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Assessing the value of diverse cropping systems under a new agricultural policy environment in Rwanda

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/9537/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12571-016-0582-x
 
Title Assessing the value of diverse cropping systems under a new agricultural policy environment in Rwanda
 
Creator Isaacs, K B
Snapp, S S
Chung, K
Waldman, K B
 
Subject Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
Climate change
 
Description In Rwanda, farmers’ traditional farming systems based on inter cropping and varietal mixtures are designed to meet a variety of livelihood objectives and withstand risks associated with fluctuation in market and agro-climatic conditions. However, these mixed systems have been disappearing since 2008 when government mandated intensification strategies. In this paper we use a mixed methods approach to evaluate inter cropping and sole cropping systems against farmers’ criteria for success: yield, market value, contribution to nutritional quality, and land-use efficiency. We used qualitative interviews to understand the criteria by which farmers evaluate cropping systems, and data from crop trials to assess common bean ((Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and maize (Zea mays L.)) sole crops and inter crops against those criteria. We found that an improved inter cropping system tends to outperform the government-mandated system of alternating sole-cropped bean and maize season-by-season, on all four of the criteria tested. Although Rwanda’s agricultural intensification strategy aims to improve rural livelihoods through agricultural modernization, it fails to acknowledge the multiple and currently non-replaceable benefits that diverse cropping systems provide, particularly food security and risk management. Agricultural policies need to be based on a better understanding of smallholders’ objectives and constraints. Efforts to improve farming systems require innovative and inclusive approaches that enable adaptation to the socio-ecological context.
 
Publisher Springer Netherlands
 
Date 2016-06
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/9537/1/art%253A10.1007%252Fs12571-016-0582-x.pdf
Isaacs, K B and Snapp, S S and Chung, K and Waldman, K B (2016) Assessing the value of diverse cropping systems under a new agricultural policy environment in Rwanda. Food Security, 8 (3). pp. 491-506. ISSN 1876-4517