There is a great deal of concern today to ensure that economic development, including agricultural development, is sustainable. It is being increasingly emphasized that this sustainability requires care to be taken of the natural environment. This is because the natural environment is both the source of important resources that support economic activity and an avenue or sink for disposal of wastes from economic activity. Soil and water are for example, important natural resources used in agricultural production.

The Agricultural Perspective Plan (APP) is a national strategy with a cross-sectoral approach with a duration of twenty years (1995-2015). Its goal is to add two percentage points to the country’s agricultural growth which would expand per capita agricultural growth sixfold, from its current 0.5% to 3% per year. The APP strategy is based on the acceleration of the agricultural growth rate sufficiently to obtrain strong multiplier effect on growth in employment, both in agriculture itself and in nonagricultural sectors.

A large body of literature makes the argument that commercialization of agriculture has mainly negative effects on the employment, incomes, food production and consumption, health, and nutrition of the poor. In Commercialization of Agriculture, Economic Development, and Nutrition, Joachim von Braun and Eileen Kennedy find that the conclusion that commercialization of agriculture is generally bad for nutrition is flawed.

ABSTRACTED FROM IIED WEBSITE INTRODUCTION: One of the outputs of a research project considering shifting cultivation in Thailand, Lao PDR and Vietnam. It considers the dynamics of shifting cultivation and alternative land use systems in the context of highland development in Thailand, gathered in order to provide up-to-date information to policymakers. The study includes examination of national policies relating to highland areas and the impacts of such policies on local communities and land use patterns.

The paper suggests a way forward to increase considerably the food-production in the Sub-Saharan African countries which have perpetually been suffering from acute shortage of food grains. Contrary to observed trends in most parts of the world, food production in Sub-Saharan Africa has failed miserably to keep pace with the growing population. Consequently, the region has been one of the most famine-prone regions on the planet. There is a lot to be learnt from the experience of many of the Asian countries who have made it on the food front inspite of equally difficult population pressures.

Les pluies sont rares en Afrique et particulièrement au Sahel. Elles ne tombent que durant trois ou quatre mois de l’année souvent de façon tumultueuse. Leur irrégularité et leur distribution inégale dans l’espace ont été pour une grande partie à la base du déficit énorme et persistant de la production alimentaire et agricole dans la plupart des régions africaines.

This second issue of the biennial series of the African Compendium of

Environment Statistics, presents environmental and environment-related data for the African region. Like the first issue, it is also in many ways experimental but covers wider topics. A special feature of this issue is greenhouse gas emissions and mineral production in Africa.

The objectives of the study are: (i) to assess the performance of the food marketing system in Africa; (ii) to identify the different barrier to credit and assess their impact on the performance of the informal food marketing system; (iii) to suggest sound recommendations on improving informal food marketing operators' access to credit.