Humanity is facing an enormous challenge in managing water to secure adequate food production. By the middle of this century, the world?s population is projected to reach 9.1 billion, 34 percent higher than today. Nearly all of this increase will occur in developing countries. In order to respond to the expected demand of this larger, more urban and, on average, richer population, food production must increase by about 70% as estimated by the FAO.

The papers are grouped into four categories: land management practices for intensive agriculture; overcoming soil constraints; technology adoption; and planned research and development.

La gestion durable des ressources naturelles, notamment dans les pays du Sahel, a toujours soulevé des problèmes dont celui de l’inadaptation des législations nationales y relatives. Le processus d’élaboration et de mise en œuvre de ces législations est à l’image des conditions politiques, socio-économiques et culturelles des pays en question. Le Burkina Faso, pour sa part, a connu plusieurs formes de régimes politiques et, de ce fait, capitalise un certain nombre d’expériences de réformes législatives et réglementaires dans le secteur des forêts et des ressources naturelles.

This document is divided in eight chapters. The first chapter reviews rangelands and rangeland development in Ethiopia. The second chapter is an introduction to the Borana Plateau with ref. to natural resources and pastoral society. It reviews secondary information on geology and sociology, as well as original information on climate, soils, wildlife, plant ecology and water resources for the central Borana Plateau. Chapter three deals with vegetation dynamics and resource use.

The Chinyanja Triangle (CT) is an area inside the Zambezi

River Basin, inhabited by Chinyanja-speaking people

sharing a similar history, language and culture across

the dryland systems of the eastern province of Zambia,

southern and central regions of Malawi and Tete Province

of Mozambique. Chiefs and Chiefdoms play a critical role

in decision making and influencing social relationships. The

Zambezi River, which originates in the Kalene Hills in Zambia

is joined by ten big tributaries from six countries, and is

Reliance on rainfall for agriculture and increased climate change and variability pose growing production risks in developing countries. Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by smallholder farmers who depend mainly on rain-fed agriculture, putting food security at both household and national levels at risk, especially in the event of drought. Investment in smallholder irrigation becomes a priority in developing countries if food security and national development goals are to be met, as their economies are agro-based.