About two-thirds of Africans depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The fate of agricultural production, therefore, directly affects economic growth, social improvement, and trade in Africa. As the region's population continues to grow rapidly, outpacing the growth rate in other…

La vie d'environ les deux tiers des Africains depend de leur agriculture. Le sort de la production agricole, par consequent, affecte directement la croissance economique, les progres sociaux et les echanges internationaux en Afrique. Comme la population continue de cro1tre rapidement, plus…

Low agricultural productivity, land degradation and poverty are severe interrelated problems in the East African highlands. While the proximate causes of such problems are relatively well known, the underlying causes are many and complex, and depend upon many site-specific factors that vary…

Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental problems in Ethiopia. Coupled with growing populations, falling per capita food production and worsening poverty, loss of productive land due to land degradation undermines rural livelihoods and national food security. Despite their awareness…

Activities and Projects Regarding Soil andWater Conservation in African Countries

Research project using participatory methods to improve the effectiveness of indigenous and modern soil and water conservation practices through a process of joint experimentation involving farmers, researchers, extension and NGO staff. Countries covered are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia…

A growing recognition of the need to delimit the role of the government, to promote the market framework, and to rely on the private sector as the engine of growth, offers the prospect of a new beginning in rural development in Africa. Rural people must take a more dominant role, both in shaping…