Only once we understand the long history of human efforts to draw sustenance from the land can we grasp the nature of the crisis that faces humankind today, as hundreds of millions of people are faced with famine or flight from the land. From Neolithic times through the earliest civilizations of the ancient Near East, in savannahs, river valleys and the terraces created by the Incas in the Andean mountains, an increasing range of agricultural techniques have developed in response to very different conditions. These developments are recounted in this book, with detailed attention to the ways in which plants, animals, soil, climate, and society have interacted. Mazoyer and Roudart’s A History of World Agriculture is a path-breaking and panoramic work, beginning with the emergence of agriculture after thousands of years in which human societies had depended on hunting and gathering, showing how agricultural techniques developed in the different regions of the world, and how this extraordinary wealth of knowledge, tradition and natural variety is endangered today by global capitialism, as it forces the unequal agrarian heritages of the world to conform to the norms of profit. During the twentieth century, mechanization, motorization and specialization have brought to a halt the pattern of cultural and environmental responses that characterized the global history of agriculture until then. Today a small number of corporations have the capacity to impose the farming methods on the planet that they find most profitable. Mazoyer and Roudart propose an alternative global strategy that can safegaurd the economies of the poor countries, reinvigorate the global economy, and create a livable future for mankind.

Greenhouse gas emissions by the livestock sector could be cut by as much as 30 percent through the wider use of existing best practices and technologies. FAO conducted a detailed analysis of GHG emissions at multiple stages of various livestock supply chains, including the production and transport of animal feed, on-farm energy use, emissions from animal digestion and manure decay, as well as the post-slaughter transport, refrigeration and packaging of animal products. This report represents the most comprehensive estimate made to-date of livestocks contribution to global warming as well as the sectors potential to help tackle the problem. This publication is aimed at professionals in food and agriculture as well as policy makers.

Aquaculture is developing, expanding and intensifying in almost all regions of the world, except in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the sector appears to be capable of meeting the gap between future demand and supply for aquatic food, there are many constraints and challenges which must be addressed in order to at least maintain the present level of per capita consumption at the global level. Key issues are the need for enhanced enforcement of regulation and better governance of the sector, as well as greater producer participation in the decision-making and regulation process. This publication examines past trends in aquaculture development as well as the current global status, drawing on a number of national and regional reviews.

Policy concepts; Identification of policy issues; Production systems, supply and demand; Market, price and trade policies; Marketing and distribution systems; Budget and manpower planning; Land tenure police for the livestock sector; Policy analysis report writing and communication; Livestock production and marketing in alphabeta - a case study.

This volume contains 44 papers and 2 abstracts from a international conference on African small ruminants research and development. eleven papers and 1 abstract deal with the importance of small ruminant production systems and economics. Another 11 describe and analyse feed resources and feeding systems and there are 6 papers on reproductive problems and their solutions. Seven papers and 1 abstract review the prevalent health problems under various management systems and present the solutions to these production constraints. The last 9 papers deal with breeds, breeding systems and breed improvement.