ABSTRACT In West African Sahel, there has been an only limited intensification of the mixed crop and livestock systems due to many constraints faced by smallholder farmers including climate change, low use of external inputs, insecure land tenure, and low adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies. However, the growing demand for food caused by a rapidly growing population offers opportunities for intensification of farming systems in the region in view of the current low productivity. A study involving 400 households was carried out in two provinces (Seno and Yatenga) in Burkina Faso in the Sahelian zone of the country to characterize the intensification practices by smallholder farmers in mixed crop and livestock systems. Our results confirmed the advantage of intensification practices in terms of increased crop and livestock productivity which is critical to improving food security. Also, the results showed that access to extension services is an important determinant of adoption of intensification practices in both study sites, which reaffirmed the vital role of extension services in adoption of agricultural technologies. The results also showed strong differences in adoption of intensification practices between the two provinces driven by their divergent history of land use, even though both provinces fall in the same agro-ecological zone.

中文翻译：

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布基纳法索萨赫勒地区混合作物和畜牧系统可持续集约化的预期收益、制约因素和决定因素

摘要在西非萨赫勒地区，由于小农面临许多限制，包括气候变化、外部投入使用率低、土地保有权不安全以及提高生产力的技术采用率低，混合作物和畜牧系统的集约化程度有限. 然而，鉴于当前生产力低下，人口快速增长导致对食物的需求不断增长，为该地区农业系统的集约化提供了机会。在布基纳法索萨赫勒地区的两个省（塞诺和亚腾加）开展了一项涉及 400 户家庭的研究，以描述小农在混合作物和畜牧系统中的集约化做法。我们的结果证实了集约化做法在提高作物和牲畜生产力方面的优势，这对改善粮食安全至关重要。此外，结果表明，获得推广服务是两个研究地点采用集约化做法的重要决定因素，这重申了推广服务在采用农业技术方面的重要作用。结果还表明，尽管两个省都属于同一农业生态区，但由于土地利用历史的不同，这两个省在采用集约化做法方面存在很大差异。这重申了推广服务在采用农业技术方面的重要作用。结果还表明，尽管两个省都属于同一农业生态区，但由于土地利用历史的不同，这两个省在采用集约化做法方面存在很大差异。这重申了推广服务在采用农业技术方面的重要作用。结果还表明，尽管两个省都属于同一农业生态区，但由于土地利用历史的不同，这两个省在采用集约化做法方面存在很大差异。