Adapting to climate risks is central to the goal of increasing food security and enhancing resilience of farming systems in East Africa. We examined farmers’ attitudes and assessed determinants of adaptation using data from a random sample of 500 households in Borana, Ethiopia, Nyando, Kenya, Hoima Uganda, and Lushoto, Tanzania. Adaptation was measured using a livelihood-based index that assigned weights to different individual strategies based on their marginal contributions to a household’s livelihood.

Although soil fertility is recognized as a primary constraint to agricultural production in developing countries, use of fertilizer in Sub-Saharan Africa is declining. Smallholder farmers still rely heavily on livestock manure for soil fertility management. To explore the determinants of soil fertility management practices, including both the use of cattle manure and inorganic fertilizer, data are used from a sample of 3,330 geo-referenced farm households across Central and Western Kenya. A bivariate probit model is applied to jointly examine the use of the two technologies.

La gestion durable des ressources naturelles, notamment dans les pays du Sahel, a toujours soulevé des problèmes dont celui de l’inadaptation des législations nationales y relatives. Le processus d’élaboration et de mise en œuvre de ces législations est à l’image des conditions politiques, socio-économiques et culturelles des pays en question. Le Burkina Faso, pour sa part, a connu plusieurs formes de régimes politiques et, de ce fait, capitalise un certain nombre d’expériences de réformes législatives et réglementaires dans le secteur des forêts et des ressources naturelles.

The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) combines the resources of 11 CGIAR centers and numerous international, regional and national partners to provide an integrated approach to natural resource management research. This program is led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). This presentation provides an overview of the thematic areas that the research is categorized into as well as the focal regions where we work.

Technology will help to address the challenges for sustainable forestry in the 21st century. Some of the challenges will include the shift of production from native forest to plantations in areas of comparative advantage, more efficient processing delinking end-use products from raw wood characteristics, increased demand, better information technologies to support decision makers, and more options for conserving biodiversity.