Integrating farming and marketing systems approaches in agricultural development project planning

Abstract

Systems thinking has been applied to rural development projects as well as to both farming and marketing systems. Attempts to apply the systems approach, embodying the concept of ‘learning’, to project planning seem to have had little success, however, while the farming systems research approach is losing credibility, at least according to some commentators. Some of the perceived problems of the existing approaches might be overcome via an integrated approach based on the processes of rural developmental project planning. In the approach proposed, project planning is seen as the core of the various phases of the process. Depending on circumstances, these phases may embody farming or marketing systems approaches as currently conceived. The advantages of the proposed integrated approach are noted, and some of the likely constraints to making the approach operational are listed.