Tammsalen in Ultuna and Zoom, Uppsala and online
Warmly welcome to this VPE seminar in which Chloe MacLaren will describe how her research project will address knowledge gaps in crop diversification for smallholder farmers in Zambia, in collaboration with researchers at CIMMYT in southern Africa.
It has been widely demonstrated the crop diversification can increase farm productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. However, diversification is not consistently beneficial, and the effects vary across environments and between diversification strategies (rotations and intercrops). The reasons for this variation are not yet well understood, making it difficult to predict whether diversification will be beneficial or detrimental in any given context. This uncertainty presents a substantial risk to farmers, and limits the uptake of diversified cropping systems.
Smallholder farmers in particular may have the most to gain from diversification yet also the most to lose: diversification has substantial potential to mitigate input and labour constraints and to provide more nutritious diets, yet any reduction in staple crop production can have implications for food security and incomes.
In this seminar, Chloe will describe how her research project over the next three years will address knowledge gaps in crop diversification for smallholder farmers in Zambia, in collaboration with researchers at CIMMYT in southern Africa. The research will dig deeper into the ecological dynamics of crop competition and facilitation, and also explore the socioeconomic and human health implications of different diversification strategies. Chloe welcomes ideas and suggestions on her plans and is open to collaboration.
This seminar series is a free and online platform for scientific debate about agricultural production and sustainability between academics, stakeholders, and the general public.
Sign up for the seminar and you will get the Zoom link via e-mail.