Environmentally Sustainable Development Studies and Monographs Series No. 19. Five years have passed since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, better known as the Rio Earth Summit. Almost all the countries of the world attended the conference and committed themselves to the policies and programs laid out in Agenda 21, the action plan of the summit. The World Bank and other international agencies have sought to be active partners in implementing the agenda. This report is part of the Bank's current efforts to review the progress made over the past five years and to make plans for improved effectiveness for the future. The paper is divided into two parts. Part I looks at the broad picture, assessing some of the large challenges for the future and outlining thematic principles. Part II provides concise reviews of the majority of the chapters of Agenda 21 and relates them to the standpoint of Bank activities.

Some general charscteristics of farming in a tropical environment; Shifting cultivation systems; Fallow systems; Ley systems; Systems with permanent upland cultivation; Systems with arable irrigation farming; Systems with perennial crops; Grazing systems; General tendences in the development of tropical farm systems.

Rainforests are rapidly being cleared in the humid tropics to keep pace with food demands, economic needs, and population growth. Without proper management, these forests and other natural resources will be seriously depleted within the next 50 years. Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment in the Humid Tropics provides critically needed direction for developing strategies that both mitigate land degradation, deforestation, and biological resource losses and help the economic status of tropical countries through promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. The book includes: A practical discussion of 12 major land use options for boosting food production and enhancing local economies while protecting the natural resource base. Recommendations for developing technologies needed for sustainable agriculture. A strategy for changing policies that discourage conserving and managing natural resources and biodiversity. Detailed reports on agriculture and deforestation in seven tropical countries.

Some general charscteristics of farming in a tropical environment; Shifting cultivation systems; Fallow systems; Ley systems; Systems with permanent upland cultivation; Systems with arable irrigation farming; Systems with perennial crops; Grazing systems; General tendences in the development of tropical farm systems.

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.

Farming Systems of the African Savanna: A continent in crisis

This book covers the uses of tropical farming systems in tropics of mixed, strip, relay, sequential and multistorey cropping. It discusses the aspects of the tropical farming systems including their history and agronomy and the plant inter-relationship within them.

Clear student text on theory and practice of economic decision making in tropical agriculture.