1. 1 FARM ENTERPRISE-BASED SYSTEMS Chris Pannkuk, Peter Wyeth, Oumarou Badini Washington State University

2. 2 MAIN ACTIVITIES Contribution to the SANREM Knowledge Base System Identification of relevant projects for case status analysis and development Synthetic review and analysis of the “Science and Art” of farm/enterprise-based systems for inclusion in a SANREM book in preparation

3. 3 RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENT Objective 1: Review literature reflecting the State of Science at the farm level Specific geographic areas of focus where: Ghana, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Afghanistan, Armenia, and Romania. Meta-data from a total of 75 projects in Africa and 20 projects elsewhere will add to the online SANREM Knowledge Base

4. 4 RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENT Objectives 2 &3: Identify State of the Art projects at the farm level for case study analysis and Develop case studies characterizing critical SA & NRM system issues Projects pertaining to agroforestry systems, crop-livestock integration systems, soil fertility and water conservation were investigated and site visits conducted in Africa (Mali, Burkina Faso, Malawi) The USAID funded Malawi Agroforestry Extension Project and the IFAD Special Programme for Soil and Water Conservation and Agroforestry in Burkina Faso were chosen for in-depth analysis Actual outcomes, impact and changes made and lessons learned are being drawn and will be presented as case studies in SANREM book

5. 5 RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENT Objective 4: Draft synthetic review of the State of the Art and Science in your system Based on literature review (objective 1) we drafted Chapter 3 on “the State of the Science” of farm/enterprise-based systems for a SANREM book in preparation (more details to follow) Results from the case study analysis will help draft a subsequent chapter on the “State of the Art” on farm/enterprise-based systems

6. 6 Chapter 3 Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management In Farm Enterprise Systems at the Household Level Peter Wyeth, Oumar Badini and Chris Pannkuk, Washington State University

7. 7 INTRODUCTION & CONCEPTS Some Characteristics: Among the nested systems, the farm enterprise at the household level is the only one that is identifiable as a decision-making unit rather than a small geographical area (as in the case of a field) or large one (a watershed or ecosystem) Households come ready-made, with historical experience in both exploiting and preserving natural resources to feed its members and accumulate wealth (not managed by institutions as in the case of larger systems)

8. 8 INTRODUCTION & CONCEPTS The aims of this chapter are to: Describe farms as systems. Here the emphasis is on the farm as an economic and social enterprise Examine the most important components both on and off-farm and how they influence decision- making on NRM Illustrate how, because of the specific character of farm systems, innovations can be better promoted

9. 9 AN OVERVIEW OF THE FARM AS A SYSTEM Figure 1: The Farm Enterprise System at the Household Level shows one view of the farm as a system, made up of interacting components leading to a set of decisions

10. 10 Physical Climate Pest & diseases Technical and socio-economic: NRM technologies & training; Culture; Rights to land and water;Market access and prices, Credit access; Employment; Education Farm level resources Land on-farm; Access to pasture, woodland, Water; Household composition; Livestock; Equipment; Off-farm Income Attitude to Risk Set of on and off farm Production possibilities Household resource allocation and management decisions On-farm Production decisions What to Produce (field crops, livestock, cash crops) How to Produce (NRM practices, equipment used..) Off-farm allocations of labor (by gender & age) Context: Significant factors outside the farm

11. 11 FARM LEVEL RESOURCES & DECISIONS ON NRM PRACTICES What NRM practices are appropriate will generally vary from farm to farm because the resources at their disposal are not at all uniform. Table 3.11. Illustrative relationships between the farm level resources and NRM decisions

12. 12 Farming level resources Appropriate NRM Practices Soil fertility measures Limited land, labor and cash Dispersed systematic inter-planting of Acacia albida Dispersed systematic inter-planting of Acacia albida Under-sow maize with Tephrosia, pigeon peas Under-sow maize with Tephrosia, pigeon peas Intercropping grain with a legume Intercropping grain with a legume Limited land and cash, adequate labor Alley cropping Alley cropping Green manure banks (biomass transfer) Green manure banks (biomass transfer) Limited land, adequate livestock or means to acquire manure, adequate labor Fertilizing with animal manure Fertilizing with animal manure Reducing deforestation, providing wood supplies, fodder banks Reduced access to woodland, good pasture Woodlots, planting trees around fields and homesteads Woodlots, planting trees around fields and homesteads

13. 13 Inter-planting Soil Improving Trees - Good Maize Stand under Winter Thorn

14. 14 Agroforestry: Intercropping Tephrosia Intercropped between maize 2 months Tephrosia at maize harvest – 4 months Tephrosia – left to grow after crop harvest Impact of Tephrosia at right in Year 2

15. 15 Homestead Woodlot: 1 Year-old Senna siamea

16. 16 Boundary Planting: 3 Year Senna siamea

17. 17 LINKS TO BROADER SYSTEMS Agroforestry methods have impact not only on- farm supplies of wood and decreased soil erosion and increased soil fertility but also on: total run-off and erosion from watershed as a whole reduction in a rate of deforestation Actions taken or not taken to control rain-water run-off on hillsides will affect both farms and water quality below Impact on pasture quality and carbon sequestration possible through agroforestry for forage

18. 18 From the cropland, the rock lines are extended to the whole land of the village (Kartenga) Zaï (pits for planting in degraded land)

19. 19 Coffee Protected with Vetiver on Steep Hillside

20. 20 Contour Vetiver Grass Hedges to Control Erosion and Run-off

21. 21 Drumhead Cabbage with Bananas, Papya and Vetiver Grass Hedges

22. 22 Planting Native Trees to Protect River Banks

23. 23 CONCLUSIONS: PROMOTING INNOVATIONS AT THE FARM LEVEL A farm is a system made up of a number of interacting components both on-farm and off-farm, that determine the farm’s production possibilities, influence attitude toward risk and hence are critical to the decisions regarding NRM practices

24. 24 CONCLUSIONS: PROMOTING INNOVATIONS AT THE FARM LEVEL The result is that, as a system, each farm is potentially unique. Even where land, crops grown and livestock raised are the same, household make-up and availability of off-farm income can be different, leading to different production possibilities, different views of risk and different decisions Farmers understand their own circumstances, that is, their own farm systems, better than outside observers

25. 25 CONCLUSIONS: PROMOTING INNOVATIONS AT THE FARM LEVEL Farmers should be involved in the choice of research objectives. Research results should be discussed with farmers and other household members to obtain their evaluations regarding their relevance and apparent validity It is best not to make blanket recommendations but to present farmers with a set of alternative practices and their results so that they can choose those most suitable to their own farms systems

26. 26 CONCLUSIONS: PROMOTING INNOVATIONS AT THE FARM LEVEL Relations between researchers or extension agents and farmers should be collaborative rather than top-down Research and extension is likely to be most effective when these relationships develop over many years

27. 27 THE END