This handbook of locally based agricultural practices brings together the best of science and farmer experimentation, vividly illustrating the enormous diversity of shifting cultivation systems as well as the power of human ingenuity. Environmentalists have tended to disparage shifting cultivation (sometimes called 'swidden cultivation' or 'slash-and-burn agriculture') as unsustainable due to its supposed role in deforestation and land degradation. However, a growing body of evidence indicates that such indigenous practices, as they have evolved over time, can be highly adaptive to land and ecology. In contrast, 'scientific' agricultural solutions imposed from outside can be far more damaging to the environment. Moreover, these external solutions often fail to recognize the extent to which an agricultural system supports a way of life along with a society's food needs. They do not recognize the degree to which the sustainability of a culture is intimately associated with the sustainability and continuity of its agricultural system. Unprecedented in ambition and scope, Voices from the Forest focuses on successful agricultural strategies of upland farmers. More than 100 scholars from 19 countries--including agricultural economists, ecologists, and anthropologists--collaborated in the analysis of different fallow management typologies, working in conjunction with hundreds of indigenous farmers of different cultures and a broad range of climates, crops, and soil conditions. By sharing this knowledge--and combining it with new scientific and technical advances--the authors hope to make indigenous practices and experience more widely accessible and better understood, not only by researchers and development practitioners, but by other communities of farmers around the world.

Substantial new breakthroughs are happening in telecommunications technology. This volume presents a state-of-the-art review of the current research activities in intelligent network technology. It contains the proceedings of a workshop on intelligent networks organized by the International Federation of Information Processsing and held as part of the Third Summer School on Telecommunications in Lappeenranta, Finland, August 1994.

Recent history reveals that both the large-scale reforestation projects of the 20th century have often been less successful than anticipated, and that tree growing by smallholders – as an alternative means to combat deforestation and promote sustainable land use – has received relatively little attention from the scientific and development communities. Taking a first step to addressing that balance, this collection of peer-reviewed papers adopts a comparative approach to explore the potential role that tree growing by farmers can play in sustainable forest management. The goal of this approach is to identify common threads and to start to develop a framework for future research and practice. Presenting case studies from the Philippines and comparative data from a number of Asian countries the book reveals that farmer tree growing has the potential to play a significant role in sustainable forest management, and discusses the surrounding issues which must be addressed in order to realise this potential. The book is primarily aimed at research scientists and graduate students interested in relevant aspects of forestry, agroforestry, agricultural diversity, natural resource management and conservation in agricultural landscapes, as well as those involved in sustainable development and international development studies. It will also provide a valuable reference for professionals, managers, consultants, policy makers and planners dealing with issues in sustainable development, natural resource management, land use change issues and participatory approaches to resource management.

Technical papers. Setting the scene. Interactions between animals and plants. Interactions between animals and soils. Interactions between plants and soils. Nutrient cycling in mixed farming systems. Modelling nutrient cycles in plant/animal/soil systems.

This book offers comprehensive insights into the management of agroforestry for livelihood security and sustainable development in the tropics, addressing ecological interactions, productivity, and the monetization of carbon credits, while also outlining a future roadmap and policy challenges. Agroforestry is a brilliant land use farming practice that covers 1.6 billion hectares (78 percent in the tropics and 22 percent in the temperate regions) to enhance plant diversification, productivity, and livelihood across generations, maintaining eco-restoration. It ensures socioeconomic upliftment and a standard livelihood for people along with many ecosystem services for sustainable development under resilient climates, which are today’s key topics popularized among policy makers, stakeholders, scientists, ecologists, and climate supporters in the tropical world. However, more than 75 percent of the world’s poor directly depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. Adopting climate resilient agroforestry not only maximizes productivity and farmers’ socioeconomic status but also mitigates climate change issues through carbon sequestrations for better carbon management in the tropics. This book addresses agroforestry management for livelihood security and sustainable development in the tropics. Readers will earn about ecological interactions and productivity in tropical agroforestry ensuring greater ecosystem services and livelihood resilience under changing climates, as well as building livelihood resilience through monetization of carbon credits in agroforestry in the tropics. Livelihood and sustainability-based policy in agroforestry, its challenges, and a future roadmap are also covered. This volume provides new insights related to updated research, development and extension activities for combating climate change through carbon sequestration to enhance intensify greater productivity, and livelihood and ecosystem services for ensuring the goals of sustainable development.

Over the past two decades, significant investment has been made into agriculture-related natural resource management research in developing countries. This collection of case studies establishes a methodological foundation for impact assessments of NRMR through a discussion of research conducted by the CGIAR around the world.