Integrated systems research in nutrition-sensitive landscapes: A theoretical methodological framework

Jeroen C.J. Groot*, Gina Kennedy, Roseline Remans, Natalia Estrada-Carmona, Jessica Raneri, Fabrice DeClerck, Stéphanie Alvarez, Nester Mashingaidze, Carl Timler, Minke Stadler, Trinidad del Río Mena, Lummina Horlings, Inge Brouwer, Steven M. Cole, Katrien Descheemaeker

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are two regions of the world with the highest concentration of nutritionally vulnerable populations that depend to a large extent on agriculture as an important source of livelihood (Gillespie et al., 2015). The vast majority of farmers in these regions have small landholdings due to land fragmentation (Jayne et al., 2014; Valbuena et al., 2015) and are often constrained in their access to resources and agricultural inputs (Herrero et al., 2010), especially women (e.g., Cole et al., 2015). As a consequence, productivity levels are low, and because income sources are also limited, dependence on surrounding landscapes and ecosystem services is high in terms of safeguarding supplies of clean water, human and animal foods, construction materials and fuel wood. People shape their physical landscapes (Ellis, 2015), influenced by cultures, values and livelihood opportunities (Horlings, 2015). People’s utilization of their physical landscapes is shaped by various conditions such as soil properties, topography, climate and flooding patterns. People’s dependence on their physical landscapes is strong and expected to increase due to climate change, resulting in gradual but persistent changes including adjustments in frequency, timing and severity of anomalies such as droughts and floods (Naylor et al., 2007; Gornall et al., 2010).
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSustainable Intensification in Smallholder Agriculture
Subtitle of host publicationAn Integrated Systems Research Approach
EditorsIngrid Oborn, Bernard Vanlauwe, Michael Phillips, Richard Thomas, Kwesi Atta-Krah, Willemien Brooijmans
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter18
Pages259-274
ISBN (Electronic)9781315618791
ISBN (Print)9781138668089
Publication statusPublished - 17 Feb 2017

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