The document summarizes an international conference on integrated systems research for sustainable intensification in smallholder agriculture. The conference had over 120 participants from over 30 countries who shared methods, tools and approaches for systems research. Key topics discussed included conceptual underpinnings of systems research, integrated systems improvement and sustainable intensification in practice, partnerships for innovation and scaling, and future directions for systems research. Participants agreed that systems research is important for improving livelihoods and natural resource management in a sustainable way and that further development of indicators, tools, and partnerships are needed to strengthen systems approaches.

1. Integrated Systems Research for Sustainable
Intensification in Smallholder Agriculture
humidtropics.cgiar.org/international-conference-integrated-systems

2. Objectives
• Demonstrate experience and evidence that
systems approaches are effective and
contribute to improved livelihoods and NRM
• Share methods, tools and approaches
• Identify opportunities for effective cross-
system learning
• New and strengthened partnerships
• Special issue – peer reviewed

3. Conference Open Access
1. Vimeo:
• Highlights of the Opening Session
• Opening session videos & keynotes videos
• Why is systems research important for farmers?
Scientists answer this question in a vox pop video
2. Slideshare:
• Powerpoint presentations
• Posters
3. Twitter: Conference in 1000 tweets on Storify
4. Flickr: Conference photo album
humidtropics.cgiar.org/international-conference-integrated-systems

4. Conference News and Blogs
 Increasing Food Production Through Systemic
Farming, 25-minute documentary: Part 1, Part 2.
 Eco-efficient Crop and Livestock Production for
Nicaraguan Farmers
 The ‘unlikely hero’ that transforms lands and
livelihoods in Uganda
 Transforming IITA to Nourish Africa
 Integrating agricultural biodiversity into farming
systems is essential
 Foresight modelling to guide sustainable
intensification of smallholder systems
 Marketing Analysis Confirms the Intertwined Nature of
Agricultural Production, Marketing and Natural
Resources Management Systems in Uganda

5. Participation
• 120 participants from over 30 nations
• 7 keynotes, 55 oral and 50 poster presentations:
Book of Abstracts
• Biophysical and social scientists
• CGIAR and non-CGIAR participants
• Ph.D. students, senior scientists and professors

6. Core Questions
• How to move systems concepts into
practice?
• How do we move to scale and impact with
systems research and development?
• What is the value added?
• Why is systems research needed to
achieve development impact?

7. Conference…

8. …and/or Workshop?

9. Conference Themes
1. Conceptual underpinnings of
systems research
2. Integrated systems improvement
and sustainable intensification in
practice
3. Partnerships and institutional
arrangements for innovation,
scaling and impact
4. Foresight in systems research
for development impact
5. Future directions: how to take
systems research forward?

10. Conference Results

11. Conceptual Underpinnings
Key Points
• Farming systems - 70s and 80s. What has
changed?
• Livelihoods orientation - beyond plot and farm
– On-farm / off-farm interactions
– Integration / links with the broader agriculture R&D
– Value chain for priority commodities
– Sustainable Intensification - NRM
• Scaling up and down - impact at scale
• Systematic vs. systemic dimensions
• Multi-stakeholder engagement

12. Key Points
• Farmer empowerment as a guiding principle
• Fostering the capacity to innovate
• Alignment with policy, education, and other
systems for impact
• Scientists embedded in development processes -
co-learning
• Social and gender as leverage points for change
• Foresight: to deal with uncertainty and
unpredictability towards resilience
Conceptual Underpinnings

13. Observations / Lessons Learnt
• Significant progress made in farming systems
research in terms of understanding and
interventions
• Diversity of disciplines essential towards
operationalizing systems research to effectively
tackle complex system issues
• Engage with diverse stakeholder groups for
problem formulation and scaling
• Common understanding on the principles and
underlying logic needed
Conceptual Underpinnings

14. Key Points
• Diverse pathways exists towards improving
livelihoods - intensification, diversification,
specialization, exit
• Markets are key in driving multi-stakeholder
processes; private sector engagement is essential
• System analysis at multiple scales needed for
trade-off analysis with direct engagement of
stakeholders
• Nutrition and gender are leverage points for
system improvement - will increase the density of
trade-offs
Systems Improvements &
Sustainable Intensification

15. Systems Improvements &
Sustainable Intensification
Observations / Lessons Learnt
• Excitement about results of concrete systems
research
• Substantial progress with understanding systems
and identifying priority interventions
• Activities on the ground provides a basis for
advancing system research and connecting with
actors across scales for co-learning and scaling
• Emphasis on bridging the understanding of
systems with the implementation of systems
interventions

16. Partnerships for Innovation,
Scaling and Impact
Key Points
• Systems research – beyond G x E towards
Options x Context => scaling for impact
• Embracing heterogeneity at scale: biophysical,
social, economic, institutional…
• R4D and innovation platforms as integrators for
multi-stakeholder engagement in R4D
– Strengthen gender and equity within platforms
– Facilitation is key to success
• Analysis of multi-stakeholder processes critical
for effectiveness towards outcomes/impact

17. Partnerships for Innovation,
Scaling and Impact
Observations / Lessons Learnt
• Focus on productivity and NRM while
institutional innovations might be the leverage
point
• Knowledge and methods for system research
are in place
• Strategy for bringing results to scale - explore
opportunities for aligning with development
initiatives for impact

18. Value Proposition

19. • Develops and tests, with farming households and
development partners, feasible combinations of
technical, market, governance and policy options
capable of improving agricultural livelihood systems.
• Improves the understanding of place-based social,
financial, technical and environmental contexts
providing a knowledge resource to enhance the
development and targeting of systems interventions with
an aim to scaling out to similar extrapolation domains.
• Focus on total farm productivity including closing yield
gaps of systems components with greatest relevance to
smallholder farmers.
Value Proposition
… for Systems Research I

20. • Strengthens the science-policy interface that has
prevented governments and international bodies from
delivering change to rural people.
• Identifies diversified opportunities for the agricultural
sector that can reverse the lack of investment in rural
areas.
• Applies new approaches on how to cope with wicked
problems, productivity trade-offs and synergies, climate
change, land degradation, gender inequities, and youth
unemployment at the expected scale of impact; that is,
with millions of farmers across millions of hectares.
Value Proposition
… for Systems Research
II

21. • Requires further development of M&E systems with
indicators that that can show whether and how
systems approaches are working, and how fast.
• Will directly improve the effectiveness of development
spending at local scales, at the same time producing
generalizable knowledge, and forging new
partnerships to improve livelihood systems.
• Foresight and research on synergies and trade-offs
are core components that help prioritize interventions
and predict possible early successes.
Value Proposition
… for Systems Research
III

22. Looking Forward

23. • Capacity strengthening
• Refine key indicators
– Total Factor Productivity
– Capacity to innovate
– Sustainable intensification
– Resilience in farming systems
• More science-based evidence (long term)
• Methodology guide and tool box
• Contribute to institutional innovation options
• Engage with regional organizations and
development initiatives for impact at scale
Some Priority Actions…
… Looking forward

24. Looking Forward …
….. In relation to 2nd Cycle Portfolio

25. Role of Systems Research
1. Systems research is the bedrock within which
changes in productivity, livelihoods and NRM
can and should take place, in line with the goals
and aspirations of the SRF
2. Systems research must function across
programs throughout the entire CGIAR chain
3. Requires mindset change, competency
enhancement, and strengthened strategic
partnerships

26. CRP
X
CRP
C
Systems CRPs
Communities
of Practice
Linking systems
research
components
Regional
integration
Aggregation of
CRPs within a
zone/country
Systems Research Integration

27. Status Quo Clustering with Efficiencies
1 Systems CRP
2 Systems CRPs
Systems CRPs Aggregation Options
1 Systems CRP

28. Mixed Cluster Aggregation Possibilities
• Commodities: Integration of commodity value chains in
system focal areas
• Policy Institutions and Markets: Systems work needs
to look at institutions and governance and therefore
should relate with PIM in this respect.
• Climate Smart Agriculture: Integration of climate smart
elements into systems research, to provide basis for
foresight considerations.

29. Mixed Cluster Aggregation possibilities
• Nutrition / Nutrition Sensitive Landscapes: Dietary
diversification element cuts across all systems CRPs
and A4NH.
• Dryland Systems and Commodites: DS + Dryland
Cereals and Grain Legumes: Specific integration with
dryland systems CRP.
• Roots, Tubers and Bananas: RTB has adopted
Humidtropics Action Sites. More collaboration and
integration could be explored.

30. Conclusion
• General satisfaction with Conference
• Lots of questions remain that need
answers
• 3 systems-CRPs agreed to work together
towards providing further answers and
development outcomes ….
• …… and to support systems research in
the context of the 2nd cycle CRPs 

31. Thank You!