Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
To mulch or to munch? big modelling of big data. / Rodriguez, D.; de Voil, P.; Rufino, Mariana C. et al.
In: Agricultural Systems, Vol. 153, 05.2017, p. 32-42.Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - To mulch or to munch?
T2 - big modelling of big data
AU - Rodriguez, D.
AU - de Voil, P.
AU - Rufino, Mariana C.
AU - Odendo, M.
AU - van Wijk, M. T.
PY - 2017/5
Y1 - 2017/5
N2 - African farmers are poorly resourced, highly diverse and aground by poverty traps making them rather impervious to change. As a consequence R4D efforts usually result in benefits but also trade-offs that constraint adoption and change. A typical case is the use of crop residues as mulches or as feedstock. Here we linked a database of household surveys with a dynamic whole farm simulation model, to quantify the diversity of trade-offs from the alternative use of crop residues. Simulating all the households in the survey (n = 613) over 99 years of synthetic climate data, showed that benefits and trade-offs from “mulching or munching” differ across agro-ecologies, and within agro-ecologies across typologies of households. Even though trade-offs between household production or income and environmental outcomes could be managed; the magnitude of the simulated benefits from the sustainable intensification of maize-livestock systems were small. Our modelling framework shows the benefits from the integration of socio-economic and biophysical approaches to support the design of development programs. Our results support the argument that a greater focus is required on the development and diversification of farmers' livelihoods within the framework of an improved understanding of the interconnectedness between biophysical, socio-economic and market factors.
AB - African farmers are poorly resourced, highly diverse and aground by poverty traps making them rather impervious to change. As a consequence R4D efforts usually result in benefits but also trade-offs that constraint adoption and change. A typical case is the use of crop residues as mulches or as feedstock. Here we linked a database of household surveys with a dynamic whole farm simulation model, to quantify the diversity of trade-offs from the alternative use of crop residues. Simulating all the households in the survey (n = 613) over 99 years of synthetic climate data, showed that benefits and trade-offs from “mulching or munching” differ across agro-ecologies, and within agro-ecologies across typologies of households. Even though trade-offs between household production or income and environmental outcomes could be managed; the magnitude of the simulated benefits from the sustainable intensification of maize-livestock systems were small. Our modelling framework shows the benefits from the integration of socio-economic and biophysical approaches to support the design of development programs. Our results support the argument that a greater focus is required on the development and diversification of farmers' livelihoods within the framework of an improved understanding of the interconnectedness between biophysical, socio-economic and market factors.
KW - APSIM
KW - Whole farm modelling
KW - Integrative analyses
KW - Farm diversity
U2 - 10.1016/j.agsy.2017.01.010
DO - 10.1016/j.agsy.2017.01.010
M3 - Journal article
VL - 153
SP - 32
EP - 42
JO - Agricultural Systems
JF - Agricultural Systems
SN - 0308-521X
ER -