The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and partners in southern Africa are promoting conservation agriculture as one of the options for more sustainable farming. This technical brief describes the principles of conservation agriculture and its benefits.

The reporting framework for FRA 2010 is based on the thematic elements of sustainable forest management acknowledged in intergovernmental forest-related fora and includes variables related to the extent, condition, uses and values of forest resources, as well as the policy, legal and institutional framework related to forests. More information on...

This paper presents a single case of an extensive study amid a package of activities to preserve the oasis, involving local farmer organisations, NGOs, the local Government and business community. Local authorities and NGOs assume that farmers have forgotten traditional methods and need training and awareness-raising to motivate farm workers...

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...

Conservation agriculture holds promise for communities in southern Africa. This technical brief is an analysis of the socioeconomic impacts of conservation agriculture in the region.

This technical brief provides information on the status of conservation agriculture in southern Africa and discusses challenges and opportunities for expansion of this farming technology in the region.

En ese artículo se analiza la existencia de una nueva fuerza política en los movimientos campesinos y de agricultores familiares en Brasil. Está formada por campesinas, agricultoras familiares, trabajadoras agrícolas, que, en medio de movimientos sociales identificados con la agroecología y organizados en la "Articulação Nacional de Agroecologia" (ANA), están...

Smallholder agriculture continues to play a key role in African agriculture. This paper investigates trends, challenges and opportunities of this sub-sector in East Africa through case studies of Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. In these agriculture-based economies, smallholder farming accounts for about 75 percent of agricultural production and over 75...

Most villages in the Solomon Islands have kokorako but the birds do not produce many eggs. Sometimes, the eggs are hard to find because the kokorako do not have a special place for laying them in a kokorako house. Village kokorako do not produce much meat because they are not...

This study is an assessment of the determinants of micro irrigation adoption for maize production in smallholder irrigation schemes. The focus of the study was on Hama Mavhaire irrigation scheme in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. An assessment of the major production constraints in the scheme was carried out, factors that influence...

O Programa Nacional de Produção e Uso de Biodiesel (PNPB) é um programa interministerial que tem como objetivo a implementação da cadeia de produção do biodiesel no Brasil. As principais diretrizes do programa são: • implantar um programa sustentável, promovendo inclusão social através da geração de renda e emprego; • garantir...

Pigs are a traditional part of Melanesian life. For many years they were kept for food and cultural uses. They are still kept for these reasons but now they are also sold for income. To raise pigs for food, ceremonial use and to sell, it is important to provide the things...

Global food security and climate change are among the most pressing issues the world will face in the 21st Century, according to the Rural Poverty Report 2011, prepared by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The report shows that climate change will have its greatest economic impact on poor...

Agricultural research programs in universities in sub-Saharan Africa generate technologies few of which are adopted by the smallholder farmers. A technology that demands significant additional inputs be they financial or physical is less likely to be adopted compared to one that generates significant socioeconomic benefits. In Zimbabwe, smallholders’ food security,...

Portuguese agriculture has undergone many changes, especially after joining the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1986. The application of the Community Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the National Strategy for Agricultural Development led to the facts summarized below: In what concerns the farm structure, between 1989 and 1999, the number of...

Based on farm panel data was empirically investigate the determinants of Polish farm households’ flexibility from 1994 to 2001. we focus on scale flexibility (adjustment in production volume) and scope flexibility (adjustment in product mix).The findings of our fixed-effects regression provide evidence that smaller farms are more flexible, both with regard to scale and scope...

The African Regional Workshop on Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries: Bringing together Responsible Fishing and Social Development was held in Maputo, Mozambique, on 12–14 October 2010. It was organized by FAO in collaboration with the Mozambique Institute for Small-scale Fisheries, IDPPE (Instituto Nacional de Desenvolvimento de Pesca de Pequena Escala). The...

Pollinating insects are crucial for many natural habitats and the production of the majority of food crops. However, the number of pollinating insects has declined significantly across Europe, and the rest of the world, which exacerbates an already insecure food supply. According to a EU-funded research project, pollination services provided...

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...

Rural businesses are often aware that they receive a much smaller portion of their products’ final retail price than those further up the supply chain. Capturing more of this farm-to-retail price spread, is a goal of many producers and ‘value-added’ products offer a mechanism to increase rural incomes. Value-added means...