(This book is the Proceedings of the International Farming Systems Association 7th European Regional Meeting, Wageningen, Netherlands)

The reality is that there are no shortages of good approaches or intentions that have emerged over the last 35 years to advance sustainable development in rural areas. With the greater acceptance of participatory and multi-stakeholder processes, farm to landscape linkages, and practice to policy strategies, it is time to take stock of what is working and why. How do we take our best learning forward to truly make a difference in the lives of poor people in rural areas? In this paper, we look at approaches and innovations that have emerged from farming systems in the evolution of good practice for people-centred research and development. Approaches have evolved largely through ad hoc practitioner experimentation and learning, often in diverse field settings. Whilst some methods have been imported from other approaches or sectors, most method improvement, albeit mostly fine-tuning, of methods. As we include and transcend to the nest generation of approaches, we must clarify what we wish to accomplish within the current context of the MDG targets and what good processes and practices will look like to get us there.

Text in English