The purpose of this report is first to provide evidence of the role of livestock in rural livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Further, the report aims to identify opportunities for investments that build on that evidence and hold promise for improving and sustaining the livelihoods of smallholder livestock producers and their rural communities in developing countries. This analysis is presented in order to support the decision making of those public and private development investors, and policy makers, for whom improved rural livelihoods is a key objective.

Crop growth models play a major role in sustaining the world-wide food security. These models are used to simulate crop growth during the growing season, and the final crop yield at the end of the growing season, given the farmers’ management practices. At a more strategic level, these crop growth models play an important role to decision makers to take timely decisions regarding food import and/or export strategies. The simulation accuracy of crop growth models relies on the quality of the input data.

The Challenge of Integrated Water Resource Management for Improved Rural Livelihoods:

Managing Risk, Mitigating Drought and Improving Water Productivity in the Water Scarce Limpopo

Basin: Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a systems approach to water

management, based on the principle of managing the full water cycle. It is required, not only to

balance water for food and nature, but also to unlock paths to sustainable development. A global

hotspot area in terms of water for food and improved livelihoods is in the poverty stricken rural

Describes the organization, objectives and results of the aerial survey programme of the Kenyan Rangeland Ecological Monitoring Unit from 1976 to 1979, with particular reference to the methodology used, animal population estimates, esp. herbivores, and reliability of aerial survey data in terms of aerial, ground & remote sensing counts.

This document is divided in eight chapters. The first chapter reviews rangelands and rangeland development in Ethiopia. The second chapter is an introduction to the Borana Plateau with ref. to natural resources and pastoral society. It reviews secondary information on geology and sociology, as well as original information on climate, soils, wildlife, plant ecology and water resources for the central Borana Plateau. Chapter three deals with vegetation dynamics and resource use.

The Borana plateau of southern Ethiopia: synthesis of pastoral research, development and change, 1980-91 summarises results from work conducted by 40 people in the southern Ethiopian rangelands between 1980 and 1991. The first chapter reviews rangelands and rangeland development in Ethiopia. The second chapter is an introduction to the Borana plateau: natural resources and pastoral society. The next three chapters deals with vegetation dynamics and resoruce use, Borana household economy, and livestock husbandry and production.