GIAHS are found throughout the developing world, linked to centers of diversity.  Agroecosystems cover more than one quarter of the global land area, reaching about 5 billion hectares. Agroecosystems are ecosystems in which people have deliberately selected crop plants and livestock animals to replace the natural flora and fauna.  

The report stresses progress in linking research innovations to results in farmers' fields in a number of areas. These research-for-development initiatives are testing technology and policy packages with farmers in their production situations. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa ICARDA leads the wheat component of the regional initiative on Support to...

Communication faite au Colloque international genre et agricultures familiale et paysanne, regards Nord-Sud (Toulouse-France , mai 2012), concernant le Projet de Renforcement des capacités des femmes rurales pour éradiquer les Inégalités de Genre et améliorer la gestion des ressources dans l’agriculture familiale et paysanne au Cameroun – Cas des femmes rurales...

FAO is supporting a micro-financing scheme known as "warrantage" that is empowering smallholder farmers to make more money out of their crops and helping relieve food insecurity. (Ref.F0012/en)

This publication is one of FAO's attempts at providing support for viable community involvement in forest and wildlife management in Africa. It proposes key institutional, policy and legislative measures that need to be put in place for the sustainable engagement of local communities in forest management and development. Furthermore, the...

Welcome to Dimitra Newsletter 22. This issue places the spotlight on the Dimitra community listeners’ clubs, with a special dossier made up of several articles that focus on the impact of projects under way, the development of this approach and the launch of new initiatives.

Over 70% of the domesticated birds in Kenya are indigenous chicken (IC) providing meat and table eggs. They are frequently raised through the free range, backyard production system. Small flock sizes are characteristic of this production system and often, sales are mainly at the farmgate. Although IC production possesses enormous...

This issue focuses on particularly innovative activities that enable women to have better access to land in several African countries. In Niger, thanks to the debates that began in their listeners’ club, the women of Banizoumbou now have secure access to a large plot of land for 99 years. This...

During the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and United Nations launched a Global Partnership Initiative on conservation and adaptive management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). The goal of the initiative is: to identify and safeguard GIAHS...

Behind the current scramble for land in Africa is a global struggle for a commodity increasingly seen as more precious than gold or oil - water Food cannot be grown without water.  In Africa, one in three people suffer from water scarcity and climate change will make things worse. Building...

This manual on Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) is based primarily on the direct experience derived from several years of implementing PPB programmes in a number of countries and on a number of crops, and secondly, from a number of training courses (China, Ethiopia, Jordan, Australia, South Africa) and when necessary,...

In Zambia, more than 1 million rural households can benefit from Agriculture Water Management solutions. Food security, the ability to diversify their crops and increased income are among the potential benefits. For this to happen, support to smallholders should be part of an integrated approach in which all aspects of...

The Zimbabwean dairy subsector consists of a number of actors from input suppliers, milk producers, processors, transporters to service providers. The subsector was and remains dominated by production from the large-scale commercial farms and of late by imports. As a result of the land reform in 2000 and macroeconomic policies,...

Agricultural policies in Rwanda focus on agricultural intensification and increased market orientation of the smallholder farm sector. Cooperatives are seen as key vehicles in this but little is known about their effectiveness to achieve these goals. In this paper we analyze the impact of cooperative membership on agricultural performance for...

These guidelines are designed for all those involved in planning and implementing sheep breeding activities with resource-poor farmers in developing countries. This includes research centers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), farmers’ associations and livestock development projects, and government extension officials. The guidelines address the lack of generic direction on designing and implementing...

The study ascertained the availability and use of telecommunication/computer information and communication technologies among farmers in Orumba South L.G.A of Anambra State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to describe the demographic characteristics of the farmers in the study area, identify Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in telecommunication/computer available...

Le conseil à l’exploitation agricole familiale (CEF) est souvent considéré comme un successeur prometteur en Afrique de l’Ouest du Système formation et visites (SFV) qui a été depuis les années 1980 le principal système de vulgarisation. Cet article présente une analyse comparative des CEF et SFV en s’appuyant sur l’expérience...

Zimbabwe’s economy is starting to turn around after almost a decade of recession characterized by macroeconomic and political challenges. During this time, the near collapse of formal marketing channels, as well as shortages and high prices of key agricultural inputs (fertilizers, seeds, crops and chemicals), resulted in steep drops in...

This paper investigates the relationship between food security and commercialisation using data from a household survey in National Smallholder Farmer Association of Malawi (NASFAM) operated areas. NASFAM promotes commercialisation of agriculture by introducing the principle of farming as a business among its members who are largely smallholder subsistent farmers. The...

During the coming decades, global change will impact food and water security in significant but highly uncertain ways. There are strong indications that developing countries will bear the brunt of the consequences, particularly from climate change. In Sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture—the mainstay of rural livelihoods—is particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts...