Sustainable Intensification in Smallholder Agriculture ─ An Integrated Systems Research Approach

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

Much of the work represents outputs of the CGIAR systems research programs on the Humidtropics, Dryland Systems and Aquatic Agricultural Systems. The chapters are based around four themes: conceptual underpinnings of systems research; integrated systems improvement and sustainable intensification in practice; integrating nutrition, gender and social inclusion in research for improved livelihoods; and partnerships and institutional arrangements for innovation, scaling and impact. While most case studies are from various countries and agro-ecological zones in Africa, there is also some coverage of Latin America, South-east Asia and the Pacific.

Ingrid Oborn is a Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Senior Research Fellow at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Kenya.?

Bernard Vanlauwe?leads the Central Africa hub and natural resource management research area at?the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nairobi, Kenya.?

Michael Phillips is Director of WorldFish, Penang, Malaysia.?

Richard Thomas is Director of the CRP on Dryland Systems, at the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman, Jordan.?

Kwesi Attah-Krah is Director of the CRP in the Humidtropics program at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria.