Making sure that we will continue to have enough to eat is at the heart of our shared ambitions to mitigate climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the convention that has guided us through the highs and lows of 18 rounds of annual negotiations, states upfront that the reasons to stabilise emissions are threefold: to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally , to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner and to ensure that food production is not threatened .

This introductory chapter sets the scene for the discussion in the edited volume on how new agricultural affects tropical forests. It critically reviews four hypotheses that have been central in the claim that better technologies help protect forests: the Borlaug, the subsistence, the economic development and the land degradation-deforestation hypotheses. Each of them appears to be valid only under certain restrictive conditions. The chapter then gives the aims and scope of the book, the key conclusions, as well as a summary of each of the chapters.

This Working Paper summarizes research conducted as part of the AgWater Solutions Project in Zambia from 2009 to 2012. Approximately 48 million hectares (Mha) of land in Zambia are suitable for agricultural use. An estimated 67% of the Zambian labor force is employed in the agriculture sector. Researchers from the AgWater Solutions Project examined ways of improving the motor pump supply chain, how to make better use of small reservoirs and improving the function of horticultural markets. Researchers also explored gendered aspects of agricultural systems.

Impact of dynamic land use and land cover changes on the livelihood of local communities and ecosystem services is a major concern. This is particularly evident in most dryland agricultural systems in South Asia. We study land use/land cover (LULC) changes over the last two decades in a watershed (9589 ha) located in semi-arid eco-region in South India (Anantapuram district) using Landsat and IRS imagery. We captured additional data through field observations and focused group discussions.

This final chapter of the book offers a set of policy recommendations. It presents some typical win-win outcomes, including technologies suited for forest poor areas, labour intensive technologies promoting intensification to replace land extensive farming practices, and promoting agricultural systems that provide environmental services similar to those of natural forests.

A large number of governance interventions are being developed in order to reduce deforestation and enhance the sustainability of commodity

supply chains across the tropics. The extent to which individual agricultural commodity supply chain interventions can achieve scale, and

environmental or social objectives, depends in part on the ways in which those interventions interact with other interventions. We use a casestudy

of the new Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) cattle certification program in Brazil to explore the different ways in which governance

The publication of the third edition of the WHO Guidelines for Drinkingwater Quality (WHO, 2004) introduced the concept of integrated, preventive risk management through water safety plans (WSPs) as a means to put into operation the principles, standards, norms and best practice proposed by the Guidelines. The WHO suggests applying the same concept to support the implementation and operationalization of their Guidelines for the Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta and Greywater in Agriculture and Aquaculture (WHO, 2006) which follow the same principles of HACCP and health-based targets.

Swidden farming is the main agent of conversion of primary forests to secondary forests in the highlands of mainland Southeast Asia, but there is a deterioration and decline of the practice with land use intensification. The population growth in northern Thailand has forced lowland farmers practising permanent wet rice cultivation to turn to short rotation swidden in the foot hill zone. Highland swidden agriculturists are adopting more intensive forms of swidden or are shifting to permanent farming.

This manual has been developed to help build the capacities of farmers, farmers groups, extension staff and project managers who are implementing agricultural carbon projects in Eastern Africa. The manual describes the steps for implementing an afforestation/reforestation voluntary carbon project based on the Plan Vivo Standard.