Farmer on the field

Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems

Challenge



Most agricultural production in the Global South takes place in mixed farming systems, which allow farmers to diversify risk from single crop production, use labor efficiently, access cash and add value to products. Key drivers — climate change, population pressure, urbanization, water scarcity, changing diets, volatile food prices — mean that flexible and accelerated changes in mixed farming systems will be needed to achieve global targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable intensification, or the production of more food on the same piece of land while reducing the negative environmental impact, is a viable avenue.

Two types of hurdles must be overcome to adequately meet the challenge at farming systems level. One hurdle is to ensure efficient coordination, integration and transfer of innovations, information, tools and standardized methodologies. A second hurdle is to integrate multiple biophysical and socio-economic thematic-level outputs and identify strategies that minimize trade-offs and maximize synergies, resulting in multiple impacts at scale.

Objective



This Initiative aims to provide equitable, transformative pathways for improved livelihoods of actors in mixed farming systems through sustainable intensification within target agro-ecologies and socio-economic settings.

You may also like

Cattle farmers in Vientiane, Lao PDR

ILRI News

ILRI's interdisciplinary livestock insights at SAADC 2023

Related Publications

Exploring opportunities for scaling of sustainable intensification interventions through farmer engagement and positive deviance approach: A case for Basona Worena, Ethiopia

  • Andreas, Daan
  • Cossu, Alessandra
  • Mekonnen, Kindu
  • Hammond, Jim
  • López Ridaura, Santiago
  • Groot, Jeroen C.J.

Assessment on the Livestock and Feed Production and Utilization Practice in Basona Worena Woreda of North Shewa, Ethiopia

  • Assefa, Getnet
  • Mekonnen, Kindu
  • Gebreyes, Million
  • Alene, Temesgen
  • Asfaw, Addisu
  • Seifu, Haimanot
  • Whitbread, Anthony M.

Lemo Farming Household Typology: An Insight into the Challenges, Opportunities, Structural Barriers, and Risks of Different Farming Households

  • Caulfield, Mark E.
  • Mekonnen, Kindu
  • Hammond, James

Commercialization of Forage Seed Business in Mixed Farming Systems of the Highlands of Ethiopia

  • Gebreyes, Million
  • Mekonnen, Kindu
  • Bezabih, Melkamu
  • Seifu, Haimanot

Introduction and Co-Evaluation of ILRI Gene Bank Forage Resources at Different Ecologies

  • Mekonnen, Kindu
  • Gebreyes, Million
  • Tulu, Solomon
  • Alemayehu, Lulseged
  • Tessema, Fikadu
  • Alene, Temesgen
  • Seifu, Haimanot
  • Whitbread, Anthony M.

Cultivating Knowledge, Enhancing Productivity: Weekly Voice Messages Fostering Climate-Smart Livestock Practices in Ethiopia

  • Mekonnen, Kindu
  • Gebreyes, Million
  • Seifu, Haimanot