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.

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

The world’s climate is changing rapidly and Africa will be severely affected by this, not only because of the effects on ecosystems but also because of the low adaptive capacity of communities due to poverty and lack of infrastructure, services, and appropriate policies to support adaptation strategies. A large share of Africa’s poor are dependent on livestock for some part of their livelihoods, most of these living in smallholder, rainfed mixed systems and pastoral systems, where livestock play a key role as assets providing multiple economic, social, and risk management functions.

This report addresses the economic, environmental and social dimensions of agricultural development, with the objective of ensuring food and nutrition security, in terms of availability, access, utilization and stability. It focuses on the livestock component of agricultural systems, given the role of livestock as an engine for the development of the agriculture and food sector, and as a driver of major economic, social and environmental changes in food systems worldwide.

The manual was created specifically for use in the Western Kenya Smallholder Agricultural Carbon project, managed by the Swedish NGO Vi Agroforestry, which is the test case for the first Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) methodology for generating carbon credits by building organic matter in agricultural soils. The project aims to provide support to farmers as they implement the sustainable agricultural and management (SALM) practices which generate the carbon credits within the project.