Rural livelihoods in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa are under considerable stress. Economies and the political environment are experiencing a period of significant transformation, and poverty is endemic. Agriculture remains at the core of rural livelihoods and farm power (from human, draught animal and tractor sources) is a crucial input...

For effective administration of agricultural credit, financial institutions while granting credit to farmers for agricultural purposes consider a number of factors. This paper focused on the evaluation of the critical factors that are considered by financial institutions in disbursement of credit to farmers in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria....

Over 60% of Africans depend on some form of farming for their sustenance and livelihoods. Agriculture remains vital for the continent’s development and economic growth. So the recent stagnation or decline in farm productivity in in many parts of Africa is a major concern. For many communities and countries, this...

The Ethiopian national bean program traditionally followed conventional approaches in bean improvement for smallholder farmers. The relative effectiveness and efficiency of Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) compared to conventional approaches is not fully understood. The study was initiated to evaluate participatory plant breeding in bean improvement to disseminate more acceptable and...

Irrigation has been found to be a central key part in curbing food scarcity not only in Tanzania but also in many other developing countries. The continued dependence on rainfall in agriculture has proved incapable of sustaining the population increase. This study examines the sustainability of smallholder irrigated agriculture as...

Over the last decade, the consumption of poultry products in developing countries has grown by 5.8 percent per annum, faster than that of human population growth, and has created a great increase in demand. Family poultry has the potential to satisfy at least part of this demand through increased productivity...

Over the past decade, Africa and other developing regions have been in the midst of tremendous changes. Market liberalisation and governmental decentralisation policies have interfaced with globalisation and urbanisation trends to dramatically transform social, political, economic and cultural lives. Agriculture can no longer remain behind-serving only to meet subsistence food...

This study examines the characteristics of the smallholder dairy farmers in three West African countries, namely The Gambia, Guinea and Guinea Bissau. In these countries as in much of West Africa, milk is produced within mixed crop-livestock farming systems. Traditionally farmers own cattle for various purposes including milk, meat, draft...

There is a wide diversity of cultivated banana (Musa spp.) found growing in small-holder systems around the world. The main types of bananas that are important for small-holders differ from region to region. Diversity is important for small-holders for many reasons. Diversity-rich production systems help to ensure a continuous supply...

This edition of the Dimitra newsletter focuses on rural women, information and empowerment. Two workshops, organized by our local partners, Amsed in Morocco and Women’s NET in South Africa, take the spotlight. The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for rural women was on the programmes of both events....

This newsletter exclusively focuses on three countries of the sub-region: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Burundi. We lay open the pages to organizations which have provided us with articles explaining their difficulties, their strategies and the solutions they have found to improve the living conditions of rural...

La notion d’exploitation agricole familiale trouve son origine dans l’organisation de la production agricole en Europe. Elle a pris corps et s’est consolidée dans le discours théorique des agronomes et des économistes agricoles à partir du début du XX ème siècle. Elle repose sur une dominance historique longue en Occident...

This paper presents an overview of rice production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and discusses the importance of rice to smallholder farmers. The paper further describes the impact of the application of appropriate rice production technologies, through the introduction of integrated production pest management (IPPM) and farmer field schools (FFS) by...

Land and water for agriculture are scarce natural resources hence the promotion of good land management has taken center stage in Zambia. This study attempts to measure the factors that could be associated with the adoption of conservation farming practices considering that farmers have multiple practices to choose from and...

In this note of food security and land tenure security in Lesotho, the authors present arguments in favour of the enactment and implementation of legislation in Lesotho that will enhance land tenure security in the country. Some of the arguments include: Tenure insecurity is not the primary constraint on the...

The Ethiopian highlands comprise nearly 45 percent of the total land area and support over 85 percent of the country's 64 million people that are overwhelmingly rural. The highlands are the centre of economic activity of the country and are characterized by enormous ecological, environmental, agricultural and cultural diversity. The...

Local agricultural knowledge in dry-land land-use systems is centred on the conservation, use and optimisation of soil moisture and soil organic matter. Additionally, biodiversity is carefully managed and nurtured to interface with hydrological and nutrient cycling to provide for ecosystem resilience, food security and diversity, and risk minimisation.

Secondary forests in Africa Tropical secondary forests are those forests that have developed after clearance (usually by humans) of the original natural forest. Although not appearing as such in statistics, tropical secondary forests occur throughout the tropics, including Africa, and the area is extensive and increasing rapidly. Tropical secondary forests are usually...

A Satellite Event on Biodiversity and the Ecosystem Approach in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries was held on the occasion of the Ninth Regular Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, in FAO, Rome, 12-13 October 2002. An informal presentation of the Satellite Event’s discussions and results...

Securing food and a livelihood is inextricably linked to the exploitation of the natural resources base (land, water and forest) in Ethiopia, where over 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas and depend on smallholder agriculture. The pressure of intense human activity and improper farming and management practices...