From farm to landscape and beyond increasing the capacity for innovative integrated research system by Herve Bisseleua, Humidtropics, IITA/ICRAF

From farm to landscape and beyond:

Increasing the capacity for innovative

integrated research system

Hervé Bisseleua , Humidtropics CRP

The Changing World:

Climate change

Meat

Poultry

Milk

Hort

Grain

Meat Poultry Milk

Hort

Grain

Shift from cereals to meat and high

value crops

To produce enough

to respond to this

drastic change in

consumption pattern

requires more

resources per capita

than before in terms

of space as well as

inputs

The Changing World … New patterns of demand

1990 2013

The Changing World … Increasing (higher) energy consumption and

prices

Global Panic…..

● How do we reign on the food crisis

… the growing food insecurity

… the increasing food prices

● How do we respond to the emerging new

consumption patterns

● How do we reign on the energy crisis

● How do we….

● How do we….

5

Core Challenges: Different sites,

different issues

Diverse Types of Land-Use

Systems under High Pressure

Diversity of production systems

and Livelihoods strategies

With Innovative smallholder farmers as a central role in

driving agricultural-led growth and development

8

Consequences and Impacts: Increased competition over land resources, environmental

services, and degradation

e.g. Land grab for agro-business: horticultural production leading

to also increased demand for water and resultant conflicts (e.g

Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal, Mali, Niger etc.)

Consequences and Impacts: Increased competition over land resources,

environmental services, and degradation

e.g. Land grab for food production not for local food

security but export home

Negotiations between

Kenya and Qatar for a

lease of 40,000 hectares

of coastal land to Qatar for

export. This would

displace at least 150,000

families in farming and

pastoralist communities

that depend

on the land.

SEKAB (a Swedish

company) is planting

sugarcane on 500,000

hectares of land in

Tanzania.

They propose a

transition from a single-

owner plantation to

Small franchised plots of

land

Consequences and Impacts: Increased competition over land resources, environmental services,

and degradation

e.g. competition of user:- agriculture for food vs. bioenergy and

forestry for carbon sequestration .

Consequences and Impacts: Increased economic disparities, social segregation (socially &

spatially), Poverty and food crisis

Those able to integrate into the new order will gain, and continue to

become more rich; while those disadvantaged continue to become

more segregated and impoverished

Change of Paradigm and Approaches

Focus on smallholders farmers as the

most decisive actor category in the

search for rural solutions

They are also under pressure to

change; and change that can be

through innovations within their own

practices

New Challenges (Implications) for

Sustainability Research

Towards a redefined research agenda in addressing

increasing competition over land resources, environmental

services, and degradation

Re-evaluation of rural contexts

Re-evaluation of the emerging new role and importance of

smallscale farmers/ Small holder HH

Re-evaluation of multifunctionality of Smal Scale

Farms/family farms

Assessment of overlapping environmental services and

related stakes (Transport, Ecosystem, SS irrigation, LS

irrigation, hydropower, ecotourism etc.)

Approaches for negotiating environmental services among

different stakes



Towards a redefined research agenda in addressing

increasing economic disparities, social segregation and

resulting high poverty levels

3. Understanding the conditions

and analysing the processes that

lead to disparities and social

segregation

4. The role of interventions

(services and markets) to counter

these developments, especially

poverty trends that are expected

to worsen



5. What are the new pathways for market integration

(market niches, diversification of e.g livelihoods, as well

as farm enterprises and, micro-credits, etc)

Towards a redefined research agenda to promote rural

development through endogenous solutions

Complex situation and quick fixes

Dynamic complexity

Improving

goal seeking

& Viability

Explore

purpose

Ensure

Fairness

Promote

diversity

Food Production

system (Yield)

Ecological system

(Species in

community)

Social system

(Family &

Neighbours)

AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

Economic system

(money)

Beliefs

Value Gender &

power

relationship

Legislation,

Rules &

Norms

Cultures

A Meta-methodology Approach

Critical System

Practices

Hard System

approaches

Soft System

approaches

Technical (efficacy,

efficiency)

Interpretive (Effectiveness)

Meta-

discipline Right

Attitude + + +

Shift from reductionist approach to emphasis on understanding

interactions and use of inherent Strengths

Systematic Elements –

Quick impacts/ Quick win

Systemic elements

SIDE

EFFECT

Syst

em

ati

c

solu

tion

Syst

em

ic

solu

tion

SYMPTOM-CORRECTING PROCESS

PROBEM-CORRECTING PROCESS

SYSTEM

INTERVENTIONS

System perspective into practice

Through intensified knowledge of the

systems and therapeutics as backups.

The systemic description allows

identifying how reliance on

therapeutic solutions can reinforce

further reliance ‘side effect’.

Bottom circle has a delay. It

represents a more fundamental

response to family farms problem,

one whose effects take longer to

become evident.

Leverage will always involve

strengthening the bottom circle

and/or weakening the top circle.

Innovation Competencies

1. Integration around a complex but common theme

2. Co-learning in collective action and mutual learning from

working together

3. “balanced” development (economic, social, environmental)

4. Different spatial levels of economic and social organisation

(farm/firm, community/value chain, sector, etc…)

1. Integrate technological, organisational, institutional actions

to achieve change

Innovation Competencies - 1

Techno-productive: Crops, livestock, breeding & selection,

production, protection, food post harvest, biotechnology, etc

NR Management: Fertility management, conservation, irrigation,

etc

Micro-Economic: cost/benefits, profitability, value chains, market

linkages, business management, etc

Macro-Economic: Policy analysis, regional comparative advantage,

national competitiveness, etc

Social: stakeholder analysis, information flows, social/ gender

analysis, benefits analysis, organisational management, etc

“ACADEMIC” DISCIPLINES

One can specialise in a particular discipline, but everyone should know

enough about the others to know when specialist expertise is useful!



production, protection, etc

NR Management: Fertility management, conservation,

irrigation, etc

Micro-Economic: cost/benefits, profitability, value chains,

market linkages, etc

Macro-Economic: Policy analysis, regional comparative

advantage, national competitiveness &c

Social: stakeholder analysis, information flows, gender

analysis, benefits analysis, etc


Everyone who is a “System

practitioner” needs these skills…



production, protection, etc

NR Management: Fertility management, conservation,

irrigation, etc

Micro-Economic: cost/benefits, profitability, value chains,

market linkages, etc

Macro-Economic: Policy analysis, regional comparative

advantage, national competitiveness &c

Social: stakeholder analysis, information flows, gender

analysis, benefits analysis, etc


Everyone (who works with other

people…) needs these skills…

Summing up: Capacity for Innovation

Individuals • Systems thinking

• Social (“soft”) skills

• Learning how to learn

Organizations • Procedures and processes

• Incentive structures

• Culture (learning and adaptation)

Partnerships • Organization for joint vision/brokering

• Governance for facilitation, participation

• Space for learning, adaption

leads to…

leads

to...

requires.

..

requires.

..

Capacity for Innovation - Institutions

Individual Competency

• Systems thinking

• Team skills/ communication

• Self improvement

Organizational Capability

• Procedures- communication/collaboration

• Management-incentives/linkages

• Culture of learning and adaptation

Partnership Capacity

• Organization for joint vision/brokering

• Governance for facilitation, participation

• Space for learning, adaption

Policies

Norms

Culture

Incentives

Structures

Worldviews

Thank you !

If the only tool available to you is a hammer everything will looks

like nails

Science

From farm to landscape and beyond increasing the capacity for innovative integrated research system by Herve Bisseleua, Humidtropics, IITA/ICRAF