The introduction of soybeans to the southern and eastern parts of Paraguay in the early 1970s, followed by wheat in the mid-1970s, using conventional mechanised soil preparation practices with disc ploughs and harrows, initiated a process of widespread soil degradation and erosion. The technique of no-tillage was first used in Paraguay in the late 1970s. Following a slow start, its adoption by Paraguayan farmers gathered momentum increasing from 20,000 ha in 1991/92 to an impressive 250,000 ha in 1995/96, accounting for about 19% of the land cultivated mechanically.

Based on a broad literature review, this publication discusses rural women’s time poverty in agriculture, elaborates on its possible causes and implications and provides insight into the various types of constraints that affect the adoption of solutions for reducing work burden. This paper raises questions about the adequacy of women’s access to technologies, services and infrastructure and about the control women have over their time, given their major contributions to agriculture.

This issue of Unasylva contains, as promised in the previous edition, additional articles on sustainable mountain development. These articles help to complete the focus on the topic and should also help to promote interest in the recently declared International Year of the Mountain (2000) for which FAO has been designated lead agency status within the United Nations system.

This conmpendium of recent sustainable development initiatives in the field of agriculture and land management has been developed as a supporting document for the Task Manager's Report on the Land and Agriculture Cluster for Chapters 10, 12 and 14 of Agenda 21. The report draws together 75 cases from over 45 countries, illustrating the many features of improved land management and sustainable agriculture and rural development.

This issue of Land Reform, Land Settlement and Cooperatives includes interesting descriptions of land tenure and related policies in Uganda, Tunisia, the United Republic of Tanzania and Morocco. Two thought-provoking articles on access to land and other assets focus on policies to reduce poverty and the function of markets in the allocation of production resources. In the first, J. Melmed-Sanjak and S.

In November 2000, the World Bank (WB) and the Brazilian Federation for Direct Planting into Crop Residue (FEBRAPDP) organized the third Study Tour on “Producer-Led Rural Organizations for Sustainable Land Management” (PRO-SLM), with particular emphasis on notillage systems (NT).1 The Study Tour followed a 10-day itinerary of over 1,000 km through Southern Brazil, covering Paraná and Santa Catarina States, two states which received WB support through land and micro-watershed management projects.

Ce recueil d'initiatives rcentes de dveloppement durable dans le domaine de la gestion des terres et de l'agriculture a t labor comme document d'appui au Rapport de la Commission de travail examinant le volet Terres et agriculture pour les chapitres 10, 12 et 14 de l'Action 21. Ce rapport prsente un ensemble de 75 tudes de cas provenant de 45 pays et illustrant les diffrents aspects d'une amlioration de la gestion des terres et de l'agriculture et du dveloppement durable.

This publication reflects part of FAO's work on soil carbon sequestration within the framework of its programme on the integrated planning and management of land resources for sustainable rural development. The report presents a comprehensive analysis of the scientific aspects and potential for carbon sequestration in drylands – some of the most soil-degraded and impoverished regions of the world. It is based on case studies carried out across different land-use and managaement systems in several distinctive dryland areas.

In preparing an investment project, development strategies and project components are defined and revisited during project formulation through a consultative process that often includes Socio-economic and Production Systems Studies. These studies are conducted to develop an appreciation of the situation in which the intended beneficiaries live, and their perceptions of their problems, needs and priorities.

This report contains the results of a study of gender and access to forest and tree resources, women and men’s use of common lands and botanical resources, and the importance of these resources for the livelihoods of people in highland Ethiopia.