Operationalizing Trade-Offs and Synergies in the Design of Alternative Farming Systems.

Small-scale farming systems are complex multifunctional systems. Farmers, through the allocation of their available resources, carry out several activities (e.g. crop, livestock, forest, off-farm activities) to satisfy a multiplicity of goals such as income generation, food security and risk management, among others. In the context of small-scale farming systems trade-offs and synergies are omnipresent and, in the design of technical or policy alternatives, these have be to be identified, understood and geared towards the development of more sustainable farming systems. Different tools can be used to achieve these objectives, ranging from the identification and quantification of trade-offs and synergies at the farming system level, to modelling tools to participatory approaches, or the combination of both. In this contribution, different analyses of trade-offs and synergies in small scale farming systems are presented. The application of the FarmDesign model in small scale farming systems in Bihar (India), for example, has allowed the quantification of trade-offs and synergies between economic productivity, food security and water conservation, providing elements for the design of optimized systems. In, Malawi, a frontier efficiency analysis has facilitated the quantification of trade-offs between food security and economic profitability of different farm types. Finally, in Latin-American, the application of the MESMIS framework assisted in, based on participatory approaches, the identification and reduction of trade-offs. The MESMIS framework also assists in the as we development of alternative, more sustainable farming systems. In the context of small =-scale farming systems, the combination of tools (e.g. modeling and participatory approaches) for the quantification of trade-offs and synergies at the farm level and the design and development of alternatives, can provide the basis for the implementation of practices and policies to strengthen the sustainability of farming systems.