This technical brief provides information on the status of conservation agriculture in southern Africa and discusses challenges and opportunities for expansion of this farming technology in the region.

En ese artículo se analiza la existencia de una nueva fuerza política en los movimientos campesinos y de agricultores familiares en Brasil. Está formada por campesinas, agricultoras familiares, trabajadoras agrícolas, que, en medio de movimientos sociales identificados con la agroecología y organizados en la "Articulação Nacional de Agroecologia" (ANA), están...

Smallholder agriculture continues to play a key role in African agriculture. This paper investigates trends, challenges and opportunities of this sub-sector in East Africa through case studies of Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. In these agriculture-based economies, smallholder farming accounts for about 75 percent of agricultural production and over 75...

This study is an assessment of the determinants of micro irrigation adoption for maize production in smallholder irrigation schemes. The focus of the study was on Hama Mavhaire irrigation scheme in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. An assessment of the major production constraints in the scheme was carried out, factors that influence...

O Programa Nacional de Produção e Uso de Biodiesel (PNPB) é um programa interministerial que tem como objetivo a implementação da cadeia de produção do biodiesel no Brasil. As principais diretrizes do programa são: • implantar um programa sustentável, promovendo inclusão social através da geração de renda e emprego; • garantir...

Global food security and climate change are among the most pressing issues the world will face in the 21st Century, according to the Rural Poverty Report 2011, prepared by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The report shows that climate change will have its greatest economic impact on poor...

Agricultural research programs in universities in sub-Saharan Africa generate technologies few of which are adopted by the smallholder farmers. A technology that demands significant additional inputs be they financial or physical is less likely to be adopted compared to one that generates significant socioeconomic benefits. In Zimbabwe, smallholders’ food security,...

Portuguese agriculture has undergone many changes, especially after joining the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1986. The application of the Community Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the National Strategy for Agricultural Development led to the facts summarized below: In what concerns the farm structure, between 1989 and 1999, the number of...

Based on farm panel data was empirically investigate the determinants of Polish farm households’ flexibility from 1994 to 2001. we focus on scale flexibility (adjustment in production volume) and scope flexibility (adjustment in product mix).The findings of our fixed-effects regression provide evidence that smaller farms are more flexible, both with regard to scale and scope...

The African Regional Workshop on Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries: Bringing together Responsible Fishing and Social Development was held in Maputo, Mozambique, on 12–14 October 2010. It was organized by FAO in collaboration with the Mozambique Institute for Small-scale Fisheries, IDPPE (Instituto Nacional de Desenvolvimento de Pesca de Pequena Escala). The...

The purpose of the Global Strategy is to provide a framework for national and international statistical systems that enables them to produce and to apply the basic data and information needed to guide decision making in the twenty-fi rst century. This Strategy is based on three pillars. The first pillar...

Pollinating insects are crucial for many natural habitats and the production of the majority of food crops. However, the number of pollinating insects has declined significantly across Europe, and the rest of the world, which exacerbates an already insecure food supply. According to a EU-funded research project, pollination services provided...

The traditional polders in The Netherlands have been formed from the 12th century onwards, when people started creating arable land by draining delta swamps into nearby rivers. In the process, the drained peat started oxidizing, thus soil levels lowered, up to river water levels and lower. Throughout the centuries farmers...

Rural businesses are often aware that they receive a much smaller portion of their products’ final retail price than those further up the supply chain. Capturing more of this farm-to-retail price spread, is a goal of many producers and ‘value-added’ products offer a mechanism to increase rural incomes. Value-added means...

La red de organopónicos, huertos intensivos y organoponía semiprotegida se ha establecido en unas 10 000 ha en todos los territorios del país, lo que con rendimientos de más de 10 kg/m²/ año. Constituye la base fundamental para satisfacer la demanda alimentaria de la población en vegetales frescos (10 000 00)....

The Island of Bute on the west coast of Scotland is benefitting from a Leader project that provides affordable supplies of fresh food for local people in an environmentally-friendly manner, and also creates work and training opportunities for the small island community. Remote and isolated rural areas can experience relatively high...

"Capacity Challenges in Post-crisis and Transitional Situations . India and Sri Lanka"

This report, launched in the UK Parliament in July 2010, outlines why support for agriculture - and in particular for smallholder farmers - is critical to address hunger and poverty in Africa. The report showcases a range of approaches that have improved access for marginalised farmers, especially women, to decision-making,...

Este documento es resultado del trabajo de las iniciativas emblemáticas de estrategias territoriales que se realizan en el marco del Proyecto Desarrollo Territorial Rural con Identidad Cultural de Rimisp – Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural, auspiciado por la Fundación Ford.  El Mapa Colaborativo de Emprendimientos con Identidad Cultural del Valle...

The agricultural situation has gradually improved in most Western Balkan countries, but many steps on the way to European Union (EU) accession remain. This is the core message of the current report "Agriculture in the Western Balkan countries", which focuses on the EU candidate countries Croatia and Former Yugoslav Republic...