Presents papers and abstracts on the management of vertisols in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world. Overviews the importance, distribution, agroclimatology and properties of vertisols and the Indian Vertisol technology experience. Reviews resource assessment and management and highlights inter-institutional modes of operation and networking concepts in Vertisol research and development.

The European Commission-funded project, Small ruminant value chains as platforms for reducing poverty and increasing food security in dryland areas of India and Mozambique (imGoats) aims to increase incomes and food security in a sustainable manner by enhancing pro-poor small ruminant value chains in India and Mozambique. The project is implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in collaboration with BAIF Development Research Foundation in India and CARE Mozambique.

High grazing intensity and wide-spread woody encroachment may strongly alter soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools. However, the direction and quantity of these changes have rarely been quantified in East African savanna ecosystem. As shifts in soil C and N pools might further potentially influence climate change mitigation, we quantified and compared soil organic carbon (SOC) and total soil nitrogen (TSN) content in enclosures and communal grazing lands across varying woody cover i.e. woody encroachment levels.

This review was commissioned to undertake an evaluation of how the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Theme by Region matrix is being managed to deliver on International Public Goods (IPGs) and development outcomes.

The world’s climate is continuing to change at rates that are projected to be unprecedented in recent human history. Some models are now indicating that the temperature increases to 2100 may be larger than previously estimated in 2001. The impacts of climate change are likely to be considerable in tropical regions. Developing countries are generally considered more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than more developed countries, largely attributed to a low capacity to adapt in the developing world.

Raising and selling farm animals allows more than 1 billion people to make a daily subsistence living. But as essential as they are for food, income and health, these tropical livestock systems can damage as well as enhance land and water resources, and, like all livestock systems, they generate greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Research is helping poor livestock communities adapt to climate change, find sustainable ways to intensify their production, and, where possible, adopt methods to mitigate livestock-induced climate change.