Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a major attribute of soil quality that responds to land management activities which is also important in the regulation of global carbon (C) cycling. This study evaluated bulk soil C and nitrogen (N) contents and C and N dynamics in three soil organic matter (SOM) fractions separated by density. The study was based on three tillage systems on farmer managed experiments (conventional tillage (CT), ripping (RP), direct seeding (DS)) and adjacent natural forest (NF) in Haplic Arenosols (sandy) and Rhodic Ferralsols (clayey) of Zimbabwe.

Integrated watershed management has been promoted as a suitable strategy for improving productivity and sustainable intensification of agriculture in rainfed drought-prone regions. The paper examines the socioeconomic and biophysical factors influencing farmers' soil and water conservation investment decisions and the resulting economic incentives (productivity benefits) from watershed management interventions in the semi-arid tropics of India.

Although China still holds land in collective and state ownership, land use rights have been largely privatized. While transactions for forestland use rights have taken place for more than two decades, few detailed investigations of the transactions have been conducted. This study investigates 222 households in eight villages of Linan and Anji counties located within Zhejiang Province, and reports details of the transactions, their scope and motivation, and the characteristics of households participating in the market for forestland use rights.

In recent years, the concept of ‘food sovereignty’ has gained increasing ground among grassroots groups, taking the form of a global movement. But there is no uniform conceptualization of what food sovereignty constitutes. Indeed, the definition has been expanding over time. It has moved from its initial focus on national self-sufficiency in food production (‘the right of nations’) to local self-sufficiency (‘the rights of peoples’). There is also a growing emphasis on the rights of women and other disadvantaged groups, and on consensus building and democratic choice.

In Bangladesh, extensive common pool fisheries exist in the wet season on private lands in the floodplains. This study investigated the trend in year-round enclosure of these seasonal commons for private aquaculture and the impacts of this practice. The floodplain area enclosed for aquaculture was found to be growing at 30–100% a year. Enclosures are organised by individual landowners, informal groups or companies that lease in land. Aquaculture in enclosures produces more fish than capture fisheries, but input costs are high.

Rural areas in densely populated regions face increasing competition for land. Consequently, land use planning processes must attempt to balance the goals of diverse stakeholders and the process of reaching consensus becomes more complicated. By investigating the perception of the actors involved in rural planning, this research contributes to the knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of such processes. We have focused on the case of rural planning processes in Flanders in which proponents of nature and agriculture are competing for land.

Agricultural non-point source pollution (ANSP) is considered a major contributor to local water degradation in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) of China. The Xiangxi River, which is a first level anabranch of the Yangtze River, was selected for investigation of the effectiveness of selected best management measures (BMPs) to alleviate water pollution through analysis of several scenarios by SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool).

‘Food sovereignty’ must necessarily encompass ‘seed sovereignty’. Corporate appropriation of plant genetic resources, development of transgenic crops and the global imposition of intellectual property rights are now widely recognized as serious constraints on the free exchange of seeds and the development of new cultivars by farmers, public breeders and small seed companies. In response, an Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) has been launched in the United States to apply legal mechanisms drawn from the open source software movement to plant breeding.

Although protected areas have become the primary mechanism for biodiversity conservation, their establishment can have long-term impacts on land use, land cover, and livelihoods of people living near them. Where land use and resource extraction is severely limited, local people turn to resource pools outside parks. Kibale National Park in western Uganda is a remnant of a previously larger, mid-altitude forest region surrounded by dense agricultural settlement.

Hanfets is a popular mixture of wheat and barley grown in the highlands of Eritrea and Tigray (Northern Ethiopia). In this study, we tested 16 experimental hanfets constituting all possible combinations of four barley landraces and four wheat (two landraces and two varieties) at three locations in Eritrea for 3 years during which farmers (both men and women) made selections of suitable hanfets. Across locations and years, the grain yield of hanfets on average was similar to that of the pure barley but significantly higher than that of wheat.

The design of public policy related to irrigation sectors in North Africa was often based on the state view. Local farmers' organizations, made up of family farms, did not contribute to building the legal framework, which was in turn unable to propose specific solutions for family farming. Legal reforms currently underway in Morocco and Algeria show how difficult it is to integrate field realities. Access to land and water resources is often obtained through informal local coordination modes.

Terrace soils are distinctive features of the agricultural landscape in Europe. Due to their historical and aesthetic significance, they are a resource for agriculture and tourism: however they are also a challenge for land conservation and management. Nevertheless, the fundamental role of terrace soils for agricultural quality and natural hazard prevention has not been fully investigated. In the past, terraced slopes became ideal sites for human settlement and agricultural activities.