Contribution of systems thinking and complex adaptive system attributes to sustainable food production: Example from a climate-smart village

Jagustović, R and Zougmore, R B and Kessler, A and Ritsema, C J and Keesstra, S and Reynolds, M (2019) Contribution of systems thinking and complex adaptive system attributes to sustainable food production: Example from a climate-smart village. Agricultural Systems (TSI), 171. pp. 65-75. ISSN 0308521X

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Abstract

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) conceptually has the potential to contribute to the sustainable development goals of achieving zero hunger, reducing land degradation, eliminating poverty, tackling climate change, and promoting gender equality. The scaling-up needed to achieve goals of CSA represents a challenge, as it entails understanding synergies between often opposing socioeconomic and environmental priorities and trade-offs over temporal and spatial scales. In this paper, we tested new approaches to support scaling-up of sustainable food production through investigating the contribution of systems thinking as a conceptual approach and complex adaptive system (CAS) attributes as a framework for analysis of CSA. This was done through examining (i) to what extent CSA represents a CAS and (ii) what contribution systems thinking and CAS attributes can make to understanding and scaling-up sustainable food production systems through CSA. The CSA situation was conceptualized through systems thinking sessions with women farmers in the climate-smart village (CSV) of Doggoh-Jirapa, northern Ghana, and was guided by the Distinctions, Systems, Relationships and Perspectives (DSRP) framework. Systems thinking, and CAS attributes provide system-wide understanding of elements, dynamics and trade-offs over temporal and spatial scale in selected agri-food systems. As such it could aid horizontal and vertical scaling-up by informing policy developoment and selection of a context-specific portfolio of technologies and practices at landscape and farm levels to achieve synergies between goals. In this study, systems thinking enabled women farmers in the CSV to identify income-generating and tree planting activities, with desirable simultaneous system-wide impact. The paper calls for further testing of tools, approaches, and methods that enable dynamic systems thinking to inform scaling-up efforts, while embracing the transdisciplinary nature and complexity of CSA as a constituent of the food production system.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	Research Program : West & Central Africa
CRP:	CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Climate-smart agriculture, CSA, Food production system, Systems thinking, Complex adaptive systems West Africa, Africa, Sustainable food production, climate-smart village
Subjects:	Others > Climate Adaptation Others > Climate Mitigation Others > Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Others > Food Production Others > Climate Change Others > Food Security Others > African Agriculture Others > Africa Others > West Africa Others > Mali
Depositing User:	Mr Ramesh K
Date Deposited:	21 Jun 2019 05:03
Last Modified:	21 Jun 2019 05:03
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/11125
Official URL:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.12.008
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	CCAFS
Acknowledgement:	This work was implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is carried out with support from the CGIAR Fund Donors and through several bilateral funding agreements (the CGIAR Fund Council, Australia-ACIAR, European Union, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Ireland, New Zealand, Netherlands, Switzerland, USAID, UK and Thailand). For details please visit https://ccafs.cgiar. org/donors. We thank women farmers in Doggoh-Jirapa for participating in the systems thinking sessions, and the staff of the CSIR-SARI and of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture Department in Jirapa for providing logistical on-site support and translation services during the field data collection.
Links:	Google Scholar

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