agricultural productivity and the enhancement of
natural capital and ecosystem services; greater
efficiencies in the use of key inputs, including water,
nutrients, pesticides, energy, land and labour, using
them to complement natural processes/ecosystem
services and greater use of managed and natural
biodiversity to build system resilience in farming
systems to abiotic (drought and temperature
changes), biotic (pests and diseases) and economic
stresses (FAO, 2011).6.2 Smallholder farmers in developing countries
require special attention
The underlying principles and approaches to achiev-
ing SCPI are scale-neutral – they apply equally to
large or small-scale farmers. However, sustainable
intensification needs to be especially promoted
among smallholder farmers in developing countries
as they currently produce 80 percent of the food
and use and manage more than 80 percent of the
farmland in these countries. Increasing the produc-
tivity of smallholder farmers will help to reduce
hunger and poverty among the 2.5 billion people
dependent on these farms.Smallholder farmers can benefit from SCPI as
increased productivity enables them to gain from
increased market demand for agricultural products,
while making more efficient use of local resources
and external inputs. These greater efficiencies will
reduce costs leading to improved livelihoods, greater
resilience to stress and ability to manage risks.The way in which SCPI is implemented will differ
markedly between smallholder farmers and the large
mechanized farms typical of developed countries.
SCPI provides a range of options that can be
adapted to local needs while building on local
knowledge and experience. SCPI promotes innova-
tion and provides incentives for farmers to improve
the local environment. A participatory approach to
decision-making empowers farmers and strength-ens communities. Increases to farmers’ net incomes
will be achieved at lower environmental cost, thus
delivering both private and public benefits.6.3 SCPI will not be achieved without significantly
greater investment in agriculture
There is a need for greater policy and political support
and for adequate incentives and risk mitigation
measures to be in place for a shift to SCPI to take
place. There is a need for large investments in infra-
structure and capacity-building for the entire food
chain including enhanced infrastructure, research,
development and extension. The implementation of
SCPI is knowledge intensive and will require new
approaches to farmer education and extension as
well as encouraging greater collaboration and
communication among smallholders, researchers,
government offices and the private sector to foster
innovation, systematic approaches to agriculture and
context focused knowledge production and sharing.Policies and programmes for SCPI will cut across a
number of sectors and involve a variety of stake-
holders. Therefore a strategy for achieving sustain-
able intensification goals needs to be a cross-cutting
component of a national development strategy. An
important step for policy-makers is to initiate a process
for mainstreaming strategies for sustainable inten-
sification in national development objectives. SCPI
should be an integral part of country-owned devel-
opment programmes such as poverty reduction
processes and food security strategies and invest-
ments. The roll out of sustainable intensification
programmes and plans in developing countries
requires concerted action with the participation of
governments, the private sector and civil society
(FAO, 2011).74