Many people in Africa face enormous problems as they struggle to feed themselves, and to generate sufficient cash income to meet the most basic needs. Their difficulties escalate as increasing populations are forced to farm marginal land which is vulnerable to degradation. At best the overall results are static crop yields and widespread poverty. Famine, refugee problems and abandoned lands are common symptoms of our failure to practice good land husbandry, and to manage our affairs to assure a decent livelihood for the majority of rural people. This book reports on seeds of hope and lessons for the future, first setting the scene with an outline of current approaches to soil and water management in different countries and aid agencies. Then follows discussion of social, cultural and economic issues and the mechanics of participatory working, The case studies that follow are in three groups. There are examples of the opportunities and benefits of improved farming methods; case studies where an important part of the experience is stimulating community developments; and case studies with more emphasis on the methods and techniques used to promote better land husbandry. There are sugg

In this book the authors argue for a paradigm shift in the way African wetlands are considered. Current policies and wetland management are too frequently underpinned by a perspective that views agriculture simply as a threat and disregards its important contribution to livelihoods. In rural areas where people are entrenched in poverty, wetlands (in particular wetland agriculture) have a critical role to play in supporting and developing peoples' livelihoods. Furthermore, as populations rise and climate change takes grip they will be increasingly important. The authors argue that an approach to wetland management that is much more people focused is required. That is an approach that instead of being concerned primarily with environmental outcomes is centred on livelihood outcomes supported by the sustainable use of natural wetland resources. The authors stress the need for Integrated Water Resource Management and landscape approaches to ensure sustainable use of wetlands throughout a river catchment and the need for wetland management interventions to engage with a wide range of stakeholders. They also assess the feasibility of creating incentives and value in wetlands to support sustainable use. Drawing on nine empirical case studies, this book highlights the different ways in which sustainable use of wetlands has been sought, each case focusing on specific issues about wetlands, agriculture and livelihoods.

In this book the authors argue for a paradigm shift in the way African wetlands are considered. Current policies and wetland management are too frequently underpinned by a perspective that views agriculture simply as a threat and disregards its important contribution to livelihoods. In rural areas where people are entrenched in poverty, wetlands (in particular wetland agriculture) have a critical role to play in supporting and developing peoples' livelihoods. Furthermore, as populations rise and climate change takes grip they will be increasingly important. The authors argue that an approach to wetland management that is much more people focused is required. That is an approach that instead of being concerned primarily with environmental outcomes is centred on livelihood outcomes supported by the sustainable use of natural wetland resources. The authors stress the need for Integrated Water Resource Management and landscape approaches to ensure sustainable use of wetlands throughout a river catchment and the need for wetland management interventions to engage with a wide range of stakeholders. They also assess the feasibility of creating incentives and value in wetlands to support sustainable use. Drawing on nine empirical case studies, this book highlights the different ways in which sustainable use of wetlands has been sought, each case focusing on specific issues about wetlands, agriculture and livelihoods.

In this important and topical book, Adrian Wood demonstrates that recent changes in North-South trade have had a far larger impact on labor markets than earlier studies imply, altering the relative demand for skilled and unskilled workers in the two regions. Developing his argument by incorporating three fields of economics--international, labor, and development--he suggests policies that could reduce the resulting social dislocation in the North, without jeopardizing world trade or economic progress in the South. Wood argues that there are grounds for qualified eptimism despite this problem. Greater trade should mean greater prosperity for developing countries, and less global inequality, while for developed countries it should mean workers are available to produce sophisticated exports, which the South cannot produce. Northern governments must take action to avoid the situation of rising unemployment and protectionism in the North, and exploitation of labor in the South. Wood argues that this can be done not through protectionism, but through investment in education and training to raise the supply of skilled labor.

With the number of violent conflicts within countries increasing all the time, as well as other forms of natural and man-made complex emergencies, humanitarian intervention has become a much more frequent form of development assistance. There has also been a corresponding rise in the need to evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions. In this volume, the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Assistance (ALNAP) has compiled for the first time an examination of the experiences of, and lessons learned by, those practically engaged in humanitarian programme evaluations.
The case studies included in this volume are drawn from four continents, including Central Asia and the Balkans, and they embrace the different kinds of humanitarian emergency that have afflicted so many people during the past decade. The volume addresses the context in which evaluations of humanitarian assistance take place; the actual process of doing evaluations; and the lessons for improving how such evaluations might be better undertaken in future.
This pioneering volume is likely to be of great practical value to agencies and individuals engaged in both the delivery of humanitarian assistance in complex emergencies and its evaluation.