This document presents technical guidelines for the trainers of farmerextensionists in conservation-effective land management and sustainable crop production for the hilly terrains of Central America. The emphasis of the document is on learning-by-doing, building on farmers’ existing knowledge and experience, and promoting an understanding of the concepts of good land...

Es de esperar que una buena política sectorial agraria puede estimular la producción y aún modernizar la economía, pero la población probablemente no mejore mucho su situación material de manera significativa.

This publication is intended to inform IFAD-supported project management units (PMUs), other donors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in Eastern and Southern Africa about IFAD’s Gender Strengthening Programme in the region. The programme is currently in the process of identifying challenges faced by projects, emphasizing empirical findings from field diagnostic...

These days, many credit and savings activities, including those under IFAD-supported projects, target rural women. A 2000 FAO/IFAD study in Uganda highlights the role of microfinance in women’s empowerment. Two questions asked were: (1) Is it appropriate and efficient to provide credit lines exclusively for women? (2) Are women in...

This issue of Caravan chronicles ICARDA’s efforts in developing a research strategy and a need-based research program for the CAC region. In doing so, ICARDA played a major role in bringing together all partners, most importantly donors. The article on page 8 traces the history of this effort and provides...

This report is intended for development practitioners, extensionists and leaders or pioneers in farming communities, to inform them about the experiences and initiatives of farming communities in conservation agriculture in Santa Catarina State, Brazil. On the basis of several local initiatives, inventions and developments, there have been widespread improvements in...

La caracterización adecuada de los sistemas agropecuarios contribuye en la elaboración de estrategias de desarrollo y métodos de extensión específicos según la estructura de los mismos. La presente investigación científica realiza una descripción integral de los sistemas de producción de la comunidad campesina de Huantán en la provincia de Yauyos...

Ce manuel face à surexploitation des ressources naturelles et des pratiques de gestion des sols inadéquates, la dégradation des terres agricoles est réelle. De nombreux efforts ont été entrepris pour contrecarrer cette évolution, mais les stratégies technologiques sont bien souvent inadaptées à leurs bénéficiaires. Ce manuel illustre un certain nombre...

The Too Big to Ignore (TBTI) Digest contains all of the project's recent activities and outputs.

During her visit to Indonesia, Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, Kundhavi Kadiresan, met with Indonesia’s Minister of Agriculture, Amran Sulaiman, in order to exchange views on the growing collaboration between FAO and the Government of Indonesia.

This poster describes various innovative sustainable practices used in agroecology. It provides brief information on pollination, natural pest control, crop-livestock integration, soil biodiversity, water management, forest management, nitrogen fixing and other ecological, economic and social principles and techniques of agroecology.

Este documento ha sido elaborado con la intención de proveer una guía que oriente el abordaje práctico del tema del acceso al suelo con fines productivos en zonas urbanas y periurbanas. Nos parece importante realizar este aporte ya que la cuestión frecuentemente queda soslayada en la intervención y el acompañamiento...

FAO is organising a High Level Consultation in Rome from 4 to 6 October with a view to improving information for decision-makers, the media and the public at large on the essential role of rural women in agricultural development and their contribution to food security. Emphasis will be laid on...

In the tropics most of the steepland areas are settled by small-scale farming families where livelihoods may be endangered by land degradation and associated loss of productivity. This bulletin brings concepts and principles of good land husbandry into focus, as a basis for developing different ways of thinking about safe...

Los cultivos “permanentes”, tales como el café o el cacao, corresponden a los típicos cultivos marcados por fenómenos cíclicos, caracterizados por períodos prolongados de sobreproducción y subproducción. Esos ciclos de producción están vinculados a las limitaciones técnicas del cultivo (un retraso de la entrada en producción comercial de tres a...

Identification of environmentally-sound options for agricultural resource management is necessary to obtain food security for smallhold farming communities in Uganda. Qualitative and quantitative appraisals were conducted in Bukoto county, Masaka district to assess the socioeconomic and biophysical status of the banana and coffee farming system. Three main hypotheses were tested:...

The thirteen papers presented in this publication review fish stocks and fisheries of mountainous areas of Asia: Himalayas (Bhutan, Nepal, northern states of India within the Himalayas), Western Ghats (India), Karakoram-Hindu Kush (Pakistan, Afghanistan), Pamir (Tajikistan), Tien Shan (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan), Altai (Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China), high altitude lakes of Mongolia and...

The main objective of this study was to describe the importance of cob rots in farmers' maize fields and reduced food quality through spoilage. During the 1997/98 season disease incidence and severity levels were evaluated in the Local, MH18, NSCM41, and NSCM51 varieties on farmers' maize from two villages in...

Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) is an important strategy for soil improvement in smallholder systems of East Africa but successful implementation depends upon identification of opportunities for intervention, which are in turn dependent upon a practical knowledge of farm enterprises and decision making. Surveys addressing soil fertility management were conducted among...

Malta Organic Agriculture Movement is a totally independent and voluntary organization set up in November 1999 to promote Organic Agriculture in Malta. Its members include farmers, consumers, technical people and many others who have the local natural environment at heart.  The primary aims of MOAM is to inform the public...