Farming Systems IMPROVING FARMERS' LIVELIHOODS IN A CHANGING WORLD John Dixon and Aidan Gulliver with David Gibbon Principal Editor: Malcolm Hall |
HUNGER, POVERTY AND AGRICULTURE
FARMING SYSTEMS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS
MAJOR FARMING SYSTEMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
CEREAL-ROOT CROP MIXED FARMING SYSTEM
3. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
4. EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
MAJOR FARMIG SYSTEMS IN EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
LARGE-SCALE CEREAL-VEGETABLE FARMING SYSTEM
MAJOR FARMING SYSTEMS IN EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC
TREE CROP MIXED FARMING SYSTEM
UPLAND INTENSIVE MIXED FARMING SYSTEM
7. LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
MAJOR FARMING SYSTEMS IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
EXTENSIVE MIXED (CERRADOS AND LLANOS) FARMING SYSTEM
MAIZE-BEANS (MESOAMERICAN) FARMING SYSTEM
8. GLOBAL CHALLENGES, POTENTIALS AND PRIORITIES
9. CONCLUSIONS AND WAYS FORWARD
1.1 DECLINING PRODUCTIVITY GAINS AND THE YIELD GAP IN RICE
1.2 THE POTENTIAL OF AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
1.3 DEVELOPMENT IN THE MOIST SAVANNA ZONE OF WEST AFRICA
1.4 WATER HARVESTING AND SOIL REHABILITATION IN INDIA AND AFRICA: POTENTIAL AND PRACTICE
1.5 PRIVATE SECTOR-LED DIVERSIFICATION AMONG INDIGENOUS PRODUCERS IN GUATEMALA
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ISBN 92-5-104627-1
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An estimated 500 million small farmers - men and women - produce most of the developing world's food. Yet their families suffer more hunger than even the urban poor, have higher rates of poverty and enjoy less access to basic social services. Meeting international commitments to halve hunger and poverty in the developing world by 2015 means reaching these farm households. However, traditional approaches have not worked. In order to provide the conditions that will permit poor farm households to improve their own lives, governments, non-governmental organizations and international agencies must understand more clearly the agro-ecological, physical, economic and cultural environment within which farmers and their families live - their farming systems. Only in this way can realistic policies, investments and technical assistance programmes be developed and implemented, and the latent capacity of the farming population fully released.
Through an examination of a wide variety of farming systems across the developing world, this book shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify key local, regional and international priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty. It examines the various strategies open to poor farm families seeking better lives, and shows how such strategies differ in relative importance from one farming system to another. Finally, the book discusses how an effective response to these priorities and strategies will require a rethinking of the roles of key stakeholders in the development process - farmers themselves, their communities, civil society, governments and the international community.