Resource information
The Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems (SIMFS) is a CGIAR initiative. This initiative ‘aims to provide equitable, transformative pathways for improved livelihoods of actors in mixed farming systems through sustainable intensification within target agroecological and socioeconomic settings. To achieve this, different methodologies, innovations, and practices have been implemented to understand and improve the agroecological/productive conditions to assess a benefit on nutrition, food security and welfare. SIMFS works closely with the CGIAR Regional Integrated Initiative on Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA) that propels evidence into impact through engagement with public and private partners across the production-to-consumption continuum, to achieve productive, environmentally sound South Asian agrifood systems that support equitable access to sustainable healthy diets.
The use of Principal Component Analysis through Hierarchical Clustering (PCA-HC) is a tool which provides relevant information for farmers, practitioners, and other stakeholders. The development of typologies is a methodological approach to systematically arrange and interpret data associated with the categorization of groups of variables. In farming systems analysis, household-level data are critical in delineating internal farm dynamics that include production processes, adaptive strategies, and resilience metrics. Structural variables, characterized by their stability over short to medium-term periods, are key to discerning consistent trends and patterns within farming systems. These variables assist in identifying the strategic choices made by farm households to advance their welfare and nutrition. The analytical process is structured to support the establishment of sustainable and productive mixed crop-livestock-tree farming systems.
