This country note for Macedonia is part
of a series of country briefs that summarize information
relevant to climate change and agriculture for four pilot
countries in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region, with
a particular focus on climate and crop projections,
adaptation options, policy development and institutional
involvement. The note series has been developed to provide a
baseline of knowledge on climate change and agriculture for

The major objective of the study was to
come up with illustrative success stories as well as
failures to give lessons on ICT interventions in the area of
rural livelihoods and their impact in Tanzania. The key
issues addressed in this study were: 1) common ICTs used by
the rural poor in Tanzania; 2) which ICTs are regarded as
attractive by different groups and why; 3) the use of ICTs
by different age cohorts as part of their livelihoods

The Committee was briefed by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) on its Annual Performance Plan for 2015/16, with the Minister and Deputy Minister in attendance. Due to the complexity of the agrarian transformation space, the DRDLR had developed a rural economy transformation model which would be implemented through the Agrarian Transformation System.

Documentary by the Land Core Group Myanmar, where 70% of the Myanmar population are smallholder farmers, about the challenges faced by poor farmers from land grabbing and land dispossession in rural Myanmar...Interviews with land activists and dispossessed farmers in different parts of the country... sections on: resistance to land-grabbing; Myanmar land law and policies (where customary tenure and women's land rights are not explicitly recognised); efficiency of smallholder practice...

After decades of turmoil and
instability, a period of calm and progress evolved in
Guinea-Bissau in 2009. A military coup in April 2012
interrupted it. A fresh start is needed to alter the
dynamics that kept Guinea-Bissau poor. In 2013, Gross
National Income per capita was US$590. Average economic
growth barely kept pace with population growth. In 2010,
poverty at the national poverty line of US$2 a day was 70

Inorganic fertilizer use across
Sub-Saharan Africa is generally considered to be low. Yet,
this belief is predicated on the assumption that it is
profitable to use rates higher than currently observed.
However, there is little rigorous empirical evidence to
support this notion. Using a nationally representative panel
data set, and with due recognition of the role of risk and
uncertainty, this paper empirically estimates the

The sustainable management of soils is crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This is evidenced by the analysis of the role soils play across the proposed agenda. However, some key aspects have not been sufficiently considered so far. Moreover, the SDGs will place increased demand on soils. Further advocacy is therefore needed to ensure that important soil and land related issues remain in the final declaration of the post-2015 agenda.

In Kenya, smallholders are improving the health of their families by growing local cereal varieties and indigenous vegetables. The use of traditional foods is even helping people with HIV/AIDS.

More than 30 years ago, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) started a post-harvest programme in Central America named “Postcosecha”. The significant impact that was still evident long after the project end also continues to exist after the cessation of external support. The current priority in SDC’s contribution to post-harvest management (PHM) is to use existing knowledge and experience to create conditions for scaling up the most appropriate PHM technologies in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a large share of child labour takes place in family-based agriculture. However, most agricultural projects do not address child labour, even though they have the potential to contribute to its prevention and reduction. Raising awareness about project impacts on child labour and the inclusion of child labour issues in the planning, monitoring and evaluation process of agricultural projects is one promising way to tackle child labour in agriculture, as emonstrated by a study in Cambodia.

Sustainable agricultural approaches such as agroecology can help producers increase productivity while protecting the environment and strengthening resilience to climate change. Nonetheless, policymakers rarely support them on a large scale and take-up remains low. This report analyses the factors determining the adoption of sustainable practices in Mozambique, exploring whether a common understanding of ‘sustainable agriculture’ exists, how this is reflected in policy and practice, and what drives farmers (not) to adopt them.

Despite a decline in both monetary and
multidimensional poverty rates since 2000, Haiti remains
among the poorest and most unequal countries in Latin
America. Two years after the 2010 earthquake, poverty was
still high, particularly in rural areas. This report
establishes that in 2012 more than one in two Haitians was
poor, living on less than $ 2.41 a day, and one person in
four was living below the national extreme poverty line of