Honeybees that nest in the open produce far less honey than those confined in enclosures. There are good reasons for this. Colonies in the open are exposed to predators and therefore have to employ numerous workers as guards to fight intruders. They have to consume large quantities of honey, which...

This newsletter also contains a special Dossier on Radio & ICTs in Rural Areas that puts together a variety of experiences in this field, from an electronic forum on Gender, ICTs and Rural Livelihoods, over participatory community radio to empower rural women and men, to the use of different methodologies...

Using lessons from the case studies this paper draws out five practical steps in reaching and supporting women marginal farmers: 1) take the lead from women marginal farmers themselves in helping build their networks and groups, 2) promote alliances and external links, 3) organising needs based training workshops and regular...

Au Togo comme au Bénin, l’agriculture repose sur de petites exploitations familiales dont l’unité socio-économique de base est le ménage. Le nombre moyen d'actifs agricoles par ménage est de 2 à 4 personnes. Les travaux agricoles sont essentiellement manuels, l’utilisation de la traction animale et de matériel adéquats étant négligeable....

Les bas-fonds sont aujourd’hui au centre de nombreux projets de développement visant une  sécurisation alimentaire à travers des projets de petite irrigation. La première partie de ce  travail traite des stratégies mises en oeuvre par le gouvernement béninois qui a fait de  l’aménagement des bas-fonds une de ses priorités. Cependant,...

As population density increases and available natural resources diminish, tensions and competition increase among stakeholders for access to land for farming and animal husbandry as well as access to forest, fishery and wildlife resources. The scramble for resources involves communities, economic interest groups, governments and the private sector as they...

With financial assistance from the Irish embassy and the embassy of the kingdom of The Netherlands, SNV supports since 2007 fruit marketing cooperatives in Southern Ethiopia. SNV strengthens the cooperatives through facilitating business to business arrangements, business planning and improved operational management, and access to critical services. Results of the...

Successful examples of agriculture best practice offer a means to enhance current food security frameworks. Promoting and disseminating success stories from the field is vital for ensuring the efficient allocation of limited resources and avoiding the pitfalls of previous interventions. Critically best practice examples provide the opportunity to scale up...

Agriculture remains an important means of alleviating poverty, but shortage of finance can constrain its development. At the same time, agriculture is evolving towards a global system requiring high-quality, comptetitive products, and is organized in value chains which often exclude smallholders. Value chain financing in agriculture offers an opportunity to...

A retrospective cross-sectional study of mortality was conducted on smallholder dairy farms in 2 separate regions (Iringa and Tanga) of Tanzania during the period of January to April 1999. A total of 1789 cattle from 400 randomly sampled smallholder dairy farms (200 each from Iringa and Tanga regions) were included...

Crop production in smallholder farming systems of Zimbabwe is limited by low inherent soil fertility, particularly N and P and available soil moisture. One of the major agricultural challenges in developing countries is the development of technologies that are able to sustain soil fertility and conserve soil and moisture. The...

Producer organisations are widely heralded as leading contributors to poverty reduction and the achievement of food security. Following the withdrawal of state support as part of measures for liberalization, producer organizations in Africa have been in a process of transition, attempting to define appropriate strategies in a competitive open market...

Most Africans depend on small-scale farming systems as the primary source of their livelihoods. Yet they are marginalized and often do not produce enough to enable their families to have sufficient food to eat throughout the year. Smallholder farmers are also particularly vulnerable to climatic and economic shocks. Despite these...

Demographic trends point to more young people in the African population than ever before – approximately 70 percent of Africa’s 1 billion people is under the age of 30. Across the continent many young people are reportedly choosing not to pursue livelihoods in agriculture, especially as farmers. If this is...

 La Société de développement du coton du Cameroun (SODECOTON) utilise le conseil comme une innovation pour réformer sa démarche d’appui aux producteurs. L’objectif de cette recherche était d’étudier la transformation des dispositifs d’appuis aux producteurs à partir de l’analyse de l’application du conseil. Le dispositif comprend la SODECOTON, les producteurs et les...

Small‐scale
 agriculture
 is
 one
 of
 the
 few
 tools
 available
 to
 support
 improved
rural
 livelihoods
on
a
 significant
 scale
in
South
Africa.
Access
 to
output
markets
is
a
key
 obstacle
 for
 small
 farmers
 in
 generating
 higher
 incomes.
 Thus,
the
 rise
 of
modern
 markets
 (supermarkets
 in
 particular)
 is
 generally
 viewed
 as
 positive
 for
 the
 rural
 poor,
 although
 most
 commentators
 accede
 that
 there
 are
 challenges
 to
 be
 overcome
 in
 obtaining
 access
 to
...

One of the reasons that necessitated the establishment of Women-in-Agriculture (WIA) Programme in 1989 was the perception that women farmers were not having adequate access to extension services compared to their male counterparts. Feminists argued that the inadequate access to extension services resulted in women farmers having poor farm yields,...

The majority of Nigeria’s smallholder farmers are often too poor to employ modern tools, such as tractors and ploughs, even with substantial government support. In this respect, an agricultural mechanization policy would need effective targeting with regard to particular farming activities and types of farmers for which different forms of...

Smallholder farmers in developing countries such as Uganda are faced with the difficulty of accessing sustainable markets. Such farmers include those growing sweet potato, and are becoming increasingly marginalized as urban markets demand better quality, quantity and sustainable supply of agricultural commodities. Research and Development (R&D) actors on the other...

The aim of this research is to raise and provide empirical evidence for promoting tree farming in Malawi. It addresses questions such as: Is tree farming a viable system for small-scale farmers in Malawi? Trees have multiple products for subsistence use and are also a source of income security to...