In close cooperation with the German Development Service (DED) and the Centre for  international Migration and Development (CIM) a number of projects have been carried out in recent years, ranging from direct support of communities to the promotion of trans-border cooperation and regional partnerships. The successes of the initial years...

The traditional polders in The Netherlands have been formed from the 12th century onwards, when people started creating arable land by draining delta swamps into nearby rivers. In the process, the drained peat started oxidizing, thus soil levels lowered, up to river water levels and lower. Throughout the centuries farmers...

The restoration of damaged agricultural systems, especially in the traditional agriculture is one of the challenges that impose the changing conditions of the planet in the last decades. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the sequels of these phenomena and to put into practice measures to mitigate...

De façon à répondre aux exigences d’économies d’échelle manifestées par les grandes firmes semencières et agroindustrielles, nombreuses ont été les agricultures ayant connu récemment des évolutions non compatibles avec les exigences du développement durable, tant par la dégradation des agro écosystèmes qu’elles induisent, que par le primat des logiques de...

In order to meet economy of scale demands made by large seed and agroindustrial companies, many areas of agriculture have recently evolved in ways which are incompatible with sustainable development, both in terms of damage to agroecosystems and by the continued belief in principles of land concentration and underuse. Farming...

Se caracterizó el comportamiento socioproductivo en las parcelas del Consejo Popular de Santiago de las Vegas. Se realizaron entrevistas directas y observación directa a una muestra representativa del 20% de los parceleros. Se efectuó un análisis de componentes principales como herramienta en la agrupación de los parceleros para la caracterización...

Rotational farming is an agricultural practice that involves alternating cultivation between different plots within the same location whilst leaving the other plots follow. It is often misunderstood, and is considered to be a destructive farming technique which depletes soil nutrient content as it often involves the clearing of land by burning....

Agriculture, particularly family farming, has had, and still has, an important role in many rural communities as a basis for economic activity, local social organization and as a lifestyle, although its economic role has declined over time. The development of agriculture has turned into an industry where profitability is linked...

Human activities have helped to speed up the process of desertification in Burkina Faso. In order to curb this scourge and its disastrous consequences, the NGO “TERRE VERTE” has, since 1989, carried out a rural development project referred to as bocage perimeter, (“Wegoubri” in the Mooré language). This new concept...

Actualmente en nuestro país se están tomando medidas que fomentan y exigen un desarrollo sustentable en el manejo de los suelos del país. A lo largo de la historia hubo períodos de expansión agrícola que fueron acompañados de severa degradación de los suelos, llegando inclusive a dejar grandes áreas inutilizadas...

Take a tour, accompanied by curious sheep and geese, of Mark Cooper's self-sufficient small farm. Over several years, he transformed a rundown house and hillsides of berry brambles into pasture and gardens where he produces and preserves most of his family's food. Visit the Goose Grotto in a constructed pond,...

Located in the center of Niger, Keita Department is a 4,860 sq km plateau with rocky slopes and valleys forming a complex system of watersheds subject to strong winds and water erosion. Plateau slopes covered by forests in 1962 were completely deforested by 1984. As in other Sahelian nations, droughts...

Burkina Faso has few natural resources and a weak industrial base. Approximately 90 percent of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. Food insecurity is commonplace in many parts of the country.1 During the 1960s, Burkina Faso’s rainfall averaged 700 mm/year. Along with other countries in West Africa’s Sahel, the...

Agroecology is the application of ecological principles to the interactions between human beings and their environment, as well as to their consequences, with the goal of minimising the negative effects of certain human activities. It aims at protecting the environment, ensuring the sustainable renewal of the natural resources (water, soil,...

Senegal, like all Sahelian countries, suffers from the combined effects of population growth and climate disturbances that affect its productive bio- system and induce degradation. This is manifested in different forms depending on the physical environment and production systems in different eco-geographic areas. Several factors are responsible for the degradation...

British colonial rule and the white Rhodesian Government made Zimbabwe one of the world’s most inequitable countries. The Land Apportionment Act of 1930 gave white settlers control of more than 51 percent of the country’s land, leaving areas less fertile and more arid to the native population. Despite the land...

The Food Security Thematic Programme (FSTP) is a programme of the European Union (EU) that aims ―to improve food security in favour of the poorest and the most vulnerable, and contribute to achieving the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG), through a set of actions which ensure overall coherence, complementarity and...

Agroecosystems cover vast areas of land worldwide and are known to have a large impact on the environment, yet these highly modified landscapes are rarely considered as candidates for landscape design. While intentionally-designed agricultural landscapes could serve many different functions, few resources exist for evaluating the design of these complex...

La producción cafetalera en Colombia es una actividad de gran importancia; cuenta con un área sembrada de 873.000 ha y una producción anual de 12 millones de sacos de 60 kg, y de ella dependen en forma directa cerca de dos millones de personas. En particular, el departamento de Santander...

Romania is a country of peasants, with a long deep history in peasant agriculture, which effects everything in the country, including its art, culture, and the way Romanians think. This has survived despite the best efforts of past empires and communists to destroy it. Today peasant culture remains the bedrock...