The State of Food and Agriculture 2008 explores the implications of the rapid recent growth in production of biofuels based on agricultural commodities. The boom in liquid biofuels has been largely induced by policies in developed countries, based on their expected positive contributions to climate-change mitigation, energy security and agricultural development.

A igualdade de género e o empoderamento das mulheres têm desde há muito feito parte da agenda internacional do desenvolvimento, e mais ainda desde a Conferência de Beijing em 1995 e da apresentação da noção de “integração do género” (UN/DAW 2008). A questão penetrou também nas políticas nacionais de desenvolvimento, tornando-se parte integrante da maioria dos planos de

Abstract not available.

In 2007, ICARDA celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. The Center and its partners have worked together for three decades to improve the food security and livelihoods of the poor in dry and marginal areas. During this time, we have seen significant changes in the biophysical environment and in socio-economic circumstances. New farming technologies, new livelihood options, and better policies and institutions are speeding up agricultural development in the world's dry areas, and we are proud of the role we have played in this progress.

Conclusiones Jornada Internacional sobre la crisis alimentaria.

This statement was made yesterday in Yaoundé by the Director of ECA's sub-regional Office in Central Africa , Mr. Hachim Koumaré, at the opening of a three-day regional consultations workshop on land policy in the sub-region, taking place in Yaoundé. Around 100 land stakeholders representing national governments, civil society, private sector, centers of excellence and development partners are gathered in the capital city of Cameroon to assess land policy formulation and implementation processes and draw lessons from past experiences.

Argues that the seizure of farmland for commercial diamond mining in Angola’s Lunda provinces is causing widespread hunger and deepening poverty. Fields are destroyed where crops are cultivated and arbitrary measurements taken to determine how much to pay the peasants; only US$0.25 per square metre of land seized. The law which ought to provide some protection is routinely ignored. Calls on the companies involved to start negotiations with farming communities to ensure fair compensation for people who lose access to their land through the granting of diamond mining concessions.

Spatial and temporal attributes of watersheds and the associated market failuresthat accelerate degradation of agricultural and environmental resources requireinnovative institutional arrangements for coordinating use and management ofresources. Effective collective action (CA) allows smallholder farmers to jointlyinvest in management practices that provide collective benefits in terms ofeconomic and sustainability gains. The Government of India takes integratedwatershed management (IWM) as a key strategy for improving productivity andlivelihoods in the rain-fed and drought-prone regions.

A Japanese study illustrates how farmers created an agricultural market in spite of the military government’s bureaucrats...

"Economic Disparity in Rural Myanmar" by Ikuko Okamoto. National University of Singapore Press, 2008...
"THE devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis and spiraling global food prices have placed even more pressure on the agricultural sector of Burma, once the world’s largest rice exporter and potentially one of Asia’s most prodigious producers of agricultural staples.

Investigates the complex relationships between the decentralisation reform and implementation of the 1999 land laws in the rural areas of Tanzania. Considers the political implications of the neo-liberal citizenship model the reform tries to promote at the local level, with a particular focus on its link with the implementation of the Village Land Act of 1999. Concludes that these policies will have far-reaching effects on resource access and democracy at the local level.

Livestock are recognized as essential assets for the livelihoods of poor farmers in the mixed crop-livestock systems throughout the tropics, while feed resources have been identified as an important constraint to their productivity. Two international agricultural research institutes, CIMMYT and ILRI, therefore joined forces in a project designed to improve the value of maize as livestock feed with an aim of enhancing the livelihoods of maize-livestock farmers in East-Africa.