This paper summarizes the results of six DFID funded country studies on encouraging sustainable agriculture in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. It emphasises the need for continuing government and donor support for sustainable increases in agricultural productivity which must underpin poverty alleviation. In this context, moves toward...

The present study is an update of an earlier assessment of warm-water fish farming potential in Africa, by Kapetsky (1994). The objective of this study was to assess locations and areal expanses that have potential for warm-water and temperate-water fish farming in continental Africa. The study was based on previous...

Mountains and highlands have always played an important role in the history of humankind. They have been sources of valuable resources - freshwater arguably the most important, refuges, natural barriers, spiritual sanctuaries, and so on. Yet, for the most part, they have been viewed as peripheral to the rest of...

Uganda was one of countries included in a 1997 IFAD/FAO/Government of Japan study on agricultural implements used by women. The study areas in Uganda were the District of Mubende in central Uganda and the District of Soroti in the northeastern part of the country. These areas have quite different farming...

Ecological marginalization stems from the transformation of ecosystems in a way that alters their functional integrity through the elimination of their production and decomposition functions. Ecosystem production becomes the subject of quantitative exploitation, while decomposition is affected by the use of local ecosystems as receivers of various wastes.  Consequently, social...

We are a non-profit organization that promotes the conservation and regeneration of Ecuador’s ecosystems and cultures through research, development and education in practical alternatives of applied ecology, which allow us to build sustainable life models, in accordance with Sumak Kawsay and the Rights of Nature.

El Grupo de trabajo Allpa organizó el 19 y 20 de julio de 1998, el Taller sobre Comunidades Campesinas y Desarrollo Sostenible, cuyas reflexiones y conclusiones se transmiten en el presente texto.  En este Taller se ha podido profundizar el estudio y conocimiento de las experiencias de desarrollo que vienen impulsando...

La incorporación de la agricultura familiar campesina a una dinámica de desarrollo que facilite y mejore sus actuales niveles de rentabilidad y competitividad es un requerimiento y prioridad de las políticas agrarias en aplicación en Chile. Para este fin es indispensable la asociación de los productores en unidades comerciales eficaces...

L'accès à la propriété foncière et le partage des terres collectives et privées ont entraîné des défrichements au niveau des prairies permanentes, des parcours, des maquis et des forêts. L'artificialisation des milieux naturels a accéléré le processus d'érosion et de dégradation des sols. A travers quelques exemples concrets, les conséquences...

L'approche technique et spécialisée de l'écologie pastorale dans sa conception de préservation de la biodiversité et de réhabilitation des terres dégradées en zone aride a abouti à un projet de collection, sélection et production de semences pastorales sans visions concrètes sur les modalités d'utilisation de ces semences. Afin de chercher...

El tema de la pequeña agricultura familiar ha sido objeto de atención reciente por parte de los medios de opinión pública de casi todos los países de la Región. La prensa incluye información sobre la crisis en que dicho sector está envuelto, como resultado de los altos costos de producción,...

À 70 km au nord-est de Quito, capitale de l’Équateur, les communautés paysannes de ouest-Cangahua exploitent plusieurs étages écologiques entre 2600 et 3950 mètres d’altitude, sur le versant oriental du couloir interandin. Située à 15 km au sud du bourg de Cayambe, dans la province du Pichincha, l’agriculture de la...

This paper explores efforts on coastal area management, more specifically in the South Asian region, and the extent to which the perspectives of actors in the fishery sector have been incorporated. It also deals with legislation of direct relevance to Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM).

Fishworkers’ organizations the world over are concerned about the degradation of coastal habitats vital to fishery resources. This concern was articulated in the first-ever Conference of Fishworkers and their Supporters in Rome in 1984, and, subsequently, in all the three conferences organized by ICSF since 1986. In the conference in...

In Malawi, maize is the major crop and food staple. Given limited off-farm employment opportunities, much-needed increases in household income for improving food security must come from gains in agricultural productivity through better technology and more profitable crops. In the past, agricultural policy promoted hybrid maize and, more recently, tobacco...

Major changes have been made in the ownership of agricultural land in Moldova since 1992. These changes became possible when members and workers in large-scale farm enterprises began to receive individual rights to a share of land and farm assets and were allowed free decision between keeping their share in...

El término agricultura familiar comprende los medios de producción que pertenecen a la familia y también incluye la administración, organización y el trabajo agrícola llevado a cabo por la misma. En Argentina, el 80% de las empresas agrícolas y ganaderas productivas registradas en el Censo Agrícola y Ganadero están constituidas...

Basic legislation for the whole agriculture is given by the Act No. 252/1997 Coll., on Agriculture, as amended. http://eagri.cz/public/web/mze/legislativa/pravni-predpisy-mze/tematicky-prehled/Legislativa-MZe_uplna-zneni_zakon-1997-252-viceoblasti.html (available in Czech language only).

Farming in Namibia’s Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) is predominantly for subsistence purposes, and is characterised by very low and even declining productivity due to a combination of low and uneven rainfall and poor soils, with conditions of extreme income inequality and poverty, under nutrition, out-migration of labour and high population...

Pays du Grand Maghreb, la République Islamique de Mauritanie a voulu rompre avec la coutume dans le domained u foncier. En règle générale, comme dans les autres pays d’Afrique du Nord, le droit musulman s’appliquait ; la terre morte, inoccupée ou improductive, appartenait à celui qui la mettait en valeur et...