The main aim of land preparation is to modify and manipulate the land features so as to create favorable environment for seed establishment and crop growth. The research and Development in this field must take into account the traditional practices used by the farming community. This case study gives a brief description of farmers' management of Vertisols and soils with 'Vertic' properties and the Development of the low cost broad bed maker (BBM) for facilitating surface drainage.

While this study was originally conducted to gather baseline data on the general activities, issues, and concerns of women in the Upper East Region in northern Ghana, the initial data collection led to the discovery that women in the Upper East Region are organized, either by their own accord or through the recommendation of local governing bodies, in social groupings that fulfill specific needs such as access to credit, access to agricultural inputs, and access to reciprocal labor and support.

The study was conducted in three watersheds (Dapo, Meja and Mizewa) in the Ethiopian part of the Blue Nile Basin to estimate the on-site cost of soil erosion using the productivity change approach, in which crop yield reduction due to plant nutrients lost with the sediment and runoff has been analysed. For this purpose, runoff measurement and sampling was conducted during the main rainy season of 2011 at the outlet of two to three sub-watersheds in each watershed. The sediment concentration of the runoff, and N and P contents in runoff and sediment were determined.

Land degradation is a great threat for the future and it requires great effort and resources to ameliorate. The major causes of land degradation in Ethiopia are the rapid population increase, severe soil loss, deforestation, low vegetative cover and unbalanced crop and livestock production. Inappropriate land-use systems and land-tenure policies enhance desertification and loss of agrobiodiversity. Utilization of dung and crop residues for fuel and other uses disturbs the sustainability of land resources. The supply of inputs such as fertilizer, farm machinery and credits are very low.

This document is meant to present a framework for analyzing the institutions related to water management in a river basin context. The design of the five-country regional study undertaken by IWMI on ?Development of Effective Water Management Institutions? provided a new methodology and a framework for river basin studies. It consists of four key components of diagnostic investigations related to water resources management in a river basin, which are interrelated. These key components are the physical system, water accounting, socioeconomic situation and performance.