An initial study covered the feed resources and nutritional ecology of Tswana goats kept under extensive communal management conditions in Gaborone Agricultural Region. Such goats feed on a variety of browses and herbaceous forages throughout the year. Only 30% of the respondent farmers provided their goats with supplementary feeds implying...

Axé autour de 18 études de cas réalisées sur les cinq continents, cet ensemble complet de travaux de recherche revient sur la diversité et le développement des formes familiales de production agricole. Tous les thèmes essentiels y sont abordés, de la sécurité alimentaire et des liens aux marchés aux stratégies...

Cet Agrodok se concentre sur la fabrication et l’utilisation du compost. Le Chapitre 8 décrit une recette pour la fabrication de fumier liquide et des extraits de compost. Il s’agit ici des engrais organiques facilement réalisés pour un apport rapide des substances nutritives aux plantes. Bokashi constitue un autre type...

This is the 11th Dimitra newsletter. Our last edition was replaced by the distribution of the Dimitra CD-ROM. Many of you took time to return the short survey we enclosed with it and we would like to thank you for this valuable feedback. We have also received numerous messages telling...

Biodiversity plays a key part in maintaining healthy and functioning ecosystems. However, in many instances, modern agricultural practices neglect the environmental aspect, prioritizing higher rates of production and economic benefits. This issue of AGRIDAPE looks at how agroecology can help maintain biodiversity while achieving satisfying yields.

The research examines the status of adoption of improved rice varieties among small holder farmers in South-west Nigeria with a view to asses the impact of technology transfer on rice production in the region. A total of 157 rice farmers selected through multi-stage sampling technique were interviewed using structured questionnaires....

Exporting deciduous fruit from the Western Cape Province of South Africa to markets in Europe, North America and Asia contributes significantly to the province's Gross Domestic Product. The main export producers are large-scale farmers. Even with the change in discriminatory legislation and practices in South Africa after 1994, few smallholder...

The Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) evolved from the belief that FAO could have a greater impact on reducing poverty and food insecurity, if its wealth of talent and experience were integrated into a more flexible and demandresponsive team approach. The LSP works through teams of FAO staff members, who are...

For nearly three decades the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has focused its mission on helping developing countries turn agriculture into an engine of propoor, sustainable economic growth. Conflicts and natural disasters have often interfered with this mission, and disrupted the long-term work in strengthening human and institutional...

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...