The Atankwidi Catchment, which lies in the White Volta Basin in West Africa, is intensively cultivated by locals for economic gains. During dry seasons, farmers irrigate their crops, chiefly tomatoes, using shallow groundwater harvested from shallow ponds they dig using simple tools like an axe, hoe, bucket and bowls. Recent expansion in cultivated areas has brought to the fore the need to estimate the volume of shallow groundwater stored in the catchment’s underlying aquifer and to what extent it can sustain the incremental growth in irrigated areas.

Once the conditions that led to the creation of the Société Civile des Terres du Larzac (SCTL) have been introduced, the companion modelling approach used with this group of farmers is presented. The agent-based model co-constructed with a group of researchers and technicians is then described, as well as the way it was used to confront scenarios developed by the SCTL to envision management options of the forest massif, with scenarios developed by the farmers to improve the current functioning of their farms

Once the conditions that led to the creation of the Société Civile des Terres du Larzac (SCTL) have been introduced, the companion modelling approach used with this group of farmers is presented. The agent-based model co-constructed with a group of researchers and technicians is then described, as well as the way it was used to confront scenarios developed by the SCTL to envision management options of the forest massif, with scenarios developed by the farmers to improve the current functioning of their farms

To date, scientific literature provided a vast amount of studies on Ecosystem Services (ES) underpinning their benefits to human well-being. Livestock grazing systems occupy a vast area of the terrestrial surface and are essential to the livelihood especially for vulnerable communities. Grazinglands are able to provide a wide array of ES depending on management practices and intensity. In this perspective and according to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) framework, the paper reviews the methods and the approaches used in the analysis of the main ES provided by grazing systems.

Soil management in the Altillanura of Colombia’s Eastern Plains The strategies used for adequate soil management for the Altillanura (high plains with flat topography) of Colombia’s Eastern Plains are reviewed to establish modern, efficient, and sustainable livestock systems in this region. Advances in technology development within the technical and scientific cooperation agreement signed between Colombia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) and CIAT, as well as those of the Center’s Soils Project and several national institutions co-partners in the agreement.

This study determined the patterns and magnitudes of land cover
and use changes, their driving factors and impacts on soil quality
and pasture productivity in Nakasongola district. Satellite data
(1970 - 2009), surveys, soil and pasture sampling techniques
were used. Woody and bare encroachments are major changes
affecting soil quality and pasture productivity. Changes in fire
regimes, poor stocking densities, termites, climatic variability
and tree cutting are major drivers of the land cover and use

This corporate report looks ‘back to the future’—to the thousand million farmers practicing small-scale mixed crop-and-livestock agriculture in poor countries—the kind of seemingly old-fashioned family farming systems that have become so fashionable in recent years among those wanting to reform the industrial food systems of rich countries.