an impact on ecosystem services and human health in a given landscape, and vice versa; (3) how does this relationship change over space and time as landscapes and populations transition, for example, the adoption of agricultural intensification, from subsistence to commercial agriculture, or from rural to urban settings; (4) what are landscape and food system opportunities for enhancing diversity of diets and of the ecosystem and; (5) which system interventions, dietary guidelines, institutions, and incentives can be promoted to create synergies between nutrition, livelihoods, and the environment? In collaboration with the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS), Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) and Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics), the first phase of NSL research is focusing on pilot projects in three landscapes,: (1) the Barotse floodplain in Western Zambia; (2) Northern Zambia; and (3) Western Kenya. Working in these differing landscapes demonstrates interactions between ecosystems and their populations, and differentiates contextspecific factors from those that can be applied in other similar landscapes. In this session we will present the NSL approach and the methods used to assess landscape nutritional capacity and preliminary results from several of the sites where we have initiated work. We anticipate that the presentation will facilitate the use of the methodology in other sites.

The path to sustainable development involves creating coherence and synergies in the complex relationships between economic and ecological systems. In sustaining their farm businesses farmers' differing values influence their decisions about agroecosystem management, leading them to adopt diverging farming practices. This study explores the values of dairy and beef cattle farmers, the assumptions that underpin them, and the various ways that these lead farmers to combine food production with the provision of other ecosystem services, such as landscape conservation and biodiversity preservation. This paper draws on empirical research from Galicia (Spain), a marginal and mountainous European region whose livestock production system has undergone modernization in recent decades, exposing strategic economic, social and ecological vulnerabilities. It applies a Q-methodology to develop a values-based approach to farming. Based on a sample of 24 livestock farmers, whose practices promote landscape conservation and/or biodiversity preservation, the Q-methodology allowed us to identify four 'farming styles'. Further analysis of the practices of the farmers in these groups, based on additional farm data and interview material, suggests that all 24 farmers valorize landscape and nature and consider cattle production and nature conservation to be compatible within their own farm practices. However, the groups differed in the extent to which they have developed synergies between livestock farming and landscape conservation. We conclude by discussing how rural development policy in Galicia could strengthen such practices by providing incentives to farmers and institutionally embedding a shift towards more diversified farming and product development.

In Zambia maize is the main staple food crop and, with a share of 52% in the daily calorie intake of the local population, it is critical for ensuring the national food security (FAOSTAT, 2013). Of the total maize consumed in Zambia, smallholder farmers produce 80% in rain-fed systems under low soil fertility, frequent drought and with a limited use of high yielding varieties or inorganic fertiliser (Sitko et al., 2011). In eastern Zambia, the livelihoods of small-scale farmers depend largely on maize-legume mixed systems characterised by low productivity, extreme poverty and environmental degradation (Sitko et al., 2011). Thus, there seems to be a great need for sustainable intensification of these farming systems, for instance through promoting best practices in maize–legume integration. Maize–legume cropping provides protein-rich food for humans, residues for animal feed, composting and soil amendments and nitrogen inputs through symbiotic fixation by the legume. Sustainable intensification of farming systems can take place through changes in resource use and allocation that increase farm productivity while reducing pressure on local ecosystems and safeguarding social relations. According to Pretty et al. (2011), this entails the efficient use of all inputs to produce more outputs while reducing damage to the environment and building a resilient natural capital from which environmental services can be obtained. Sustainable intensification results from the application of technological and socio-economic approaches that may be categorised into genetic, ecological and socio-economic intensification (The Montpellier Panel, 2013).

Many agricultural practices are negatively impacting the environment and threatening the ecological foundations of the global food system. Therefore, agroecological practices are being proposed as viable and desirable alternatives. Biophysical, economic, social, and political factors, matched with farmers’ psychological attributes, may all be governing the choice of agricultural practices. Public policies can play a significant role as they can stimulate the adoption of innovative farming practices. The main objective of this research was the evaluation of farmers’ motivations for the adoption of agroecological practices in the viticulture sector in the province of Trento, Italy. A specific focus was laid on the influences from the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) measures. For the evaluation of farmers’ perceptions of their systems of practices, the Cognitive Mapping Approach for Analysing Actors’ Systems Of Practices (CMASOP) was applied. Based on information collected during in-depth interviews, Individual and Social Cognitive Maps were generated, representing the most frequently adopted agroecological practices and the major drivers of adoption of such practices, as mentioned by farmers. Drivers of adoption were categorized according to the self-determination theory of human motivations. Farmers reported that adoption of agroecological practices was mainly driven by existence of site-specific pedoclimatic conditions, followed with decreasing importance by requirements from wineries, availability of material, appreciation for aesthetics, health concerns, influence from irrigation consortia, and legal requirements, among which a local legislation for integrated pest management based on a CAP measure. Overall, results show that farmers reported to adopt agroecological practices mainly because of autonomous choices rather than coercion. Therefore, wineries and local policy-makers might incentivize the adoption of agroecological practices by promoting autonomy-supportive policies that foster farmers’ identified and intrinsic motivations.

Sustainable development of agricultural landscapes has become a primary issue as reflected in many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Comparing alternative potential technologies and assessing relevant results in terms of their implementation on agroecosystems in specific environmental and social contexts is a complex matter. In this article, a conceptual model to evaluate sustainability of agroecosystems under a systems perspective is presented, which is based on dimensions and properties of agroecosystems. Examples of applications of the conceptual model are given that address sustainability assessment of agricultural technologies and agroecosystems.

Smallholder farming communities are increasingly affected by local impacts of international market dynamics, and (inter)governmental economic and nature conservation policies to which they respond through coping or adaptation. Although the attributes that underpin the capacity to adapt are widely agreed upon in literature, empirical evidence on how rural communities can develop adaptations are still scarce. Here, we provide such evidence based on a comprehensive driver-response reconstruction of a community in the buffer-zone of a Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. We found that coping (between 1990 and 2000) was gradually replaced by adaptations (1995–2010) based on: (i) diversification of land-use, (ii) improved social organization, (iii) improved communal decision-making, and (iv) more sustainable forms of land management. The diversification of local farming systems through inclusion of organic forest-based palm and coffee cultivation and the establishment of associated organizations, formed the basis of these changes. These adaptations were mainly supported by improved social, institutional and political capital. Communal forest resources, long-term support of an NGO and a highly motivated population, were essential circumstances that allowed these trajectories to develop. However, current unequal land and power distribution could undermine and debilitate adaptive capacity. Communities and supportive organizations need to be aware and capable to adjust continuously to prevent today's adaptation strategies from becoming tomorrow's coping responses.

Vulnerability and resilience are two crucial attributes of social-ecological systems that are used for analyzing the response to disturbances. We assess these properties in relation to agroecosystem buffer capacity and adaptive capacity, which depend on the 'window of opportunities' of possible changes in terms of selected performance indicators, i.e., the solution space. The vulnerability of the system was quantified as the distance of performance indicators between original and disturbed systems. The buffer capacity was derived from the size of the solution space that could be obtained after reconfiguration of farm components (crops, animals, fertilizers, etc.) that were present on the original farm, whereas the assessment of adaptive capacity was derived in a similar way, but after allowing innovation by introducing new components to the farm. To illustrate the approach, we applied these concepts to two dairy farms in Northwest Michoacán, Mexico. After a disturbance resulting in a fodder maize yield decline, both economic profitability and soil organic matter inputs were reduced. The scope for recovery was different between the farms, but the projected improvements in profitability and organic matter inputs would require considerable changes in the farm configurations, and thus flexibility in farm management. High resilience requires a farmer with the managerial ability to make the required changes to move through the proposed solution space. The approach we present here offers a generic quantitative assessment of vulnerability and resilience concepts, based on a combined assessment of the social and ecological dimensions of agroecosystems..

Attempts to increase food crop yields by intensifying agricultural systems using high inputs of nonrenewable resources and chemicals frequently lead to de-gradation of natural resources, whereas most technological innovations are not accessible for smallholders that represent the majority of farmers world wide. Alternatively, cocultures consisting of assemblages of plant and animal species can support ecological processes of nutrient cycling and pest control, which may lead to increasing yields and declining susceptibility to extreme weather conditions with increasing complexity of the systems. Here we show that enhancing the complexity of a rice production system by adding combinations of compost, azolla, ducks, and fish resulted in strongly increased grain yields and revenues in a season with extremely adverse weather conditions on East Java, Indonesia. We found that azolla, duck, and fish increased plant nutrient content, tillering and leaf area expansion, and strongly reduced the density of six different pests. In the most complex system comprising all components the highest grain yield was obtained. The net revenues of this system from sales of rice grain, fish, and ducks, after correction for extra costs, were 114% higher than rice cultivation with only compost as fertilizer. These results provide more insight in the agro-ecological processes and demonstrate how complex agricultural systems can contribute to food security in a changing climate. If smallholders can be trained to manage these systems and are supported for initial investments by credits, their livelihoods can be improved while producing in an ecologically benign way.

An integrated methodological framework for ex-ante evaluation and planning of public policies for sustainable agriculture at agro-landscape level is proposed. The components of the framework are to: (1) determine the private, i.e. farmers’, and public benefits associated to agro-landscapes, consisting of an agricultural land-use system, according to its performance for several market and non-market functions. Market forces determine the market benefits and preferences of society the non-market benefits; (2) explore and select potential sustainable agro-landscapes based on the private and public benefits associated with possible land-use alternatives; (3) define efficient public policy mechanisms for improving social net benefit of agro-landscapes. The framework is illustrated with a case study in a small dairy farming dominated agro-landscape in The Netherlands, with gross margin, landscape quality, nature value and environmental health as the analysed ecosystem functions. Alternative landscapes consisting of hedgerow configurations and grassland management practices were explored, yielding a set of alternatives representing the solution space in terms of change in private and public benefits. Policy mechanisms were defined to move from the current to a desired landscape based on changes in social net benefits. Moreover, the necessity of a modification in the current agri-environmental support was analysed for each landscape. The analysis considered all farmers in the agro-landscape jointly. The results for the case study showed potential prototypes of landscapes and their performance compared to the current landscape. Extension was the most efficient policy mechanism to promote the change to the socially optimum landscape alternative.

Recent investigations have indicated that environmental and conservation policies frequently fail to reach anticipated aims, which raises concern over the cost-effectiveness of governmental policy-related expenditure. The limited effectiveness of policies is often attributed to methodological aspects of policy implementation. However, an alternative reason can be the limited internalization of policies, so that these are only implemented to a minimum level to attain benefits or avoid penalties. It is postulated that increased internalization of policies can considerably improve their effectiveness and that suitable institutional arrangements exist to support such increases in internalization. In this paper, we review the available literature on internalization and its institutional aspects, and propose a framework, based on self-determination theory, for evaluation of potential internalization by farm managers that are expected to implement policies. This method was applied to a small case study for dairy farmers in the nationally important landscape of the Northern Friesian Woodlands, The Netherlands. The results showed that organic farmers were internally motivated for nature conservation and had strong institutional links. They were more likely to internalize the goals of environmental policy schemes than conventional farmers who focused predominantly on financial rewards. We suggest that policy developers promote internalization of policies by tuning policy instruments to the specificities of farmers' motivations to preserve farmers' nature and to focus on institutional support to help internalization.

This paper reviews integrative modelling approaches which were developed to analyze the impact of multifunctional agriculture, or which may be used as such. The approaches are integrative in combining multiple goals of agriculture, and confronting these with current or potential performance of agricultural land-use systems at different spatial scales. The paper focuses on France, Germany and The Netherlands, countries with a track record in quantitative systems modelling, to identify convergence of concepts and technologies applicable to assessment of multifunctional agriculture and to establish shortcomings through analysis and comparison of 15 integrative modelling cases. An analytical framework for comparison is applied, based on a conceptual model of goal-oriented evaluation of agriculture. Results demonstrate unexpectedly large differences between countries in the number of integrative models; the nature of agro-ecological or bio-economic relations used, and target audience. Common elements were a focus on methodology development rather than answering questions of specific clients, limited attention for model evaluation and impact analysis, and an imbalanced attention for economic and abiotic environmental indicators at the expense of biotic, landscape and social indicators. None of the approaches specifically addressed multifunctionality of agriculture. In the discussion we argue that to be relevant research efforts aimed at supporting policy development for multifunctional agriculture cannot concentrate on filling gaps in knowledge and technology alone, but need to concern the process of utilization of knowledge as well.

Intensively managed agricultural areas in North-Western Europe have been undergoing a shift from solely production oriented use to provision of multiple services and functions. Design and assessment of multifunctional agricultural landscapes could be supported by exploration of trade-offs between financial returns from agriculture, landscape quality, nature conservation and environmental quality. This paper presents the Landscape IMAGES methodology for spatially explicit exploration of options for multifunctional agriculture in landscapes at a scale of a few km2. The framework has been developed to support discussions and inform decision making by local and regional policy makers, land owners and land managers. Other relevant stakeholders could include non-governmental organizations representing nature conservation and environmental protection objectives. The structure of the Landscape IMAGES framework prototype is elaborated and its functioning is illustrated with a near-real example of a grassland-dominated landscape with hedgerows bordering the fields. In this landscape, four objectives are being pursued by adjusting land-use intensity and hedgerow presence: (1) acceptable agronomic yields for farms, (2) diversification of the botanical composition of fields and hedgerows, (3) variation in plant communities in the fields and half-openness of the landscape, and (4) reduction of nutrient losses to the environment. For exploration of the trade-offs between multiple objectives a heuristic search method (i.e., differential evolution) is employed, which yields a large range of alternative, acceptable configurations of the landscape. The framework provides explicit insight in the trade-off between the objectives and is implemented in a visual application that enables the comparison of alternative options. The method can be applied to a range of spatially explicit land-use and nature allocation problems and will further evolve as a result of anticipated interactions with stakeholders.

Quantification of the movement of insects at field and landscape levels helps us to understand their ecology and ecological functions. We conducted a meta-analysis on movement of carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), to identify key factors affecting movement and population redistribution. We characterize the rate of redistribution using motility μ (L2 T−1), which is a measure for diffusion of a population in space and time that is consistent with ecological diffusion theory and which can be used for upscaling short-term data to longer time frames. Formulas are provided to calculate motility from literature data on movement distances. A field experiment was conducted to measure the redistribution of mass-released carabid, Pterostichus melanarius in a crop field, and derive motility by fitting a Fokker–Planck diffusion model using inverse modelling. Bias in estimates of motility from literature data is elucidated using the data from the field experiment as a case study. The meta-analysis showed that motility is 5.6 times as high in farmland as in woody habitat. Species associated with forested habitats had greater motility than species associated with open field habitats, both in arable land and woody habitat. The meta-analysis did not identify consistent differences in motility at the species level, or between clusters of larger and smaller beetles. The results presented here provide a basis for calculating time-varying distribution patterns of carabids in farmland and woody habitat. The formulas for calculating motility can be used for other taxa.