Systems Research for Agriculture -
a call to action
Peter Thorne
International Livestock Research Institute
Africa RISING Program Learning Event
5 – 8 February 2019
Lilongwe, Malawi

Plot-scale Systems Research - Ethiopia
System Feed Yield
(t ha-1)
Grain Yield
(t ha-1)
Net Return
(ETB ha-1)
5.6 3.3 35,032
2.6 3.6 36,756
7.4 3.4 41,869

Systems Research or component research?
Component Research Systems Research in Agriculture
ß Differences à
Focused on a single hierarchical / organisational level Can be, and often is, focused on multiple levels
Focused on an individual process within that level Focused on multiple processes within levels or processes
at multiple levels, and their interactions
Many exogenous factors potentially impact on the
processes studied
Few (relatively) such exogenous factors are left outside the
system boundary
Members of research teams generally align with a
single, scientific discipline
Interdisciplinarity essential for systematic analysis
Tends to lead to increasingly detailed knowledge of the
processes under study
Tends to lead to increasing appreciation of the scope of
the processes that make up the system
Better suited to the analysis of single dimensions Better suited to the analysis of complexity
Likely to generate more answers than questions Likely to generate more questions than answers but these
questions are likely to key to a broad understanding
ß Interactions à
CR generates detail for more robust system descriptions
SRA provides context for better prioritisation of CR
Systems / foresight models can be built from CR process descriptions

Food for thought
1. What do you understand by the term systems research and what are its key
characteristics?
2. Are there aspects of research on SI that specifically require a more systems-oriented
approach?
3. How might systems research approaches add value to the component research that
you are conducting?
4. What practical barriers might you face when trying to adopt a stronger systems focus
in your research?

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