Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century
Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2010-07-25

Total Pages: 598

ISBN-13: 0309148960

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In the last 20 years, there has been a remarkable emergence of innovations and technological advances that are generating promising changes and opportunities for sustainable agriculture, yet at the same time the agricultural sector worldwide faces numerous daunting challenges. Not only is the agricultural sector expected to produce adequate food, fiber, and feed, and contribute to biofuels to meet the needs of a rising global population, it is expected to do so under increasingly scarce natural resources and climate change. Growing awareness of the unintended impacts associated with some agricultural production practices has led to heightened societal expectations for improved environmental, community, labor, and animal welfare standards in agriculture. Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century assesses the scientific evidence for the strengths and weaknesses of different production, marketing, and policy approaches for improving and reducing the costs and unintended consequences of agricultural production. It discusses the principles underlying farming systems and practices that could improve the sustainability. It also explores how those lessons learned could be applied to agriculture in different regional and international settings, with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. By focusing on a systems approach to improving the sustainability of U.S. agriculture, this book can have a profound impact on the development and implementation of sustainable farming systems. Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century serves as a valuable resource for policy makers, farmers, experts in food production and agribusiness, and federal regulatory agencies.

Farming Systems and Poverty
Farming Systems and Poverty

Author: John A. Dixon

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 9789251046272

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A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.

Crop-livestock Interaction in Sub-Sarahan Africa
Crop-livestock Interaction in Sub-Sarahan Africa

Author: John McIntire

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13:

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This book is the result of a collaborative research effort between the World Bank and the International Livestock Centre for Africa. It extends previous work on agricultural mechanization and the evolution of farming systems in Africa by seeking to answer a number of basic questions about the integration of crops and livestock in sub - Saharan Africa. Those questions include the role of mixed farming in promoting agricultural growth, the appropriate points at which to encourage the use of animals as sources of farm power, the contribution of animals to improving the poor fertility of African soils, the efficacy of different methods to better livestock nutrition, and the economic returns to incorporating livestock production on small farms. While many individual studies have analyzed such issues in the past, this book is the first comprehensive review of existing knowledge which offers general explanations of crop-livestock relations with respect to both economic and technical features of African agriculture. In doing so, experimental evidence is carefully synthesized and examined in light of field visits to thirty-three different sites through the major agroclimates of sub - Saharan Africa. The detailed empirical nature of the book permits specific conclusions to be drawn for different farming systems, while its comparisons across those systems allow broad explanations of contrasting crop-livestock interactions.

Farming Systems and Food Security in Africa
Farming Systems and Food Security in Africa

Author: John Dixon

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-12-09

Total Pages: 896

ISBN-13: 1317332261

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Knowledge of Africa’s complex farming systems, set in their socio-economic and environmental context, is an essential ingredient to developing effective strategies for improving food and nutrition security. This book systematically and comprehensively describes the characteristics, trends, drivers of change and strategic priorities for each of Africa’s fifteen farming systems and their main subsystems. It shows how a farming systems perspective can be used to identify pathways to household food security and poverty reduction, and how strategic interventions may need to differ from one farming system to another. In the analysis, emphasis is placed on understanding farming systems drivers of change, trends and strategic priorities for science and policy. Illustrated with full-colour maps and photographs throughout, the volume provides a comprehensive and insightful analysis of Africa’s farming systems and pathways for the future to improve food and nutrition security. The book is an essential follow-up to the seminal work Farming Systems and Poverty by Dixon and colleagues for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Bank, published in 2001.

The Economics of Agricultural Technology in Semiarid Sub-Saharan Africa
The Economics of Agricultural Technology in Semiarid Sub-Saharan Africa

Author: John H. Sanders

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13:

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This strategy is evaluated using field studies and modeling from the major agroecological zones of crop production. The authors address the higher-input, yield-increasing strategy from the perspective of risk, sustainability and the impact on women. They also consider alternative approaches to increasing output through area expansion and livestock-crop integrated systems.