Trees on the Farm

Trees on the Farm PDF Author: Steven Charles Franzel
Publisher: CABI
ISBN: 9780851998848
Category : Agroforestry
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Get Book Here

Book Description
Most published books on agroforestry have focused on biophysical aspects. There has been a lack of scientifically rigorous information about the socioeconomic features of agroforestry, and the adoption of agroforestry practices by farmers.This book fills that gap by assessing the adoption of selected agroforestry practices developed with African farmers, describing methods, and drawing out the implications for research, development, and policy. The volume includes five case studies of research conducted in Kenya and Zambia to evaluate the adoption potential of agroforestry. The cases illustrate methods of farm and village technology design, testing, and analysis that are applicable to a wide range of natural resource management practices.Along with the case studies, the contents also include chapters on: methods for assessing agroforestry adoption potential, promoting new agroforestry technologies: policy lessons from on-farm research, and assessing adoption potential: lessons learned and future directions.

Trees on the Farm

Trees on the Farm PDF Author: Steven Charles Franzel
Publisher: CABI
ISBN: 9780851998848
Category : Agroforestry
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Get Book Here

Book Description
Most published books on agroforestry have focused on biophysical aspects. There has been a lack of scientifically rigorous information about the socioeconomic features of agroforestry, and the adoption of agroforestry practices by farmers.This book fills that gap by assessing the adoption of selected agroforestry practices developed with African farmers, describing methods, and drawing out the implications for research, development, and policy. The volume includes five case studies of research conducted in Kenya and Zambia to evaluate the adoption potential of agroforestry. The cases illustrate methods of farm and village technology design, testing, and analysis that are applicable to a wide range of natural resource management practices.Along with the case studies, the contents also include chapters on: methods for assessing agroforestry adoption potential, promoting new agroforestry technologies: policy lessons from on-farm research, and assessing adoption potential: lessons learned and future directions.

Cover Crops in West Africa

Cover Crops in West Africa PDF Author: International Development Research Centre (Canada)
Publisher: IDRC
ISBN: 088936852X
Category : Cover crops
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Get Book Here

Book Description
Cover Crops in West Africa Contributing to Sustainable Agriculture

Advances in Integrated Soil Fertility Management in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

Advances in Integrated Soil Fertility Management in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities PDF Author: Andre Bationo
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402057601
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 1051

Get Book Here

Book Description
Food insecurity is a fundamental challenge to human welfare and economic growth in Africa. Low agricultural production leads to low incomes, poor nutrition, vulnerability to risk and threat and lack of empowerment. This book offers a comprehensive synthesis of agricultural research and development experiences from sub-Saharan Africa. The text highlights practical lessons from the sub-Saharan Africa region.

Integrated Soil Fertility Management in Africa

Integrated Soil Fertility Management in Africa PDF Author: Nteranya Sanginga
Publisher: CIAT
ISBN: 9290592613
Category : Soil fertility
Languages : en
Pages : 270

Get Book Here

Book Description
Forward. A call for integrated soil fertility management in Africa. Introduction. ISFM and the African farmer. Part I. The principles of ISFM: ISFM as a strategic goal, Fertilizer management within ISFM, Agro-minerals in ISFM, Organic resource management, ISFM, soil biota and soil health. Part II. ISFM practices: ISFM products and fields practices, ISFM practice in drylands, ISFM practice in savannas and woodlands, ISFM practice in the humid forest zone, Conservation Agriculture. Part III. The process of implementing ISFM: soil fertility diagnosis, soil fertility management advice, Dissemination of ISFM technologies, Designing an ISFM adoption project, ISFM at farm and landscape scales. Part IV. The social dimensions of ISFM: The role of ISFM in gender empowerment, ISFM and household nutrition, Capacity building in ISFM, ISFM in the policy arena, Marketing support for ISFM, Advancing ISFM in Africa. Appendices: Mineral nutrient contents of some common organic resources.

Successes in African Agriculture

Successes in African Agriculture PDF Author: Haggblade, Steven
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN: 0801895030
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 464

Get Book Here

Book Description
Sub—Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world. Because most Africans work in agriculture, escaping such dire poverty depends on increased agricultural productivity to raise rural incomes, lower food prices, and stimulate growth in other economic sectors. Per capita agricultural production in sub—Saharan Africa has fallen, however, for much of the past half—century. Successes in African Agriculture investigates how to reverse this decline. Instead of cataloging failures, as many past studies have done, this book identifies episodes of successful agricultural growth in Africa and identifies processes, practices, and policies for accelerated growth in the future. The individual studies follow developments in, among other areas, the farming of maize in East and Southern Africa, cassava across the middle belt of Africa, cotton in West Africa, horticulture in Kenya, and dairying in East Africa. Drawing on these case studies and on consultations with agricultural specialists and politicians from across sub—Saharan Africa -- undertaken in collaboration with the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development -- the contributors identify two key determinants of positive agricultural performance: agricultural research to provide more productive and sustainable technologies to farmers and a policy framework that fosters market incentives for increasing production. The contributors discuss how the public and private sectors can best coordinate the convergence of both factors. Given current concerns about global food security, this book provides timely and important resources to policymakers and development specialists concerned with reversing the negative trends in food insecurity and poverty in Africa.

Maize as Food, Feed, and Fertiliser in Intensifying Crop-livestock Systems in East and Southern Africa

Maize as Food, Feed, and Fertiliser in Intensifying Crop-livestock Systems in East and Southern Africa PDF Author:
Publisher: ILRI (aka ILCA and ILRAD)
ISBN: 9291461288
Category : Corn
Languages : en
Pages : 125

Get Book Here

Book Description


Shifting Cultivation and Environmental Change

Shifting Cultivation and Environmental Change PDF Author: Malcolm F. Cairns
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317750187
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 1405

Get Book Here

Book Description
Shifting cultivation is one of the oldest forms of subsistence agriculture and is still practised by millions of poor people in the tropics. Typically it involves clearing land (often forest) for the growing of crops for a few years, and then moving on to new sites, leaving the earlier ground fallow to regain its soil fertility. This book brings together the best of science and farmer experimentation, vividly illustrating the enormous diversity of shifting cultivation systems as well as the power of human ingenuity. Some critics have tended to disparage shifting cultivation (sometimes called 'swidden cultivation' or 'slash-and-burn agriculture') as unsustainable due to its supposed role in deforestation and land degradation. However, the book shows that such indigenous practices, as they have evolved over time, can be highly adaptive to land and ecology. In contrast, 'scientific' agricultural solutions imposed from outside can be far more damaging to the environment and local communities. The book focuses on successful agricultural strategies of upland farmers, particularly in south and south-east Asia, and presents over 50 contributions by scholars from around the world and from various disciplines, including agricultural economics, ecology and anthropology. It is a sequel to the much praised "Voices from the Forest: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into Sustainable Upland Farming" (RFF Press, 2007), but all chapters are completely new and there is a greater emphasis on the contemporary challenges of climate change and biodiversity conservation.

Fighting Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Multiple Roles of Legumes in Integrated Soil Fertility Management

Fighting Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Multiple Roles of Legumes in Integrated Soil Fertility Management PDF Author: Andre Bationo
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400715366
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 253

Get Book Here

Book Description
Legumes play an important role in the cropping systems of sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Legumes are an important source of nutrition to both humans and livestock by providing the much needed protein, minerals, fibre and vitamins. The sale of legumes seed, leaves and fibre generates income for the marginalized communities especially women. Cultivation of legumes is essential for the regeneration of nutrient-deficient soils. By biologically fixing nitrogen (BNF) in the soil, legumes provide a relatively low-cost method of replacing otherwise expensive inorganic nitrogen in the soil. This enhances soil fertility and boosts subsequent cereal crop yields. Production of legumes in SSA is however; hampered by a number of constraints among them low and declining soil fertility, low soil pH, high salinity, drought and flooding, poor access to improved germplasm, diseases, pests and weeds. Farmers need to learn how to overcome these constraints if the full benefits of legumes are to be gained. This book presents a synthesis of research work on legumes and draws attention to the importance of legumes in integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and poverty alleviation in SSA.

Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems

Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems PDF Author: Norman Uphoff
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 142001711X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 785

Get Book Here

Book Description
Global agriculture is now at the crossroads. The Green Revolution of the last century is losing momentum. Rates of growth in food production are now declining, with land and water resources becoming scarcer, while world population continues to grow. We need to continue to identify and share the knowledge that will support successful and sustainable

Nitrogen Fixation in Tropical Cropping Systems

Nitrogen Fixation in Tropical Cropping Systems PDF Author: Ken E. Giller
Publisher: CABI
ISBN: 0851994172
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 441

Get Book Here

Book Description
The second edition of this book, first published in 1991 and intended for students and researchers, contains revised and updated material on the theory and practice of nitrogen fixation in tropical cropping systems. There are 15 chapters in 3 parts. Part I, Introduction, contains 5 chapters on tropical environments (climate, soils and cropping systems), nitrogen fixing organisms, the process of nitrogen fixation, assessment of the role of nitrogen fixation, and cycling of nitrogen in tropical cropping systems. Part II, Tropical crops and cropping systems, comprises 7 chapters on freeliving, root-associated and endophytic nitrogen fixing bacteria of cereal crops and grasses, cyanobacteria and Azolla as green manure for wetland rice, grain legumes, legumes as green manures and cover crops, forage legumes, understorey legumes and shade trees in plantation crops, and nitrogen fixing trees in agroforestry. Part III, optimizing nitrogen fixation, includes 3 chapters on environmental constraints, approaches to enhancement, and future impacts on nitrogen fixation in tropical agriculture. A list of common names and subject index are included.