In the context of broad scale system changes (e.g. climate change) and the prioritisation of impact-atscale
development, there is a particular need for farming systems research (FSR) to improve our
understanding of the links between systems at multiple scales. Drawing on three empirical case studies
of large-scale agricultural interventions in eastern and southern Africa, we highlight problems that arise
from conceiving and justifying interventions on the basis of the simple aggregation of farms into large
collective systems. We review changes in the approach and concepts of FSR and point to the value of
farming systems concepts that go beyond these aggregations, and find ways to capture the multi-level
system dynamics that link on-farm decision making to broader political, social, and environmental changes.
Recent attempts at more accurately conceptualising the domain of FSR, and drawing distinctions between
‘farms’, ‘systems’, and ‘systems of farming’, represent a useful contribution to such work