International Conference on Integrated Systems

1. From farm to landscape and beyond:
Increasing the capacity for innovative
integrated research system
Hervé Bisseleua , Humidtropics CRP

2. The Changing World:
Climate change

3. 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

4. The Changing World
… Increasing (higher) energy consumption and
prices

5. 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

6. Core Challenges: Different sites,
different issues

7. Diverse Types of Land-Use
Systems under High Pressure

8. Diversity of production systems
and Livelihoods strategies
With Innovative smallholder farmers as a central role in
driving agricultural-led growth and development
8

9. 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.)

10. 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

11. 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 .

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. New Challenges (Implications) for
Sustainability Research
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

16. New Challenges (Implications) for
Sustainability Research
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

17. 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
ValueGender &
power
relationship
Legislation,
Rules &
Norms
Cultures

18. A Meta-methodology Approach
Critical System
Practices
Hard System
approaches
Soft System
approaches
Technical
(efficacy,
efficiency)
Interpretive
(Effectiveness)
Meta-
discipline
Right
Attitude+ + +

19. Shift from reductionist approach to emphasis on understanding
interactions and use of inherent Strengths
Systematic Elements –
Quick impacts/ Quick win
Systemic elements
SIDE
EFFECT
Systematic
solution
Systemic
solution
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.

20. 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

21. 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!

22. Innovation Competencies - 2
Techno-productive: Crops, livestock, breeding & selection,
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
“ACADEMIC” DISCIPLINES
Everyone who is a “System
practitioner” needs these skills…

23. Innovation Competencies - 3
Techno-productive: Crops, livestock, breeding & selection,
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
“ACADEMIC” DISCIPLINES
Everyone (who works with other
people…) needs these skills…

24. 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.
..

25. 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

26. Thank you !
If the only tool available to you is a hammer everything will looks
like nails