This paper is based on the outcomes of a training workshop on modernization of irrigation management organized in 2007 for 25 participants with a focus on the Gandorinala and Bennithora projects.

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Session: Sess. 3

Myanmar is experiencing a time of great changes, with institutional reforms, market liberalization and democratic processes. A new Constitution was adopted in May 2008. This transition lays the space for great opportunities to reduce poverty and inequalities, and to promote an inclusive pattern of development. Indeed, Myanmar presents a wealth of cultural diversity, skills and natural resources and is strategically positioned between India and the People’s Republic of China. However, it still has high rates of poverty, especially in rural areas.

In Sub-Sahara Africa, majority of the population derives its livelihood from agriculture. Smallholder agriculture accounts for 75% of agricultural production of which the majority constitutes of rainfed farming. Drought is Africa’s principal form of natural disaster which often it affects rainfed agriculture dramatically.

The AgWater Solutions Project aimed at designing agricultural water management (AWM) strategies for smallholder farmers in sub Saharan Africa and in India. The project was managed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and operated jointly with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI) and International Development Enterprise (IDE).

This issue of Unasylva contains, as promised in the previous edition, additional articles on sustainable mountain development. These articles help to complete the focus on the topic and should also help to promote interest in the recently declared International Year of the Mountain (2000) for which FAO has been designated lead agency status within the United Nations system.

This Synthesis Paper is based on an Expert Meeting held in Rome 26 to 28 February 2008 as a preparation for the FAO High Level Conference (HLC) on World Food Security and the Challengesof Climate Change and Bioenergy in June 2008. The paper contains appraisal of the implications of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (AR4-IPCC) for agricultural water management and, based on that evidence, offers a more operationally focused diagnosis.

This first edition of ROA Policy Brief is designed to clarify the roles of economic valuation of the external impacts from agriculture in policy-making, by resolving misunderstanding and confusion pertaining to existing valuation studies.

Este mes nos es grato invitarles a participar en una consulta electrónica sobre las Directrices Voluntarias sobre la Gobernanza Responsable en la Tenencia de la Tierra y Otros Recursos Naturales. Tras un prolongado proceso de consultas regionales, y antes de acometer la redacción del borrador cero, se están solicitando ahora materiales adicionales para la elaboración de estas directrices.

This conmpendium of recent sustainable development initiatives in the field of agriculture and land management has been developed as a supporting document for the Task Manager's Report on the Land and Agriculture Cluster for Chapters 10, 12 and 14 of Agenda 21. The report draws together 75 cases from over 45 countries, illustrating the many features of improved land management and sustainable agriculture and rural development.

Meeting symbol/code: APRC 00 3