This chapter presents a case study of an improved fallow using trees to replenish soil fertility - a natural resource management (NRM) technology, the development of which was led by the World Agroforestry Centre. The work synthesizes different studies that were carried out in Zambia to describe...

This book synthesizes existing information on the adoption of natural resource management investments and strategies (such as soil fertility improvements or erosion control) for agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. It also critically examines current analytical methods and generates research and...

This paper presents an overview of the present situation of natural resource management (NRM) in African agriculture, as well as the historical context and current options for improved NRM. A summary of the key issues and previous findings in the literature is also presented.

This paper examines farmer assessment, use and adoption of agroforestry systems for soil fertility replenishment in sub-Saharan Africa. It focuses on three primary case studies: improved fallows in eastern Zambia; improved fallows in western Kenya; and biomass transfer (applying leaves as green...

This paper focuses on lessons for the study of natural resource management (NRM) technology adoption in smallholder African agriculture. The paper begins by presenting a NRM technology research and development framework that depicts the ways in which researchers engage in participatory processes of ...

This paper draws together lessons learned as to how governments and donors might stimulate necessary investment in improved natural resource management (NRM) in African agriculture. Policy interventions to support improved NRM are presented. These policy interventions are built on 5 points:...

This chapter describes the methods for assessing the adoption potential of agroforestry practices through participatory on-farm trials, and their application in the five case studies in Kenya and Zambia described in other chapters. This chapter then discusses how this on-farm research approach fits ...

This paper aims to generate insight into the characteristics and effects of social capital and social learning in fostering more ecologically sustainable natural resource management. The paper begins its discussions by elaborating the concept of social capital and highlighting relations between...

This paper argues that both the knowledge of rural people and that of scientists and agricultural researchers have their limits. Using the example of Malawi, the paper discusses the promise and limits of knowledge among farmers, on the one hand, and among agricultural researchers and extension...

A farm level study on the adoption (and adaptation) of alley farming was conducted in Nigeria between July and September 1996. Two hundred and twenty-three farmers were surveyed in 14 villages, 142 in the southwest and 81 in the southeast. Results suggest a number of socioeconomic factors that...