Applying a systems
framework to research on
African farming systems
John Lynam
CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems
Regional Inception Workshop East and Southern Africa
Nairobi, 5-7 June 2012

Expanding Global Agendas
and Increasing Demands on
Agricultural Research
 Global food security under increasing
land and water constraints
 Provision of ecosystem services and
eco-efficiency of farming systems
 Adaptation and mitigation to climate
change
 Agroecological intensification of
smallholder agriculture and poverty

Changing Research Methods
and Technology Design
 Production systems research
 Integrating ecological science
 Place-based research methods
 Research consortia
 Scaling up integrated into research
design
 Flexible institutional arrangements

Design Issues in Production System
CGIAR Research Programs
 Target Area Selection
 Research Site Selection
-Target area characterization
-Research hypotheses
-Methodology for research site selection
-Baseline and monitoring of system change
 Methods for Research on Farming Systems

Developing the Science of
System Intensification
Data and Analytics for:
 Characterization and targeting
 Extrapolation
 Baseline and monitoring
 Causal relationships
-System change
-Comparative frameworks

Design Characteristics for Analyzing
African Farming Systems
 Heterogeneity: system boundaries and
classification strata
-Spatial Characterization
-Within site household stratification
 System Change and Dynamics: drivers
and intensification pathways
 Embeddedness: landscape,
market/sub-sector, agricultural sector

Livelihood Key variables
strategies
INSTITUTIONAL
MANAGEMENT
ENDOGENOUS EXOGENOUS
Livelihood Implementation Institutions and
Capitals programs policy network
Spatial Scale

Structure of Farm/Household
System
 Asset base: five capitals
 Production activities
 Household objectives:
-Subsistence/food security
-Risk management
-Income
Within site variability: typologies

System Boundaries and
Classification Frameworks
Hierarchical Classification
 Land use: Cultivated land within
managed natural ecosystems
 First order spatial classification
-Agroecology: eg semi-arid, highlands
-Crop-livestock interaction: eg pastoral
 Staple food crop: spatially contiguous?
 Sub-system speciation

System Speciation
East African Highland Banana Systems
Utilization
 Matoke: Uganda
 Beer bananas: Rwanda and Burundi
 Enset: Ethiopia
Crop Management
 Commercial: southwest Uganda
 Soil fertility constrained: Bukoba

System Variation and System
Performance
System Performance
-Productivity, profitability, income
-Vulnerability, food security
-Resource efficiency, resilience
System Variation
-Spatial/causal comparative frameworks
-Within-site socio-economic variation

Drivers of System Change
 Rural population growth
-Declining farm size
-Increasing inequity in farm distribution
-Pressure on common resources and
natural capital
 Improvements in Market Access
-Transaction costs and input/output
-Staple terms of trade
 Changes in agroecology from climate
change or biotic pandemics

Relative Prices and Marginal
Returns to Nitrogen Application
Marginal Return Relative Price
(kg)
Kenya: HYV Maize 19.9 16.0
Kenya: Recycled Maize 16.1 16.0
Uganda: HYV Maize 25.0 33.7
Uganda: Recycled Maize 25.2 33.7

Pathways of System Change
 Intensification of existing production
patterns: sustainable and unsustainable
 Diversification of production
 Expanded farm size or herd size: high vs
low population densities
 Increased off-farm income: expanding
non-farm rural economy vs transfers
 Exit from agriculture

East Africa: Average Farm
Income, 2004-06
Kenya Uganda Ethiopia
Per Capita Income 367 154 94
% Crop Income 36 64 53
% Livestock Income 24 13 34
% Non Farm Income 42 29 12

Kenya: Crop Diversification
Indices by Zone

Markets as a Driver of Farming
System Evolution
Stage in Farming Farmer Objective Principal Driver
System Evolution
Static Equilibrium Subsistence Dominates Rural Population Growth
Diversification Both Income and <Shifting Farm Gate
Subsistence Terms of Trade
<Staple Food
Productivity
Specialization Income Dominates <Price Signals in Efficient
Markets
<Regional Competition
and Comparative
Advantage