Presentation at a side event at FARA-AASW6, Accra, 16 June 2013ing systems, Sustainable intensification of agriculture, Africa, AASW6

1. Challenges and opportunities for Africa:
Connecting systems approaches, sustainable
intensification and scaling out
Accelerating Sustainable Intensification in Africa:
A farming systems framework for targeting investment
FARA AASW Side event
Accra, 16 July 2014
John Dixon
Principal Regional Coordinator
South Asia & Africa, ACIAR

2. Contents
Challenges
The opportunity:
Sustainable
Intensification Systems
Identifying ways forward ..

3. Challenge 1: future food demand
“feeding 9 billion”
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
1970 1990 2010 2030 2050
GlobalFoodDemand(Petacal/day)
Year
71% increase 2010
to 2050
129% increase
1970 to 2010
Source: Keating et al 2012

4. Challenge 2: current hunger & poverty
“improved food & income for 1 billion”

5. The opportunity (imperative?)
Sustainable intensification systems
 Increased productivity without resource
degradation
Requiring added attention to ...
 Systems and farming systems
 Innovation systems and information sharing
 Policies and institutions (incl markets)
 Metric and monitoring

6. African extensification cf
Asian intensification
 Source:
World Bank, 2008
How much
productive
agricultural
land in Africa
is under-
utilized?
?

7. Some African small farm constraints …
Low productivity
Scarce biomass
Land degradation
Poor markets
& institutions
Climate variability Limited resouces

8. Pathways out of smallholder poverty:
(target “intensification” before “diversification”?)
e.g., maize mixed farming system
Intensification
20%
Diversification
30%
Exit
10%
Off-Farm
Income
20%
Farm Size
20%

9. Connecting initiatives
 Systems R&D adding ‘cross-disciplinary’ value to
commodity/NRM programs for sust intensification
 African farming systems framework for efficient
targeting of agricultural investments in country and
across countries
 Integration of research and scaling out pathways
to impact on farm households

10. Identifying ways forward ...
 Sustainable Intensification Systems Workshop
10-13 July 2013
40-60 persons from FARA, ASARECA, CORAF,
CCARDESA, SSA CP, SIMLESA, SIMLEZA,
Africa Rising, SARD SC, Systems CRPs, ICRAF,
ACIAR, USAID, BMGF and 25 others orgs
 Institutionalizing Farming Systems Frameworks
in Science, Education, Policy and Investment
Planning in Africa
14 July 2013
20 persons from FARA, NEPAD/CAADP, SROs,
NARS, World Bank, ICRAF, ACIAR/AIFSC

11. ACIAR
Now:
Farming systems
framework
Workshop
outcomes