Integration
In relation to rural livelihoods, integration refers to an interdisciplinary system-wide approach in which components of human and agro-ecological systems are taken into account(Horton et al., 2017). When used for natural resource management, integration also has a spatial connotation, by considering the watershed or farm as a system where ‘integrated management’ is required to optimize synergies and make the system more robust and resilient. This is crucial also for land degradation processes, particularly for soil erosion, where bad land management upstream affects land users downstream. Furthermore, integration fosters the ability to cope with fluctuations in environmental or economic circumstances (Gautam & Andersen, 2016). Diversification is therefore a crucial element of any integrated strategy, given that diversified livelihood systems appear more resilient than undiversified ones (Bosma, Udo, Verreth, Visser, & Nam, 2005).
Integration is a guiding principle throughout the PIP approach and particularly during PIP creation, with integration and diversification of activities and practices in the household and on the farm being essential. However, integration also works in the social dimension of the approach, in which people value multi-ethnicity, foster personal diversity and build social cohesion, while becoming eager to learn from others. The PIP approach stimulates to continuously seek for diversity, opportunities and innovations; hence, similarly to empowerment, PIP staff should have integration present during all their work, and stimulate farmers and other actors to always learn more, do better, and experiment with new activities and practices.