Sustainable intensification in a world of change

Farmers cope with change on a daily basis. In Africa farmers face high variability, including rapidly changing market conditions, uncertain climate, and shifting government policies. There is urgent need for principles and practices that promote stability and system resilience – particularly for rain-fed agriculture and smallholder farmers. If intensification strategies are to be sustainable and promote resilience in a variable environment, then attention must be paid to building rural communities knowledge and adaptive capacity, as well as recapitalizing the resource base. Technologies that extend vegetative cover and promote biologically sound combinations of germplasm and judicious input use can enhance capture of sunlight, nitrogen fixation and crop-livestock integration. Sustainable intensification strategies require building on indigenous knowledge and enhancing agriculture and ecological literacy.  Gains in yield stability, fertilizer efficiency and food security have been demonstrated at scale, compared to simplified intensification technologies. These will be discussed, along with tradeoffs associated with sustainable intensification. Overall, there is an urgent need for technologies and partnership approaches that promote multiple returns, and agricultural resilience in the face of drought, floods and changing markets. This talk will highlight lessons learned, and opportunities for collaborative research, educators and early career scientists.