Why do many smallholder farmers fail to adopt improved land management practices which can improve yields and incomes? The reason is not always because these practices are uneconomical but sometimes it is because resource poverty prevents farmers from taking advantage of yield and income enhancing agricultural practices. In this study we examine the relative merits of using a carbon payment scheme compared to a subsidy policy to help reduce the cost of specific land management practices with productivity and ecosystem benefits such as carbon sequestration.

Cotton is an important cash crop and a means of survival for Zimbabwe’s smallholder farmers who are located in the semi-arid areas. However, it is plagued by a wide variety of pests. The cotton industry in Zimbabwe came up with sustainable pest management strategies which include within the season rotation of bollworm pesticides, a closed season and acaricide rotation scheme. The land reform programme brought new players in the cotton industry and it was critical to determine their knowledge on the pest management strategies.

SUMMARYPoor households in Cameroon rely on trees and tree-based products like the bark of Prunus africana (Hook.f.) Kalman (Rosaceae) (henceforth called Prunus) that are harvested from the wild. Due to unsustainable bark harvesting practices, the European Union, which is Cameroon's main market for Prunus bark, banned its importation. To reduce pressure on existing natural stock, research and development organizations introduced innovations to encourage farmers to plant Prunus trees.

The dry rangelands of West Asia and North Africa are fragile and severely degraded due to low rainfall and mismanagement of natural resources. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) interventions are used to increase soil moisture content, vegetation cover, and productivity. However, adoption of rainwater harvesting by communities is slow. To understand adoption constraints and to develop options for sustainable integration of rainwater harvesting, a benchmark watershed was established in the dry rangelands of Jordan.

BACKGROUND: Maize is the most important staple food in Kenya; any reduction in production and yield therefore often becomes a national food security concern. To address the challenge posed by the maize stem borer, the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) agricultural biotechnology public-private partnership (PPP) project was launched in 1999. There were, however, pre-existing concerns regarding the use of genetic engineering in crop production and skepticism about private sector involvement.

The Adja plateau (Benin) is densely populated by tenant and landowner farmers engaged in oil palm based cropping. Landowners use oil palm sap for the production of sodabi (a local spirit), and an oil palm fallow (if no crops are grown beneath the palms) to restore soil fertility. In this area, growing oil palm for its oil is uncommon. Tenants access the land under specific contracts but are not allowed to plant oil palm.

A diagnostic study of the development potential of livestock for the rice-based economy of the Office du Niger (ON) was conducted in Mali. The functioning of selected farming systems and value chains were studied by means of interviews, surveys and farmer group discussions. The findings show that in the ON rice remains the prime agricultural activity; although half of the farm households own cattle (for capital insurance and draught power), livestock management is troublesome because of a lack of grazing land and water points.

Purpose: Why do farmers not take better care of their soils? This article aims to give insight into how farmers look at soil quality management. Design/methodology/approach: It analyses diverse land management practices and visions on soils and soil quality of ten agroecological and 14 conventional smallholder farmers in Araponga, Minas Gerais, Brazil. As agroecological farming (that is, managing soils with minimum use of external inputs) requires more complex knowledge, it is assumed that agroecological farmers would be more knowledgeable on soils compared to conventional farmers.

Remotely sensed imagery is currently used as an efficient tool for agricultural management and monitoring. In addition, the use of remotely sensed imagery in Europe has been extended towards determination of the areas potentially eligible for the farmer subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), through interactive or automatic land cover identification.

Native warm-season grasses have potential to increase the ecosystem services associated with grazing lands and to provide a source of forage for livestock. In the upper Midwest, minimal region specific information is available to grass-based farmers on how to manage native pastures for long-term productivity and persistence. Wildlife biologists suggest delaying defoliations until mid-summer to preserve grassland bird habitat, yet production-based management recommendations warn against late season defoliations.

Through investigating the reactions of commercial farmers to land and water reforms in the Trichardtsdal-Ofcolaco area, Limpopo Province, Olifants Basin, South Africa, from 1997 to 2006, it is shown that water claims are key to land redistribution processes, and that commercial farmers make strategic use of arguments for nature conservation and ecological stewardship to defend their claims to water.

Changes affecting livestock farming systems have made farm work a central concern for both the sector and for farmers themselves. Increased pressure on farms to be competitive and productive together with farmers’ demand for greater autonomy, holidays or time to spend on private activities and the family converge to underline the two key dimensions of work – productivity and flexibility – required for the assessment of work organization.