Science, Policy and Politics of Modern Agricultural System Global Context to Local Dynamics of Sustainable Agriculture

This book arises from a 2011 international conference entitled Climate Change, Agri-Food, Fisheries and Ecosystems: Reinventing Research, Innovation, and Policy Agendas for an Environmentally and Socially-Balanced Growth (ICCAFFE2011), organized by the North-South Center for Social Sciences (NRCS) in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany and the Institute for Research and Development (IRD), France. Coverage focuses on the agricultural sector and helps improve understanding of the relationships between agriculture and the environment and between human communities and nature, so as to sustainably manage agricultural development. The contributors analyze the interdependence between sustainable agricultural development and environmental, economic and social dynamics; assess the impacts of soil degradation on agricultural productivity; present ways to enhance livestock production and recommend mechanisms for managing links between agro-biodiversity, climate change and livelihoods. Part I examines sustainable agriculture development and environmental, economic and social dynamics, addressing topics such as global climate change, agriculture and challenges including socio-economic factors, adaptation, poverty reduction and water management. Part II covers the impacts of soil degradation on agricultural productivity and discusses the use of expert systems to assess and manage degraded lands, agricultural productivity, land suitability and rehabilitation. Part III focuses on livestock production enhancements, such as feed resources and supplemental feeds for animals and capacity building for women in dairy management. Part IV shares the outcomes of research in agro-biodiversity, climate change and livelihoods, addressing topics such as co-management of forests, carbon consumption models, biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration and scarce mangrove forests. Current environmental and agro-ecologicalresearch focuses on understanding the cause-consequence relationships between specific agricultural practices and land use and the responses at different levels of ecosystems. This book is intended to contribute to this discussion.

Preface.- Acknowledgements.- List of Contributors.- List of Figures.- List of Tables.- List of Abbreviations and Acronyms.- Part I Sustainable Agricultural Development Face to Environmental, Economic and Social Dynamics.- 1 Agricultural and food System - Global Change Nexus: Dynamics and Policy Implications.- 2 Challenges facing the macroeconomic policy for sustainable development in agriculture (based on the model of organic agriculture in Bulgaria).- 3 Environmentally sound and commercially sustainable agricultural development in Nigeria.- 4 Some socio-economic factors affecting farmers’ participation of agricultural extension education efforts: A case study in Northeastern Thailand.- 5 Factors influencing the choice of inorganic contrasting to organic practices in Irish potato production and viable actions to reverse the trend: A case study of Kisoro District, South-western Uganda.- 6 Moroccan agriculture facing climate change: Adaptation and local distribution of the value added.- 7 Economic impact of climate change on wheat productivity in Bangladesh: A Ricardian approach.- 8 Farmers’ attitude towards the traditional and modern irrigation methods in Tabuk Region - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.- Part II Impacts of Soil Degradation in Terms of Agricultural Productivity.- 9 Using expert system for sustainable agriculture and capacity building in degraded soils.- 10 Managing degraded lands for realizing sustainable agriculture through environmental friendly technologies.- 11 Land suitability evaluation for jatropha (jatropha curcas l.) plantation in Indonesia.- 12 Physiological adaptation of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) genotypes to salt stress: One of deleterious impacts of climate change.- Part III Livestock Production Enhancement: Recommended Techniques.- 13 Use of Prosopis juliflora seedpod as livestock feed in the arid and semi arid Rangelands of Kenya.- 14 Plankton and common reed – a potential resource for domestic animals and fish in North Delta lakesof Egypt.- 15 Is the “Livestock Revolution” achievable in water deprived areas? A reflection from experiments with irrigated smallholder farms in Morocco.- 16 Colostral IgG as affected by nutritional status for border leicester merino ewes deliver in Kuwait.- Part IV Agro-Biodiversity, Climate Change and Livelihoods:.- Managing Interdependence.- 17 Simulation of carbon consumption by biological models.- 18 Biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration in cocoa agroforest in Southern Cameroon.- 19 Agroforestry systems in Morocco: The case of olive tree and annual crops association.- 20 Sacred mangrove forests: Who bears the pride?.- 21 Adoption and utilisation of ethno-postharvest technologies by smallholder farmers in semi-arid regions of Zimbabwe: Case of Buhera District.- 22 The importance of non wood forest products for rural livelihoods: The case of South Kordofan State, Sudan.- 23 Co-management of forests and forest land under decentralization process in Central Vietnam.- Biographies of Contributors.- Authors Index.- Subject Index.