Uganda's 2,000-3,000 forest-based associations play an important role in the country's sustainable development. They include community groups made up of individuals (and often with a strong social focus) and industrial groups made up of enterprises (and often with a commercial focus). They span a number of different areas: forest production (both timber and non-timber forest products), primary and secondary processing, management, training and enterprise support and environmental services (such as ecotourism or carbon sequestration projects). This report surveys 62 different associations. It charts the reasons for their formation, the systems by which they govern their activities, the distribution of costs and benefits to members and the nature of external intervention and support. It draws out lessons about the types of association that contribute most to rural livelihoods and appropriate forms of support.

Ce rapport présente les résultats d’une conférence électronique sur “l’Avenir de l’alimentation et les petits producteurs”. Cette discussion virtuelle avait pour objectif premier d'impliquer les paysans indigènes et les petits agriculteurs familiaux, ainsi que les paysans sans-terre et les pêcheurs, tout comme leurs organisations représentatives. Il s’agissait de mettre l’accent sur les petits producteurs alimentaires – les femmes et les hommes qui produisent et cultivent des ressources agricoles et arboricoles, ainsi que sur les éleveurs de bétail, de poissons et d’autres organismes aquatiques. La conférence électronique a donc été conçue spécifiquement dans l’optique de permettre aux populations exclues d’exprimer leur point de vue, leur analyse de la situation et les priorités liées à l’avenir de l’alimentation, l’agriculture, l’environnement et le bien-être humain. Il était demandé aux participants de décrire les alternatives que “les pratiques et le savoir-faire des agriculteurs et des peuples indigènes” offrent à la modernisation et l’industrialisation du secteur de la production alimentaire, de l’agriculture et de l’utilisation des terres et de l’eau.

This paper presents the Indigenous Biocultural Heritage Register, an approach developed by Andean communities in Peru in order to protect their knowledge against biopiracy and gain legal rights relating over their knowledge. The main objective of the register is to ensure the conservation, protection and promotion of indigenous peoples’ knowledge systems for sustaining their livelihoods and traditional resource rights. The Indigenous Biocultural Heritage Register, based on traditional Andean science and technology, also uses modern tools for collecting, documenting, storing, and administering the contents of the register.

The South African timber industry has been dominated by a few large companies. Meanwhile poor rural people increasingly see tree growing and timber sales as a means of improving their livelihoods. Policy frameworks have begun to recognise this too. Yet emerging South African small tree growers still operate under conditions of economic marginalisation - they have to fight for land rights and fair deals for their products. Individual growers have seen the logic of collective action - with the result that many associations have sprung up to champion members' interests. This report surveys 10 associations with the purpose of understanding what led them to form, how they make decisions, how they share costs and benefits, and what external support would be most appropriate.

En este informe se presentan los resultados de una conferencia electrónica sobre ‘El Futuro del Alimento y de los Productores de Pequeña Escala’. La discusión electrónica involucró principalmente a indígenas, agricultores pequeños y familiares, personas sin tierra y pescadores artesanales así como a sus organizaciones representantes. El foco fueron los productores de alimentos de pequeña escala – hombres y mujeres que producen y recolectan las cosechas del campo y del monte, así como también producen ganado, pescado y otros organismos acuáticos. Luego, el proceso de la conferencia electrónica fue específicamente diseñado para permitir que los excluidos pudieran expresar sus opiniones, análisis y prioridades sobre el futuro del alimento, agricultura, medio ambiente y bienestar humano. Los colaboradores fueron invitados a describir la práctica y la racionalidad tras las alternativas que tienen los agricultores y personas indígenas frente a la modernización e industrialización del alimento, agricultura y uso de tierra/agua.

This paper was developed for the Ford Foundation. It covers the key aspects of a pro-poor and ecologically sustainable urban agenda for Africa. Drawing mainly on African researchers and activists, it reviews urban trends on the continent and discusses how these have to be understood in relation to the multiple linkages between rural and urban areas.

Land Registration in Maputo and Matola Cities, Mozambique assesses the process of land registration in peri-urban areas and its outcomes for poor and marginalised groups. The research shows that there is little awareness of land registration processes on the part of low-income groups. The ‘individual’ registration process for is slow and bureaucratic with high transaction costs and corrupt practices on the part of state institutions. Unlike the case of rural land, specific regulations governing the use of urban land are not yet in place. Some farmer associations have used community registration processes to secure their land rights but high levels of organisation and persistence are required to do so. Individual registration is beyond the means of low-income households and mainly serves high income, well connected groups and private companies. This situation is exacerbated by active informal land markets which are transforming peri-urban land use. There are real concerns that farmers, and low-income groups in general, may be losing access to land through registration processes which favour applicants who are well-connected and wealthy. Regulations governing urban land, the simplification and dissemination of registration procedures and improved governance are required for land registration to serve the majority.

This paper documents the changes that have taken place during the lifetime of the conflict management work in the Karamojong Cluster undertaken by the Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU/IBAR), a specialised technical agency of the African Union’s Directorate for Rural Economy and Agriculture. Its mandate is to support and improve animal health and production in the continent of Africa.In publishing this review, AU/IBAR hopes to contribute to debates among the peace building community in the region and more widely, and to build on the contributions of Oxfam GB, ITDG and others who have offered documentation of lessons learned through field-based peace building efforts.

This publication focuses on women’s roles in saving and reproducing seed in the drylands of the Deccan Plateau, in South India. Detailed farmers’ accounts of why seed-saving is essential emphasise the interconnectedness between self-reliance in seed, crop diversity and nutrition. By extension, the realms of food culture and religious rituals (which entail the use of traditional crops) are also linked to seed autonomy. What is most significant about the intertwining of seed-saving, crop diversity and nutrition is that these three realms are largely under women’s control. However, the processes of industrialisation and institutionalisation in the seed sector are undermining the very basis of autonomous seed production.

Abstract: (Circa 100 – 150 words is preferable) The Wildlife and Development series highlights key topics in the field of sustainable wildlife use and is aimed at policy-makers, planners, government extension workers and NGOs. The Engendering Eden research programme aimed to fill some of the existing gaps on issues concerned with the relationships between women, gender and ICDPs (integrated conservation and development projects) by understanding what differences and inequities exist within communities and how these effect participation and the distribution of benefits and costs in relation to them. This document summarises the experiences and lessons learnt of a number of ICDPs and CBNRM projects in Africa and Asia (described in more detail in the two regional studies - Engendering Eden Volumes II and III). The research in both Africa and Asia showed that conservation processes in general, remain dominated by men, that there is a conflict between short-term household needs and long-term conservation objectives. In both regions gender issues are addressed rarely, and even then ineffectually. This has led to various negative impacts.More recently a gender-focused approach has been promoted. As a result, projects now make attempts to increase women's empowerment through such as education and capacity building. However components still remain fragmented and under resourced. There is much room for improvement. This publication indicates a number of ways forward. Any Other Info: Part of a 3 volume set within the Wildlife and Development Series