National Farmers Organisations

The present report by the Joint Research Centre (MARS Unit - FoodSec action) is the result of 2 studies launched by the JRC in the frame of its scientific support to the European Food Security Thematic program, and carried out in 2008-2010 by a consortium of European and African partners:

• NRI (Natural Resources Institute, UK)
• ISICAD (Information Systems for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research andRural Development) of BLE (German Federal Office for Agriculture and Food),
• ASARECA (Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa)
• and SADC (Southern African Development Community).of the European Commission’s.

An explaination of how soil gets compacted and how you can assess this with your farmers.

The information in this guide to making and using compost has been developed from working with Ethiopian smallholder farmers since 1996, particularly in the dry and degraded highlands of northern Ethiopia. It is based on the Tigrinya booklet by Arefayne Asmelash (1994 EC/2002 GC), the ISD Project Of cer based in Mekele, Tigray. It is hoped that smallholder farmers and local agricultural experts in many parts of the world, and particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, will be able to identify and use the most appropriate and applicable method for making compost in their own areas.

Growing concerns relating to land degradation, threat to eco-systems from over and inappropriate use of inorganic fertilizers, atmospheric pollution, soil health, soil biodiversity and sanitation have rekindled the global interest in organic recycling practices like composting. The potential of composting to turn on-farm waste materials into a farm resource makes it an attractive proposition. Composting offers several benefits such as enhanced soil fertility and soil health – thereby increased agricultural productivity, improved soil biodiversity, reduced ecological risks and a better environment.

Improving milk production in East Africa faces multiple constraints, however lack of farmer understandingof the productive cows’ nutritional needs – and how to satisfy them – are frequently a “ rst-limiting”consideration. In recognition of this an intensive, four week training has been developed to improve farmer understanding and ability in this critical area. This manual forms the underlying learning material for this course and is also designed as a reference resource for all course participants.

This manual was commissioned by the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in 2000 and remains, in 2009, the principal current central government guidance on the application of multi-criteria analysis (MCA) techniques. Since 2000 it has become more widely recognised in government that, where quantities can be valued in monetary terms, MCA is not a substitute for cost-benefit analysis, but it may be a complement; and that MCA techniques are diverse in both the kinds of problem that they address (for example prioritisation of programmes as well as single option selection) and in the techniques that they employ, ranging from decision conferencing to less resource intensive processes.