The paper explores the implications of rural livelihood diversity for agricultural innovation policies. It summarises literature on the nature of rural poverty, with particular emphasis on the relative roles of farm and non-farm income. It also reviews the various roles, direct and indirect, that agricultural innovation can play in rural poverty reduction. Finally, it uses an agricultural knowledge and information systems (AKIS) perspective to argue for a differentiated approach to targeting agricultural innovations, based on an analysis of rural assets.
El Silvopastoreo es un sistema de producción pecuaria en donde las leñosas perennes (árboles y/ o arbustos) interactúan con los componentes tradicionales (forrajeras herbáceas y animales) bajo un sistema de manejo integral, ha sido planteado con base en resultados investigativos, como una alternativa de producción sostenible que permite reducir el impacto ambiental de los sistemas tradicionales de producción.
Mainstream agricultural research has focused primarily on technical and biological aspects and is aimed at controlling or manipulating nature through the use of external inputs, such as
agricultural chemicals or super seed. In developing countries, the results of this research have benefited some resource-rich farmers in well-endowed areas, were suitable to only a limited
extent for poorer farmers in the more favourable areas, and were - in most cases - completely inappropriate for small-scale farmers in marginal areas, e.g. in the mountains or the drylands.