active · Livelihoods· Health

CGIAR Initiative: Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems

<p class="ql-align-justify">This&nbsp;Initiative addresses the&nbsp;<a href="https://cgiar-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/performanceandresult_cgiar_org/EZK1Mrs-xcFDoSsihDRenLUBmJIqamygaqJebCZpLJMRmg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">Sustainable intensification</a>&nbsp;(SI) of&nbsp;<a href="https://cgiar-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/performanceandresult_cgiar_org/EZK1Mrs-xcFDoSsihDRenLUBmJIqamygaqJebCZpLJMRmg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">Mixed farming systems</a>&nbsp;(MFS). By SI, we mean&nbsp;the production of more food on the same piece of land while reducing the negative environmental impact.&nbsp;MFS&nbsp;cover&nbsp;about 2.5&nbsp;billion&nbsp;ha of land globally<span style="background-color: inherit;">i</span>. In the developing world, MFS supply around 75% of milk, 60% of meat,&nbsp;and 41–86% of cereals consumed<span style="background-color: inherit;">ii</span>. These&nbsp;<a href="https://cgiar-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/performanceandresult_cgiar_org/EZK1Mrs-xcFDoSsihDRenLUBmJIqamygaqJebCZpLJMRmg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">farming systems</a>&nbsp;occur in nearly all&nbsp;agro-ecological zones, with an enormous variety of climatic and soil conditions<span style="background-color: inherit;">iii</span>&nbsp;and livelihood patterns<span style="background-color: inherit;">iv</span>.&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">In MFS, livestock provides draft power for crop cultivation and manure to fertilize the soil, while crop residues provide livestock feed. Livestock is sold to compensate for low crop yields in unfavorable years. Mixed systems allow farmers to diversify risk from single crop production, use labor efficiently, access cash, and add value to products. Integrating crops and livestock has the potential to maintain ecosystem function and health, and to help prevent agricultural systems from becoming fragile by enhancing biodiversity and thus increasing capability to absorb shocks to the natural resource base<span style="background-color: inherit;">v</span>.&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">Population growth, urbanization, water scarcity, soil degradation, climate change, evolving food consumption patterns, and food price volatility are pressures that act on these systems<span style="background-color: inherit;">vi</span>, deepening inequalities in resource access,&nbsp;and&nbsp;leading&nbsp;to conflict and migration<span style="background-color: inherit;">vii</span>. Social inequalities are a persistent feature of&nbsp;agrifood&nbsp;systems including MFS. They relate to deeply entrenched inequitable norms that produce unfavorable outcomes—&nbsp;primarily for women, youth, and marginalized actors—&nbsp;and obstruct progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)<span style="background-color: inherit;">viii</span>.&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">Farmers’&nbsp;local experience and knowledge&nbsp;enable them&nbsp;to adapt to many challenges. However, the increasing speed at which many changes are happening will likely exceed their capacity<span style="background-color: inherit;">ix</span>.&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">The challenges can be mitigated through SI, which responds to the need to both feed growing populations and counteract environmental degradation<span style="background-color: inherit;">x</span>. Sustainable intensification requires integrated systems research to identify context-specific pathways towards resilient, scalable MFS that preserve natural capital, offer equitable benefits for all, and attract young people to venture into profitable agribusinesses. The components of MFS interact both with each other and with the external environment, including climate and landscape<span style="background-color: inherit;">xi</span>. However, there are knowledge gaps on the biophysical and socio-economic interactions and dynamics<span style="background-color: inherit;">xii</span>, which can undermine many development-oriented interventions aiming at driving MFS towards SI.&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">A predominantly commodity and biophysical research approach has been leading to improvements in single system components, but frequently amplifies the&nbsp;<a href="https://cgiar-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/performanceandresult_cgiar_org/EZK1Mrs-xcFDoSsihDRenLUBmJIqamygaqJebCZpLJMRmg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">trade-offs</a>&nbsp;between different livelihood objectives if the interactions between crop, tree, livestock, and social sub-systems are not properly addressed at the appropriate spatial and temporal scales. This has affected the capacity to scale many of the technologies and practices promoted by CGIAR and partners in landscapes dominated by MFS.&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">Current research to support SI&nbsp;of&nbsp;MFS is often disconnected, falling short of the effectiveness and scale needed to achieve important global targets such as the SDGs. Also, attention to how SI may (re-)produce inequalities has remained low<span style="background-color: inherit;">xiii</span>. For One CGIAR to make significant contributions that result in multiple desired impacts at sufficiently large scales will require well-coordinated, prioritized,&nbsp;and focused efforts that strategically integrate multiple elements of the sub-systems in MFS. SI&nbsp;of MFS provides a viable avenue to achieve this.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p>