Intensification, and alternative approaches to agricultural change

The context of the intensification debate is widened by calling attention to two aspects that have been insufficiently taken into account in the large post-Boserup literature. These are farmers' use of capital investment of all forms, and the importance of organisational skills, as distinct from the technical skills on which the literature has concentrated. It is suggested that diversification of production and livelihood opportunities, investment, and finding new ways of using and managing resources are important roads to agricultural change and that 'intensification', explained in a reductionist manner as a response to pressures, is only a part of the story. Adaptation, innovation, and the seizing of opportunity can take place within a wide range of social, demographic and environmental conditions.