Ceres No. 144 - Low input farming: Merits and limits

Table of Contents

The FAO review

No. 144 (Vol. 25, No. 6)

November - December 1993

ISSN 0009-0379

Edouard Saouma: UNITING NORTH AND SOUTH

"...its materials are taken from almost every form of human experience. Its books and pens are in the environment and resemble nothing that the scholastic or enthusiast even dreams about."

- Pahlawan-i-Zaif, A Sufi notebook

Figure

Disease alert: Despite its name, ephemeral fever is not a disease to ignore. And researchers now fear that this influenza-like cattle ailment may be poised to spread from the Middle East and Asia into Europe.

The organic process: Organic farming means more than just eliminating chemicals. Three of its proponents explain that a key part of the process is diversification, which also assures farmers of a secure income.

Righting a wrong: The government of Zimbabwe has opened its second drive at land reform. The course this takes will be crucial to the future of Zimbabwe's farmers - black and white alike.

A spoiled vision: A study of conservation in Africa takes issue with the vision of Africa as an Eden for wild animals. What about the needs and aspirations of Africa's human beings? the authors ask.

Chief Editor:

Acting Associate Editor: Peggy Polk

Art Editor: Christian Besemer

Copy Editors: Dominique Hoeltgen, Medhat Makar, Enrique Yeves

Editorial Assistant: Laure Calderan

DTP Assistant: Emelyn Alazard

Managerial Assistant: Isabella Moretti

Editorial Policy Board: P. J. Mahler (Chairman), E. P. Cunningham, M. de Francisco, B. Huddleston, K. Killingsworth, J. P. Lanly, R. Lydiker, T. Pawlick (ex officio), M. Randriamamonjy, R. L. Welcomme, M.S. Zehni, M. Zjalic

Collaborating on this issue: Lorenza Manzi and Delia Kennedy

Published bi-monthly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISSN 0009-0379. The opinions expressed by the contributing authors are not necessarily those of FAO or Ceres. The designations employed and the presentation do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Individual articles and photographs not copyrighted may be reprinted provided the credit line reads: "Reprinted from Ceres, the FAO Review", and two voucher copies are sent to the Editor. Unsolicited manuscripts and art work not accompanied by return postage will not be returned.

Editorial Offices: FAO, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.

Tel.: (6) 52254094
Fax: (6) 52256167

Correction

The volume number of the May-June and July-August issues of Ceres was incorrectly printed as 26. It should be 25.

This electronic document has been scanned using optical character recognition (OCR) software and careful manual recorrection. Even if the quality of digitalisation is high, the FAO declines all responsibility for any discrepancies that may exist between the present document and its original printed version.

Table of Contents

Cerescope

Starting from scratch: the greening of Eritrea
New sugar cane cutter/planter lightens the workload
Ephemeral fever: time to reckon with its not-so-ephemeral effects
Why waste hay? try a tripod
The alpine farmer as conservationist
Broken hopes in Madagascar
Ridding "rodent heaven" of rats: pest control in the hen house
New hope for a shrinking sea
The life, death - and resurrection - of the Haitian pig
In brief
FAO in action

Centrepiece

Conversation with the counter-revolutionaries

Farmers of the north and south - Winning together or losing out against each other?
A world population of 8.5 billion in 2025
Potential for progress in the poor countries
North-south relations
Agriculture in the north and rural land use
Emergency relief and food aid
Providing the south with the means for its self-development

Inspecting the toolbox

Three alternatives
But is it sustainable?
Example: the virtues of velvet bean
Example: water buffalo health care
Example: crop-livestock-fish farming

Strength through flexibility

Diversity and flexibility
Diversification via new crops
A cure for sub-Saharan Africa
Integrating crops and livestock

Crunching the numbers

An attempt to model
The hard facts
Planting leguminous crops
The crux of the matter
A plan for action

Features

Black and white, looking for a shade of grey

Zimbabwe struggles to give long-overdue justice to the majority of its farmers, without destroying a key minority's confidence

Books

A modest proposal to put people back in Africa's wildlife equation

Reactions

The imbalance of the green revolution

Where to purchase FAO publications locally - Points de vente des publications de la FAO - Puntos de venta de publicaciones de la FAO

Neglected harvest
New from FAO