Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has been systematically advanced within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, implementing REDD+ in a populated landscape requires information on local costs and acceptability of changed practices. To supply such information, many studies have adopted approaches that explore the opportunity cost of ma...

The present study aimed to assess the extent of knowledge and understanding of brucellosis in smallholder dairy farmers and identify practices at the farm and household level that might pose a risk for humans contracting brucellosis. Between February and June 2015 a cross-sectional study was conducted among smallholder farms (n = 420) in five districts of Punjab and two districts of Sindh provi...

Southern Africa has high levels of food insecurity with stunting levels of more than 20% in several countries. Many countries in the region are net importers of staple food. This is partly due to low staple crop yields, with the average maize yield for the region, excluding South Africa, being around one tonne per hectare (see figure below). More than 70% of the population, and the vast majorit...

Botswana is a semi-arid, middle-income African country that imports 90 percent of its food. Despite its relative prosperity, Botswana also suffers from one of the highest measures of income inequality in the world, persistent poverty, and relatively high levels of food insecurity. The objective of this paper is to explore how political economy, climate change and livelihood dynamics are synergi...

Farming as a livelihood activity in the Bosomtwe District is threatened by climate change. This paper ascertained the alternative livelihood options of smallholder farmers against climate variability and change in the Bosomtwe District. Using a cross-sectional survey, 152 smallholder farmers were sampled from 12 communities using a multistage sampling procedure. The quantitative data collected ...

A study to determine the impacts of farmers field schools (FFS) on smallholders’ adoption of good agricultural practices in tea and to assess sustainability of smallholder tea production was conducted in the highlands of Kenya. Input-output data on tea management and on sustainability indicators (score 0-10) were collected from a sample of 120 FFS participants at the beginning of the study and ...

The overuse of Nitrogen (N) fertilizers on smallholder farms in rapidly developing countries has increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and accelerated global N consumption over the past 20 years. In this study, a regional N management approach was developed based on the cost of the agricultural response to N application rates from 1,726 on-farm experiments to optimize N management across 12 ...

Potato yields in sub-Saharan Africa remain very low compared with those of developed countries. Yet potato is major food staple and source of income to the predominantly smallholder growing households in the tropical highlands of this region. A major cause of the low potato yields is the use of poor quality seed potato. This paper examines the factors determining the decision to use certified s...

The rubber boom across much of Southeast Asia has led to environmental destruction, and the resultant crash in the price of rubber has destabilised livelihoods. We investigated the necessary factors required to enable a transition towards a more sustainable model for rubber cultivation in Southwest China (i.e. the 'greening' of rubber cultivation), using a framework for the integrative study of...

Earth Observation has become a progressively important source of information for land use and land cover services over the past decades. At the same time, an increasing number of reconnaissance satellites have been set in orbit with ever increasing spatial, temporal, spectral, and radiometric resolutions. The available bulk of data, fostered by open access policies adopted by several agencies, ...