For centuries, farmers, herders, fishers and foresters have developed diverse and locally adapted agricultural systems managed with time tested, ingenious techniques. These practices have resulted in a vital combination of social, cultural, ecological and economic services to humankind. “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems” (GIAHS) are outstanding landscapes of aesthetic beauty that combine agricultural biodiversity, resilient ecosystems and a valuable cultural heritage.

Land degradation is a major challenge limiting crop production in Ethiopia. Integrated soil and water conservation is widely applied as a means to reverse the trend and increase productivity. This study investigated the effects of such integrated approaches at two sites, Jeldu and Diga, in Western Ethiopia. A split plot design with physical soil and water conservation in the main plots and agronomic practices in the sub plots was employed.

This paper provides details of soil and water conservation (SWC) investments in Ethiopia over the past 20 years. It presents SWC practices and estimates the level of SWC investments in different regions. The paper focuses on four principal agricultural regions: Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR and Tigray. Primary and secondary data were collected for the analysis, and consultations were conducted at regional levels. Primary data on diverse SWC practices, their numbers and areal extent were obtained from the archives of regional Bureaus of Agriculture (BoAs).

This article shows how large-scale commercial farmers, individually and collectively, are responding to land and water reform processes in the Thukela River basin, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. With a high degree of innovative agency, commercial farmers have effectively executed four strategies, enabling them to adapt and use their access to resources to neutralize multiple water reform efforts that once promised to be catalysts for inclusive change in the post-apartheid era.

As solar panels become more a ordable, solar photovoltaic (PV) pumps have been identi ed as a high potential water lifting technology to meet the growing irrigation demand in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, little is known aboutthegeo-spatial potentialofsolarbasedPVpumpingforirrigationtakinginto accountnotonlysolar radiation but also the availability of water resources and linkage to markets. This study developed a suitability framework using multi-criteria analysis in an open source GIS environment and tested it in the case of Ethiopia.

The report analyzes the changing tripartite constellations between South African black smallholders, the pre- and post-apartheid state, and the country’s large-scale agribusiness and irrigation industry. A recent mode of farming is the ‘joint venture’, in which smallholders hand over land and share in the net profits, while a strategic partner manages the cultivation with own inputs and equipment, and markets the output.

Land degradation is a major challenge limiting crop production in Ethiopia. Integrated soil and water conservation is widely applied as a means to reverse the trend and increase productivity. This study investigated the effects of such integrated approaches at two sites, Jeldu and Diga, in Western Ethiopia. A split plot design with physical soil and water conservation in the main plots and agronomic practices in the sub plots was employed.

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) considers forests as integrated social, environmental and economic landscapes, and emphasizes the production of multiple benefits from forests and participatory engagement of stakeholders in FLR planning and implementation. To help inform application of the FLR approach in upland northern Thailand, this study reviews the political and historical context of forest and land management, and the role of smallholders in forest landscape management and restoration in upland northern Thailand.

This study investigated the implications of large-scale land concessions in the Red River Delta, Vietnam, and Northeast Cambodia with regard to urban and agricultural frontiers, agrarian transitions, migration, and places from which the migrant workers originated.

Increasing global demand for natural rubber began in the mid-2000s and led to large-scale expansion of plantations in Laos until rubber latex prices declined greatly beginning in 2011. The expansion of rubber did not, however, occur uniformly across the country. While the north and central Laos experienced mostly local and smallholder plantations, rubber expansion in the south was dominated by transnational companies from Vietnam, China and Thailand through large-scale land concessions, often causing conflicts with local communities.

Over the last century, the U.S. economy has favored large-scale agribusiness over small-scale farming. In some regions, this trend has led to the abandonment of cultivated land, and there is little scholarly literature that discusses how farmers are affected. The goal of this study was to examine Allegany County (NY) farmers’ perceptions of abandoned land and associated correlates. The data were collected through surveys mailed to farmers in Allegany County in 2012.