A dynamic bio-economic model is used to show that, without technological and policy intervention, soil nutrient balances, income and nutrition could not be substantially or sustainably improved in a highland area of Ethiopia. Although cash incomes could rise from a very low base by more than 50%...

Cattle rearing in humid west Africa was nearly impossible in the past owing to the prevalence of trypanosomiasis, a disease caused by the tsetse fly. However, in recent times, with population pressure, jungle clearance, crop cultivation and tsetse control measures, the challenge has been...

The incorporation of livestock into alley farming systems, in which food or forage crops are grown between hedges of multipurpose trees that are regularly pruned for mulch and/or forage, has been studied for over 10 years in Africa. Prunings from leguminous trees such as Leucaena and Gliricidia...

Alley farming was developed as a means of maintaining soil fertility in fields under permanent cultivation in Africa, as population pressure makes the traditional practice of slash-and-burn combined with fallowing unsustainable. It is an agroforestry system under which food crops are grown in...

Agricultural intensification in West Africa is in its early stages and several hypotheses have been postulated about its evolution and possible pathways. In addition, farm efficiency may vary across farms and other socio-economic domains, opening opportunities to improve efficiency and...

Agricultural intensification in West Africa is at an early stage and the process is taking place through various pathways. Population pressure and market access are generally considered as major factors driving intensification and crop-livestock interaction. In this paper both ecology and...

Considering leguminous trees Leucauena and Gliricidia as good sources of quality food, on-station and on-farm studies were conducted in the humid zone of West Africa to establish animal responses to levels, times and forms of browse supplementation, to develop alternative feeding strategies for...

Empirical studies on agricultural technology adoption generally divide a population into adopters and nonadopters, and analyse the reasons for adoption or nonadoption at a point in time. In reality, technology adoption is not a one-off static decision, rather it involves a dynamic process in...