The industrialization of agriculture in western societies has often led to either intensified use or abandonment of farmland and open pastures, but experimental evidence on how the dynamics of farmed ecosystems affect space use by large herbivores is limited. We experimentally manipulated farmland patches with cutting and (early summer) low- and high-intensity domestic sheep Ovis aries grazing according to traditional use in north Norway.

This report on Sudan's Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) provides a baseline assessment of challenges to productivity, diversification and inclusion. Chapter 1 describes some of the questions underlying the three issues of competitiveness, diversification and broad-based growth. Chapter 2 analyzes firm performance and competitiveness. Chapter 3 discusses markets and trust. Chapter 4 describes the role of the financial sector. Chapter 5 analyses the informal sector. Chapter 6 discusses the conflict-affected private sector development.

The point of departure of this paper is that in the absence of effectively functioning asset markets the distribution of wealth matters for efficiency. Inefficient asset markets depress total factor productivity (TFP) in two ways: first, by not allowing efficient firms to grow to the size that they should achieve (this could include many great firms that are never started); and second, by allowing inefficient firms to survive by depressing the demand for factors (good firms are too small) and hence factor prices.

The report is an initiative of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department (ARD) of the World Bank. Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food sector in the world and is expected to contribute more than 50 percent of total fish consumption by 2020. Just over 90 percent of aquaculture production originates in Asia, and nearly 70 percent in China alone. Efforts to expand aquaculture production to meet the ever increasing worldwide demand for seafood continue.

Three out of every four poor people in developing countries live in rural areas, and most of them depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods. In many parts of the world, women are the main farmers or producers, but their roles remain largely unrecognized. The 2008 World development report: agriculture for development highlights the vital role of agriculture in sustainable development and its importance in achieving the millennium development goal of halving by 2015 the share of people suffering from extreme poverty and hunger.

Agriculture – on which we all depend for our food – is under threat from climate change. There is no doubt that systems worldwide will have to adapt, but while consumers may barely notice in developed countries, millions of people in developing countries face a very real and direct threat to their food security and livelihoods. Even without climate change, many agricultural systems in developing countries are nearing crisis point. Feeding a rapidly rising global population is taking a heavy toll on farmlands, rangelands, fisheries and forests. Water is becoming scarce in many regions.

This report aims to evaluate the economic, social and ecological impacts of large-scale land concessions to plant rubber and make recommendations for the future management of land in Lao PDR. Study focused on Champassak and Salavane provinces from July 2007 to July 2008. It was the product of a collaboration between the Centre for Research and Information on Land and Natural Resources of the National Land Management Authority, Office of Prime Minister, Laos, the Foundation for Ecological Recovery, and the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.

In de provincie Limburg is er steeds meer discussie tussen overheden, de landbouwsector en maatschappelijke organisaties over de inrichting van het landelijk gebied in relatie tot de landbouwproductieruimte en andere maatschappelijke gewenste opgaven (groene, blauwe, maar ook rode opgaven). De provincie Limburg wilde graag door uitvoering van een strategisch onderzoek inzicht en ondersteuning in de vraag welke maatregelen en instrumenten ontbreken c.q.