Combining internal and external inputs for sustainable intensification

Farmers and local development organizations around the world use and promote a variety of technologies to increase food production. But the high cost of inorganic fertilizers and other agrochemicals often drives farmers to rely on locally available resources instead of purchased, externally produced inputs. So-called low external input agriculture (LEIA) has spread rapidly to different parts of the globe as a challenging alternative to—or, more frequently, a complement to— Green Revolution technologies...The goal of policy, research, and extension should be to help LEIA farmers achieve "sustainable intensification", which refers to the simultaneous increase in returns to land and labor (in the short run) and the maintenance of soil nutrient balances (in the long run).