Irrigation in Africa in Figures

Irrigation in Africa in Figures
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 352
Release: 1995
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9789250037271

Agriculture in Urban Planning

Agriculture in Urban Planning
Author: Mark Redwood
Publisher: Earthscan
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2012
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1849770433

This volume, by graduate researchers working in urban agriculture, examines concrete strategies to integrate city farming into the urban landscape. Drawing on original field work in cities across the rapidly urbanizing global south, the book examines the contribution of urban agriculture and city farming to livelihoods and food security. Case studies cover food production diversification for robust and secure food provision; the socio-economic and agronomic aspects of urban composting; urban agriculture as a viable livelihood strategy; strategies for integrating city farming into urban landscapes; and the complex social-ecological networks of urban agriculture. Other case studies look at public health aspects including the impact of pesticides, micro-biological risks, pollution and water contamination on food production and people. Ultimately the book calls on city farmers, politicians, environmentalists and regulatory bodies to work together to improve the long term sustainability of urban farming as a major, secure source of food and employment for urban populations. Published with IDRC

Science, Policy and Politics of Modern Agricultural System

Science, Policy and Politics of Modern Agricultural System
Author: Mohamed Behnassi
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2014-01-10
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9400779577

This book arises from a 2011 international conference entitled Climate Change, Agri-Food, Fisheries and Ecosystems: Reinventing Research, Innovation, and Policy Agendas for an Environmentally and Socially-Balanced Growth (ICCAFFE2011), organized by the North-South Center for Social Sciences (NRCS) in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany and the Institute for Research and Development (IRD), France. Coverage focuses on the agricultural sector and helps improve understanding of the relationships between agriculture and the environment and between human communities and nature, so as to sustainably manage agricultural development. The contributors analyze the interdependence between sustainable agricultural development and environmental, economic and social dynamics; assess the impacts of soil degradation on agricultural productivity; present ways to enhance livestock production and recommend mechanisms for managing links between agro-biodiversity, climate change and livelihoods. Part I examines sustainable agriculture development and environmental, economic and social dynamics, addressing topics such as global climate change, agriculture and challenges including socio-economic factors, adaptation, poverty reduction and water management. Part II covers the impacts of soil degradation on agricultural productivity and discusses the use of expert systems to assess and manage degraded lands, agricultural productivity, land suitability and rehabilitation. Part III focuses on livestock production enhancements, such as feed resources and supplemental feeds for animals and capacity building for women in dairy management. Part IV shares the outcomes of research in agro-biodiversity, climate change and livelihoods, addressing topics such as co-management of forests, carbon consumption models, biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration and scarce mangrove forests. Current environmental and agro-ecological research focuses on understanding the cause-consequence relationships between specific agricultural practices and land use and the responses at different levels of ecosystems. This book is intended to contribute to this discussion.

Nitrates, agriculture, eau

Nitrates, agriculture, eau
Author: R. Calvet
Publisher: Editions Quae
Total Pages: 584
Release: 1990
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9782738002846

The contributions of this symposium on the relation agriculture-nitrogen-water deal with the economical aspects (cost evaluation and cost repartition), the quantitative approach of the nitrogen biochemical cycle, farming systems and nitrogen manegement, and land utilization, nitrogen management and water quality

Drip Irrigation for Agriculture

Drip Irrigation for Agriculture
Author: Jean-Philippe Venot
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2017-07-06
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 113498975X

Initially associated with hi-tech irrigated agriculture, drip irrigation is now being used by a much wider range of farmers in emerging and developing countries. This book documents the enthusiasm, spread and use of drip irrigation systems by smallholders but also some disappointments and disillusion faced in the global South. It explores and explains under which conditions it works, for whom and with what effects. The book deals with drip irrigation 'behind the scenes', showcasing what largely remain 'untold stories'. Most research on drip irrigation use plot-level studies to demonstrate the technology’s ability to save water or improve efficiencies and use a narrow and rather prescriptive engineering or economic language. They tend to be grounded in a firm belief in the technology and focus on the identification of ways to improve or better realize its potential. The technology also figures prominently in poverty alleviation or agricultural modernization narratives, figuring as a tool to help smallholders become more innovative, entrepreneurial and business minded. Instead of focusing on its potential, this book looks at drip irrigation-in-use, making sense of what it does from the perspectives of the farmers who use it, and of the development workers and agencies, policymakers, private companies, local craftsmen, engineers, extension agents or researchers who engage with it for a diversity of reasons and to realize a multiplicity of objectives. While anchored in a sound engineering understanding of the design and operating principles of the technology, the book extends the analysis beyond engineering and hydraulics to understand drip irrigation as a sociotechnical phenomenon that not only changes the way water is supplied to crops but also transforms agricultural farming systems and even how society is organized. The book provides field evidence from a diversity of interdisciplinary case studies in sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean, Latin America, and South Asia, thus revealing some of the untold stories of drip irrigation.

Urban Agriculture for Growing City Regions

Urban Agriculture for Growing City Regions
Author: Undine Giseke
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 571
Release: 2015-09-07
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1317910133

This book demonstrates how agriculture can play a determining role in integrated, climate-optimised urban development. Agriculture within urban growth centres today is more than an economic or social left-over or a niche practice. It is instead a complex system that offers multiple potentials for interaction with the urban system. Urban open space and agriculture can be linked to a productive green infrastructure – this forms new urban-rural linkages in the urbanizing region and helps shape the city. But in order to do this, agriculture has to be seen as an integral part of the urban fabric and it has to be put on the local agenda. Urban Agriculture for Growing City Regions takes the example of Casablanca, one of the fastest growing cities in North Africa, to investigate this approach. The creation of synergies between the urban and rural in an emerging megacity is demonstrated through pilot projects, design solutions, and multifunctional modules. These synergies assure greater resource efficiency; particularly regarding the use and reuse of water, and they strengthen regional food security and the social integration of multiple spheres. A transdisciplinary research approach brings together different scientific disciplines and local actors into a process of integrated knowledge production. The book will have a long lasting legacy and is essential reading for researchers, planners, practitioners and policy makers who are working on urban development and urban agricultural strategies.

Baseline study of biosaline agriculture and roadmap to concerted cooperation in Maghreb countries

Baseline study of biosaline agriculture and roadmap to concerted cooperation in Maghreb countries
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 54
Release: 2023-12-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9251384444

Over 80 percent of the freshwater used in the Maghreb region is used by the agriculture sector. The region deals with rising soil and water salinization as well as agricultural land degradation. The sector is being impacted by climate change, particularly in light of the recent extended droughts. Making the most of all available water resources, especially saline waters, becomes essential in a situation where water scarcity is getting worse due to a combination of climate change's effects and rising demand. FAO conducted this study on the state and prospects of biosaline agriculture in the member nations of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) in collaboration with the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and the AMU, as part of a regional initiative on water scarcity. Biosaline agriculture is the cultivation of plants in water or on soils high in salt. It entails using tolerant plants that can produce a significant amount of biomass under saline circumstances to recover and maintain saline soils and to exploit saline waters for sustainable and financially advantageous production. The report provides a comparative analysis of the five nations in the Maghreb region, assesses the diverse farming practices and experiences already in use there, and offers a vision and framework for coordinated action and the promotion of biosaline farming. The report highlights the regions of the Maghreb countries that are most affected by salt, along with their features, existing practices, methods of adaptation, and prospects for future sustainable agricultural production.

Eaux et territoires, 3e édition

Eaux et territoires, 3e édition
Author: Frédéric Lasserre
Publisher: PUQ
Total Pages: 577
Release: 2011-10-25T00:00:00-04:00
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 2760529274

Guerres de l’eau, rareté de l’eau, gestion de l’eau. Qu’elle soit potable, agricole ou destinée à un usage industriel ou de loisir, l’eau est devenue l’objet de vives convoitises et de houleux débats quant aux modalités de son partage et de sa distribution. La question, d’abord de l’accès à l’eau, considérée comme une ressource essentielle, puis du partage de l’eau, et enfin surtout de la conflictualité potentielle de partages de plus en plus difficiles, a récemment pris le devant de la scène. L’eau sera-t-elle l’enjeu des conflits du xxie siècle ? Faut-il prêter attention aux prédictions alarmistes qui annoncent la multiplication des crises dans de nombreuses régions du globe, ou faut-il voir dans ces discours une version contemporaine des peurs millénaristes ? Des solutions modernes, comme des technologies plus adaptées ou la mise en place de mécanismes de marché, pourront-elles résoudre ces crises prochainement ? Comment les mécanismes de distribution de la ressource établis par les sociétés humaines en viennent-ils à s’enrayer aujourd’hui ? Quelles solutions se dessinent pour favoriser la nécessaire coopération dans ce domaine ? À partir de cas issus de plusieurs continents, les auteurs examinent les facteurs liés à l’accessibilité à l’eau ainsi que les principaux enjeux de la répartition, de la distribution et des choix relatifs à l’usage de cette importante ressource.