The role of soil erosion, organic and inorganic inputs for soil fertility management in South Africa

No one should be surprised that soil fertility in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa is declining

A senior agricultural extension officer for Matabeleland North province in Zimbabwe describes how the extension service is helping farmers to cope with less reliable rainfall.

A crops specialist and a livestock specialist from the Matopos research station describe technologies being developed to support smallholder farmers experiencing drought

The papers contained in this issue have been selected from those presented at a series of workshops, held in 2002 in Hungary, Uganda, Mexico and Cambodia, that were organized by the World Bank jointly with the Department for International Development (DFID), the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and with FAO, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the African development Bank (AfDB), the European Union (EU), the International Land Coalition, Oxfam, and other bilateral an

This bulletin is issued by FAO as a medium for the dissemination of information and views on land reform and related subjects to the United Nations, FAO Member Governments and national and international experts and institutions. Articles are published in the original language (English, French or Spanish).

Mountains of the world cover about one-fifth of the land surface, are home to one-tenth of the world's population, and provide livelihood to some of the poorest communities in the world. Mountain lakes and streams are a source of freshwater for countless riparian human communities, support industries, provide water for irrigation and hydropower electricity production and for fish.

This case study illustrates the use of the MA&D methodology to identify products and to develop viable tree, forest and home garden product enterprises at community level in Viet Nam without degrading the forest resource base and the environment. It provides examples of the methods and tools used by the facilitating team.

The global reproduction of food, notably cereal crops, appears to have been remarkably resilient to the vagaries of climate. The unsung hero in this production chain may well be groundwater. When rainfed agriculture fails, the fallback is usually groundwater. First it is accessed to smooth over the dry periods, and then it becomes a habit. Therefore, staying within strict resource limits would seem to be the obvious piece of management advice.

Meeting Name: Committee on Forestry (COFO) (16th Session)
Meeting symbol/code: COFO 2003/6

Situación de los Bosques del Mundo 2003 ofrece información sobre los acontecimientos y esferas que son de interés actual en lo que se refiere a los recursos forestales; la ordenación, conservación y desarrollo sostenible de los bosques; el marco institucional; y el diálogo internacional sobre política forestal.