New Agriculturist
Focus on
- Livestock and climate change
- The livestock sector is often condemned for its contribution to climate change but poor smallscale livestock keepers are more likely to be impacted by climate change than contribute significantly to global warming. In this edition, we look at a selection of approaches and initiatives which demonstrate the resilience of livestock keepers and their determination to survive.
- Pastoralists: coping with climate change
- Coping with extreme cold - livestock in the Andes
- Conserving water for livestock in Butana, Sudan
- A brewing storm for livestock disease?
- More milk, less methane
- Livestock insurance: reducing vulnerability
- Brachiaria - grass roots answer to nitrification
Points of view
- Africa's agricultural future - large-scale or small?
- The Guinea Savannah zone of west and southern Africa has enormous potential for commercial agriculture, according to a World Bank Report - Awakening Africa's Sleeping Giant. But is large-scale or smallholder farming the best option for the region, or for the continent more widely? Participants at a recent workshop in London offer their views.
My perspective... a personal viewpoint
- Hans Binswanger-Mkhize
- Hans Binswanger-Mkhize, co-author of a World Bank study, discusses the potential for agricultural development on 400 million hectares of arable land in the Guinea Savannahs of West and southern Africa.
Country profile
- Grenada
- Known as the Spice Island of the Caribbean, Grenada was second only to Indonesia in global nutmeg production before Hurricane Ivan in 2004 crippled the industry. Food crops, forest areas and agricultural infrastructure were also severely damaged. But with assistance, the government has been promoting a number of initiatives in order to revitalise the agricultural sector.
News brief
- Dramatic decline in illegal logging
- Illegal logging worldwide has dropped by almost a quarter over the last decade, states a new report published by Chatham House.
- Mangroves report reveals considerable losses
- Mangrove forests are being lost at a rate up to four times higher than land-based forests despite restoration efforts by some countries, a new report states.
Editorial
- Agriculture is more than just farming; it is about business, education, health, land rights and culture. Cutting across these vital aspects of a country's structure, agriculture should no longer be seen as one sector or confined to one government ministry but should be fully integrated into national and regional development processes. Challenging the direction of agricultural development is a major theme in this issue.
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In pictures
- Grain Amaranth - the drought-beater
- Widely regarded as a weed and largely ignored by crop breeders, grain amaranth has been introduced into western Kenya as a drought-tolerant food and cash crop for small farmers.
Developments
- The new Sussex Manifesto: the 3D approach
- Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the original 'Sussex Manifesto' on science and technology for development, the STEPS Centre has created a new manifesto which recommends ways of linking science, technology and innovation to meet the needs of developing countries.
- New virulent rust threatens world's wheat
- With the discovery of four new mutations of Ug99 - a strain of wheat stem rust - which have overcome two of the most important stem rust-resistant genes used in breeding programmes, scientists have warned that an outbreak in any significant wheat growing area could wipe out 40 per cent of the crop.
Book reviews
- The rational optimist - How prosperity evolves
- With population exceeding resources and greenhouse gas emissions fueling climate change, Matt Ridley argues that while the future looks bleak, rational optimism holds that the world will pull out of the current crisis.
- The rise of India and China in Africa
- Through case studies from selected countries and specific sectors, including energy, agriculture, manufacturing and telecommunications, the contributing authors examine the opportunities and challenges created by Asian investment in Africa.
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