More than 12 million people added to the poor in Pakistan between 1993 and 1999. The rising poverty was the result of poor governance and slow economic growth (Asian Development Bank 2002). All available evidence on poverty trends in Pakistan suggests that the problem of poverty in the country worsened during the 1990s, and this was more so in rural areas than in urban areas.

The government of Uganda, with help from its development partners, is designing and implementing policies and strategies to address poverty, land degradation, and declining agricultural productivity. Land degradation, especially soil erosion and depletion of soil nutrients, is widespread in Uganda and contributes to declining productivity, which in turn increases poverty.

The emergence of social and environmental movements against plantation forestry in Southeast Asia positions rural development against local displacement and environmental degradation. Multi-scaled NGO networks have been active in promoting the notion that rural people in Southeast Asia uniformly oppose plantation development. There are potential pitfalls in this heightened attention to resistance however, as it has often lapsed into essentialist notions of timeless indigenous agricultural practices, and unproblematic local allegiances to common property and conservation.

Parasitic nematodes, especially
Haemonchus contortus,
are among the most common and
economically important causes of infectious
diseases of sheep and goats owned by
pastoralists and small holder farm
ers in East Africa. In Kenya, control of these infections
mainly relies on the use of anthelmintic dr
ugs. However, ethnoveteri
nary medicine (EVM)
preparations are widely used by pastoralists
and small holder farmers (SHF) for treatment
of their livestock agains

Rice is a very important commodity in our lives, as it is the staple food of about 3 billion, or three quarters, of the people in the world. Two hundred fi fty million farmers depend on rice cultivation. Ninety percent of the world’s rice is produced and consumed in Asia.

Life on a Thai fishing boat isn’t all plain sailing for Burmese crews...

"When 29-year old Win San signed on as a boatswain on a Thai fishing trawler he looked forward to a profitable voyage in the Andaman Sea off the coast of his native Burma. Instead, he ended up in an Indonesian jail, accused of illegally fishing in that country’s waters.

Saphan Plah wharf (upgrading) where Burmese enter into Ranong.

This report describes the current situation faced by rural Karen villagers in Toungoo District (known as Taw Oo in Karen). Toungoo District is the northernmost district of Karen State, sharing borders with Karenni (Kayah) State to the east, Pegu (Bago) Division to the west, and Shan State to the north. To the south Toungoo District shares borders with the Karen districts of Nyaunglebin (Kler Lweh Htoo) and Papun (Mutraw).