University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) - Research portal
Developing resilient and profitable rural livelihood systems in semi-arid Mozambique: A conceptual approach
- Project Leader
- Hauser Michael, BOKU Project Leader
- Contact person:
-
- Duration:
- 01.07.2012-31.12.2015
- Type of Research
- Applied Research
- Project partners
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International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics , Mozambique.
Function of the Project Partner: Partner
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Mozambiquean Agricultural Research Institute , Mozambique.
Function of the Project Partner: Partner
- Staff
- BOKU Research Units
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Institute for Development Research
- Funded by
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Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Zelinkagasse , 1010 Wien, Austria
- Abstract
- Low agricultural productivity and unsustainable forms of land use in the mixed crop-livestock production systems are major challenges for Mozambique. Yields still remain low and leave large parts of the population in need of food aid. An additional increased food demand of future generations needs to be met by agricultural intensification, without compromising the livelihoods of the poor and the environment.
This project will develop a new systemic conceptual approach guided by principles of modern resilience thinking and rural livelihood systems analysis to develop and evaluate pathways for increased food security and reduced rural poverty. Using a value chain approach, essential for market development, will ensure that new system configurations are economically sustainable and that there are sufficient reliable incentives for farmers to invest in improved systems. The thresholds for, and transitions to, higher states will be determined through a combination of bio-economic models and participatory modeling exercises at Innovation Platform (IP) workshops.
Innovation Platforms (IPs) will serve as forum for engaging local innovation systems actors in the research process. They will engage in new forms of direct interaction, communication and information exchange, which will assist them to tackle a wide range of locally defined challenges. Scientific knowledge will be inserted into the IPs, whereby participatory modeling will guide the actors to evaluate their current livelihood systems and associated value chains. IP participants will jointly screen and validate the alternative options for their potential to move the socio-ecological systems (SES) further along development pathways. Based on the identified systems’ constraints, practical steps towards more resilient and profitable rural livelihood systems will be defined. In doing so, the project will outline pathways and stimulate changes to more resilient and food secure agriculture, which will enable the poor to participate and benefit from inclusive market-oriented agriculture.
- Keywords
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agricultural ecology;
agricultural economics;
Sustainable development, sustainable economics;
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livelihood system analysis;
market development;
methods development;
Mozambique;
resilience;
