Farming system research

How to increase the productivity and profitability of smallholder rainfed wheat in the Eastern African highlands? Northern Rwanda as a case study

As wheat demand is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), domestic production is being encouraged. The potential to increase the productivity and profitability of wheat appears large in the region, but little is known about the concrete …

Understanding the factors influencing fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) damage in African smallholder maize fields and quantifying its impact on yield. A case study in Eastern Zimbabwe

Fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) is an invasive lepidopteran pest established in most of sub-Saharan Africa since 2016. Although the immediate reaction of governments has been to invest in chemical pesticides, control methods …

Affordances of agricultural systems analysis tools: A review and framework to enhance tool design and implementation

The increasingly complex challenges facing agricultural systems require problem-solving processes and systems analysis (SA) tools that engage multiple actors across disciplines. In this article, we employ the theory of affordances to unravel what …

Retaining forests within agricultural landscapes as a pathway to sustainable intensification: Evidence from Southern Ethiopia

There are increasing calls in Africa for 'sustainable intensification' of agriculture with the aim of increasing productivity whilst minimizing the negative environmental and social impacts. This paper questions whether adopting a landscape approach …

A methodological approach for assessing cross-site landscape change; Understanding socio-ecological systems

The expansion of agriculture has resulted in large-scale habitat loss, the fragmentation of forests, significant losses in biological diversity and negative impacts on many ecosystem services. In this paper, we highlight the Agrarian Change Project, …

Different ways to cut a cake: comparing expert-based and statistical typologies to target sustainable intensification technologies, a case-study in Southern Ethiopia

Understanding farm diversity is essential to delineate recommendation domains for new technologies, but diversity is a subjective concept, and can be described differently depending on the way it is perceived. Historically, new technologies have been …

Understanding people and forest interrelations along an intensification gradient in Arsi-Negele, Ethiopia

This chapter presents the results of a scoping study conducted along an agricultural intensification and forest cover gradient from Arsi-Negele town to Munessa Forest in southern Ethiopia. It summarizes preliminary research in the study area led by …

Impact of farmland exclosure on the productivity and sustainability of a mixed crop-livestock system in the central rift valley of Ethiopia

Livestock provides numerous benefits to smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa, but also represents a potential agent of environmental degradation. Exclosures have been implemented in grazing areas for the past decades in Ethiopia and have been effective …

Combining multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis to describe the diversity of rural households

Capturing agricultural heterogeneity through the analysis of farm typologies is key with regard to the design of sustainable policies and to the adoptability of new technologies. An optimal balance needs to be found between, on the one hand, the …

Understanding the impact and adoption of conservation agriculture in Africa: A multi-scale analysis

Conservation agriculture (CA) is increasingly promoted in Africa as analternative for coping with the need to increase food production on the basis of more sustainable farming practices. Success with adopting CA on farms in Africa has been limited, …