ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to perform an ex-ante evaluation of farm-type specific interventions for sustainable intensification and innovation at the farm level. In eastern Zambia, the livelihoods of small-scale farmers depend largely on maize-legume mixed systems characterised by low productivity, extreme poverty and environmental degradation. A baseline survey was conducted in 2011/2012 in Eastern Zambia to obtain an initial description of the local farming systems and their diversity, and to derive a statistical farm typology. The information derived from the modelling is important in guiding discussions between farmers and stakeholders towards the selection of farm designs that are likely to be adopted by target farmers. In FarmDESIGN, the windows of opportunities are defined using fixed assumptions on the achievable yields and market prices. However, in real conditions, farmers have to make decisions early in the cropping season under uncertainties on the future production and market situations.
