Consequently, we should expect the agriculture land to expand in the future, particularly in tropical countries. Second, to compensate for the land scarcity, the future trend will consist of stabilizing and intensifying the agriculture practices which policy options are not without social and environmental risks. Some of these risks are the deforestation, which is tangible here in Central Togo, and others experienced in other situations such as permanent lands’ exhaustion and the inability of the farmer producer to payback the investment costs, associated to the past American and Russian agriculture. To achieve the conservation objectives, Boucher et al.simply suggest a reduction of the demand for these international commodities. But how this suggestion can be implemented? Concerning the wood supply in the study area, whether for the fuel wood or the industrial wood, the empirical analysis does not show a clear correlation pattern with the deforestation. The reason may be multiple but the essential ones are that the forestry practice in Togo is a selective cutting which does not lead directly to deforestation, but to forest degradation and. Another reason is the wood data sources. Indeed, the control posts for wood shipping, from where most data originate, do not record data from the sole prefecture of its jurisdiction,but from many other sources, even data on wood shipped from beyond the country’s borders.

However, all the models display negative effects of the payoff from illegal cutting, am and, on land conservation.Likewise, the whole stand cutting is also becoming a common practice. Individuals would approach the forest offices pretending to establish a farm on a particularl and, which moves owe them the right to cut permit. There are many other twisted ways as such that allow getting around the regulations that cannot be revealed by statistical empirical analyses. Overall, these findings do not express the reality of the field simply due to the reasons discussed throughout the paragraph and many others we cannot enumerate in the context of the study. The fertilizer quantity supply in the Central Togo for cotton farming significantly decreases the annual area allocated to yam cultivation. The quantity of fertilizer used in food farming does not show a significant effect but the negative sign of the slope estimator shows a decrease inland allocated to yam production as the fertilizer quantity increases moible grow rack. This resultap parently confirms our original hypothesis that an intensification of agriculture increases the agriculture yield and thereby lessens the deforestation. But our data have not shown any increase in the cotton yield in the Central Togo during our study time period. As presented in Figure 2 below, it has remained relatively stable between 0.8 tons and 1.2 tons per hectare with just two peaks of 1.9 tons per hectare in 1998 and 2009.

Another explanation may be that the fertilizer supply has a motivation effect,meaning that its supply has led more and more farmers into cotton farming.This interpretation is not relevant either because in such case the fertilizer would have had an increasing effect on forest land loss and . The most relevant explanation of the decreasing effect of the fertilizer input on deforestation is that it has helped the reuse of abandoned farm lands for cropping instead of starting new farms from scratch according to the farm establishment process which consists of cutting down forests, planting yam in the first year, and then cropping other crops the following years, a process described above. This reuse of old farm lands for cropping is true for cotton as well as for any other crops like maize whose farming relies on fertilizer input. Indeed, under the traditional farming practice , the shifting cultivation is linear because the soil could sustain no more than three years of cultivation. But the introduction of the intensive cotton farming in Togo has allowed the reuse of the abandoned land for both cotton and maize cultivation. The maize has been favored because the farmer has discreetly used the fertilizer for maize cultivation before its official introduction in recent years. Indeed, the farmer would receive an amount of fertilizer supposing to destine it for cotton farming, but he diverts an important part of the fertilizer supplied by the cotton society tomaize farming. Not only such twisted practice has extended the time period of cropping on the same land, but also has it raised the maize yield from less than or equal to 750 kg per hectare during the years prior to 1980, to more than one ton an hectare after.

From external factors should be mentioned, supply of substrate with nitrate, light, day length, temperature,season, supply with water, relative humidity, carbon dioxide concentration in the air, supply with biogenic elements, influence of the accompanying cations,heavy metals, herbicides, chemical properties of the soil, location, time of sowing,time and method of harvest, storage conditions . No studies on nitrite,phosphorus and ammonium content on tomato were founded to compare the results in this study.The principal component analysis shows a positive correlation between tomatoes from conventional agriculture and a negative correlation with tomatoes from organic agriculture. These results show the influence of agricultural inputs on the content of heavy metals, phosphorus and nitrogen isotope compared to those used in organic agriculture . On the other hand, many studies have demonstrated the positive impact of organic farming on soil fertility, through an increase in soil organic matter content and available nutrients.

Organic farming is believed to have a higher mineral potential compared to conventional agriculture .These results are similar to those obtained by Osma and al.  who justified the high content of trace metal elements by the use of fertilizers and the proximity of industries and irrigation water quality. Food insecurity and associated under nutrition affects health, particularly of women, infants, children, and adolescents. Poverty amplifies the risk of under-nutrition and increases health care costs, reduces productivity,led grow lights and slows economic growth, which can perpetuate a cycle of poverty and ill-health .Low-income countries typically have large agricultural sectors and productivity increase in agriculture often serve as the catalyst for growth, as well as having strong effects on reducing poverty due to the high numbers of people involved in these sectors. This shows that there is a pathway for addressing food and nutrition security effectively by leveraging agriculture.Link between agriculture and food security has long been established. Basedon review of evidence on nutrition-sensitive agriculture research conducted since 2014, Ruel et al.  reported that agricultural development programs that promote production diversity, micronutrient-rich crops , dairy, or small animal rearing, can improve the production and consumption of targeted commodities, and that such improvements lead to increase in dietary diversity at the household level.

Significant association between crop diversity and dietary diversity was reported in diets of smallholder farmers and was more closely related to home food consumption than to purchased food consumption.National representative data for the early 2000s from eight developing countries showed that there is a positive association between the number of crops produced and the number of foods consumed by the rural households;ownership of livestock and ruminants are also associated with increase indietary diversity . A study in Nepal showed that production diversity is positively associated with maternal and child dietary diversity, and WHZ . For improvement in an adult woman’s BMI, dietary diversity matters, and equal importance must be given to environmental conditions like better quality of drinking water, good sanitation, smoke-free cooking area and better access to healthcare facilities .Many intervention programmes use the UNICEF framework, which identifies three main determinants of good nutrition: availability and access to food; optimal quality of feeding and caring practices; and a healthy environment and adequate access to health care services.

Johnson-Welch et al.  modified the UNICEF framework calling it the agriculture-nutrition advantage framework,and included agriculture, nutrition and food, with food as the common link between agriculture and nutrition. The framework proposes that agriculture help sensure good nutrition, and good nutrition builds human capital, which is also an input for agricultural production, creating a circular pathway between agriculture and nutrition. However, the evidence is also that increased food production and/or increased income by itself does very little towards ensuring a balanced diet to the rural household Following a review of 25 research studies,Pandey et al.  concluded that the production of targeted nutrition-rich crops,homestead gardens, and diversification of the agricultural production system towards fruits and vegetables and aquaculture can potentially improve nutrient intake and nutritional outcomes.

The aromatic potential represented by wheat diversity has been studied by implementing a sensory profile on cooked wheat grain from cultivars of different wheat species such as Einkorn, Emmer and Spelt and from bread wheat cultivars . The Einkorn sample showed significant differences on “oat/oatmeal porridge”and “sweet” attributes. In the case of bread, assessing the sensory differences should be carried out after the flour process. When studying the sensory properties of breads from modern varieties of white flour type , only very slight differences between varieties were found . This might be due to the choice of varieties which were genetically related and to the flour type, as highlighted in a study on aroma compounds on whole meal and white wheat flour. This study showed that the wheat flour and the type of flour should be the main factors of wheat bread aroma production and showed a more intense aroma for whole wheat flour. Since bran is characterized by its mineral and phytonutrient content, one hypothesis is that sensory characteristics are related to micronutrients. Alkaline metals, such as potassium, or alkaline earths, such as calcium and magnesium, can be found in wheat in the form of phosphates, carbonates, chlorides and sulphates and may contribute to flavour.

Another potential source of flavour variability in wheat breads is lutein, which should affect flavour secondary by limiting the development of hexanal, a compound responsible for flavour and odour problems . The nutritional improvement of bread wheat should therefore contribute to the improvement of the sensory quality of bread.On a sensory methodology point of view, the use of a consumer panel to objectively evaluate sensory quality should be discussed as it is not common in sensory analysis field. The descriptive consumer test showed the consumers’ ability to explain their preferences consistently as they were able to differentiate red accessions at each event. Sensory profile obtained from consumers can show consensus and reproducibility with a large number of consumers.Developing a specific descriptive sensory test for use with consumers will be of interest since such a test would offer a quicker and less expensive option than conventional profiling with a trained panel.Moreover,hydroponic nft it is a way of bringing consumers closer to the farmers and the agricultural sector and of making them aware of the issues of agricultural production. Such methods are being developed, one of the most promising being napping. It relies on identification of the sensory distances perceived and offers greater flexibility. Fish farming is currently considered as a food segment with high growth rates.Indeed, fish production has increased remarkably in Brazil and worldwide. Although fish farming is a highly profitable activity, it has caused several environmental problems such as growth of specific bacterial populations in the natural aquatic microbiota, accumulation of wastes derived from feed, and possible proliferation of microorganisms resistant to antibiotics owing to the uncontrolled usage of the latter.

This practice may lead to high mortality rates in fish due to infections by pathogenic microorganisms, which is a serious issue. Many bacteria, including Aeromonasspp., which attack both fish and humans, are related to fish pathology At present, fish farming is being increasingly practiced. Fish is one of the most commercialized food products worldwide, owing to the costs and better feeding habits Since fish deteriorate rapidly, and increase in fish intake is on the rise, evaluating the sanitary and hygienic conditions of fish from the breeding phase up to the consumption phase is necessary. In fact, inadequate hygiene practices are a remarkable risk to consumer health .Several studies have revealed the importance of sanitary and hygienic measures to warrant the control of fish pathogens so that the fish are devoid of diseases and can be safely consumed by humans Machado et al.  identified several factors that affect fish quality in amateur fishing in the municipalities of the southern coast of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil; they revealed the lack of sanitary and hygiene practices from fish capture up to its commercialization.This renders the food unsafe for consumption.Several microorganisms, called indicator microorganisms, reveal the occurrence of fecal contamination, as well as the presence of pathogens or deterioration of food. For example, the presence of Escherichia coli, total and thermotolerant coliforms, and Staphylococcus aureus may indicate inadequate sanitary conditions during food processing, production, or storage .Microbiological parameters are highly essential as they can be used to evaluate the sanitary and hygienic quality of water and food.

Similarly, maybe it can frame the land governance concept, particularly in underdeveloped regions, since the reality is far from what should and can be land governance. Many challenges are imposed between the regulation and reality, which they haven’t adequately addressed yet.In this process, like Borras & Franco stated, the economic bias is raised as preponderant in many discussions, such as the cadaster and land titling in the land market regulation. However, according to Payne, Durand-Lasserve, & Rakodi, land titling programs often fail in implementing the promised benefits,for example, in fighting poverty, once there are no sufficient evidence in reducing poverty levels, or the security in land access.So, it is worth emphasizing that land issues have multidimensional character,like the indigenous territories issues, crucial for the socio-cultural reproduction of these people .Social relations based on land are fundamental to the routing of discussions on land governance, because land issues are social relationships between people.Governance is about political relations between groups of people and institutions that govern them.

Social relations based on land are continuous and they change constantly, even long after the certification process or a finalization of a land reform program. “The bottom-line is about reforming land-based social relations”. However, it is notable that even in areas where security of land tenure has been resolved, for example in official settlements project in the Amazon, several other issues haven’t been resolved, such as sustainable land use. Many variables haven’t been sufficiently or adequately studied, such as the educational level of these people, especially in rural areas. In this sense, this study aims to contribute in the discussions in the next topics. Environmental problems present in contemporary society, resulting from uneven and predator development model which was implemented,flood tray warn us to the need to motivate and sensitize the population to modify their behavior in order to ensure good quality and preservation of the environment with justice and social equity. According to Gadotti,to formation anew consciousness toward environmental preservation, it is necessary to associate the sustainability with education, considering that environment preservation depends on the ecological awareness, and it in turn depends on the education.For Gottlieb et al.  the education for sustainability is extremely important to break the unsustainable development models, increasing in the citizen the spirit of responsibility and solidarity among generations.In this context, Komiyama & Takeuchi  argue that sustainability emerges as the key issue for the society of the twenty-first century, as in its concept approaches the need for a balanced development with the environment,while ensuring fairness social for future generations. Coupled with sustainability,education plays a key role in controlling and overcoming the various crises present in society—environmental, economic, social and cultural—through the formation of citizens able to intervene consciously and responsible.

Related to this, Barbieri & Silva  assert it’s from that realization that education is being discussed in several international conferences as a key issue and essential to overcoming various environmental problems. But in all these conferences, there was some consensus that the formulation and implementation of an environmental education project  worldwide should be implemented at regional and local level, requiring the environmental heritage preservation.However, as Henriques et al. , Barbieri & Silva , the results achieved by EA over the years have been insufficient in the face of various problems present in the global society, being necessary to resort to a new education proposal contemplating a wider range of aspects in its approach. It was in this context of limitations and dissatisfactions on the advances promoted by EA throughout its existence, which gets a new proposal within the framework of the United Nations , called “Education for Sustainable Development” .According to UNESCO , EDS has as main feature the transversality,present in all curricular components, as it includes in its conception the many socio-cultural and political issues, as social equity, poverty, democracy and quality of life. Furthermore, EDS should promote critical thinking and problem solving; use multiple methods; encourage student participation in the decision-making process; integrate into daily routine the offered learning experiences;handle local and global issues, using the students’ common language.

Thus, EDS is defined as a continuous process for the entire life, in formal and non-formal context of teaching and learning; with a transdisciplinary approach to content and information, given the complexity of problems such as poverty,inequality, democracy, etc., and buoyed for and by solidarity values towards present and future generations; with citizens’ critical training to act effectively in promoting social, economic and environmental development; Furthermore, it should be guided by democratic principles and processes ensuring individuals anactive, conscious and responsible in dealing/solving the several problems present in society; and finally, the EDS should promote scientific and technological understanding of the issues treated in order to encourage the involvement of citizens in leading a more sustainable planet .

Despite the ubiquity of sustainability indicators,the comprehension and meaning by the communities at farm scale is still a constraint to apply PAR principles to visualize their ecological perspectives. It is suggested that the absence of community participation in the development of farm-level sustainability indicators is critical to maintain the integrity of regional scale agro-ecological functions.Some researchers have adopted a comprehensive soil and vegetation based indicators for farm level assessment but lack socio-economic considerations.Participatory mapping of the ecological health indicators in agricultural farms can facilitate identification key ecological issues at regional scale . Broad scale mapping of agricultural systems and likely impacting variables such as population pressure and climate change adversities using simple threshold as proxy for complex processes is yet another method to evaluate the sustain-ability of agroecology.It requires robust dataset on farm level to make comprehensive and meaningful impact assessments using sustainability indices.

Many of the environmental problems stem from modern agricultural activities and unaccountable perception of farming community. The current jeopardy is mainly attributed to green revolution and questionably it has caused catastrophic damage to the agro-ecological elements resulting in non-sustainability of farming practices. It is predicted that agricultural production will be doubled in 2050 calling for careful management of foot prints of agriculture . It is indicative of the fact that it will increase further degradation of the agricultural systems and natural ecosystems with eventual decline in ecosystem services . Projected doubling of agricultural activities must adapt sustainable practices and technologies as against the genetically engineered crops, which will minimize the pressure on land resources. Visibly,vertical farming racks genetically engineered crops have been adapted by the farming community at large though skeptic views have been continually voiced by the environmental conservationists and ecologists . Since the dawn of modern agriculture, the natural resources have been exploited leading to non-sustainability and degradation of agricultural landscapes . The long term impact of degradative agricultural practices has emerged as major issue calling for agricultural policy reform. Agricultural practices have evolved over the years to suggest that various farming practices are refined, re- searched and tested to analyze their feasibility as sustainable and economically viable on a long time scale.

Further, majority of studies provide insight on the impact of range of cropping patterns and livelihood activities and how choices are shaped by their socioeconomic and sociopolitical characteristics of the eco-region. Some of the studies have analyzed system evolution at multiple scales , factors determining technology adoption , pathways out of poverty  and return to research investment . Yet there appears need for discrete definition on farm level datasets and perspective plan to develop unifying framework for collecting information in standard format from a landscape scale. Farm level studies best suited to understand the practices at micro-level with implications for sustainability analysis of agro-eco- logy. Numerous conservative schemes are designed to mitigate the impact of unsustainable agriculture and increase the value of the landscape in terms of sustained functions. Application of conservation concepts can be well matched with the precision farming so that spatially deficient resources are managed judiciously. Precision farming is difficult to practice due to smaller size of the farm and highly dispersed in fragmented landscape, which is critical limitation in conservative agricultural practices. The assessment of agricultural farming practices affecting the ecosystem services through their impact on biodiversity need a systematic analysis at farm to landscape scale. Worldwide, agro-biodiversity erosion has been debated in various conventions linking to unsustainable use, degradative management practices, monoculture of high yielding varieties, intensive management inputs, markets forces, exploitation of land resources, habitat fragmentation and changing behavior of stakeholders . It is stated that even the use of best technologies cannot prevent many of the forecasted problems. In this line a strategic planning of agricultural development is a need so as to preserve the agricultural biodiversity hots pots with minimal fragmentation and maximize range of ecosystem services. Currently farm level maintenance of ecological functions is considered as critical. Precision farming environments will help manage few soil based services viz., soil organic matter, enhance nutrient pools, beneficial microbial communities to optimize the soil ecosystem services.

Photographs of insect pests and different kind of pollinators were presented to respondents to help in identification of different species of insects visiting coffee flowers. The survey data were encoded, entered into a spread-sheet and checked prior to analysis. Cross-tabulation with selected variables, percentages and means were undertaken using pivot table in Microsoft Excel 2003. Percentages were based on either the total number of respondents or total responses, details of which are pro-vided in the respective text or tables. Chi-square test was used to determine the effects of farmers’ socio-demo- graphic profiles on their knowledge and perceptions of pollinators and their roles in coffee production. Chi- square test was also used to identify significant difference in response of males and females in the agreement of statements proposed about the importance of differentiate ecosystem services delivered in farmlands. All statistical analyses were conducted using Minitab 15, English Version.

A logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine most important factors that could probably have influenced knowledge of pollination by farmers. Logistic regression allows one to predict a discrete outcome from a set of independent variables that may be continuous, discrete, and dichotomous, or a mix of any of these. The dependent variable in this case,stackable planters the knowledge of pollination, had binary values, i.e., yes or no response.Interviewed farmers in the sample were mostly aged. Respondents declared that farming was the main source of their income. In addition, majority of these farmers declared that their annual incomes came from coffee farming activities and that they have almost no off-farm incomes. Declared farm incomes were in general low but the family incomes were higher when farmers owned big land of coffee. Various statements explaining the importance of different ecosystem services delivered in farm-lands were read and explained to farmers. The purpose was to identify if farmers knew or were aware of the value of these ecosystem services and if they were could to care for their preservation. In relationship to coffee pollination, ecology and management for yield increase, statements 10, 11, 12, 19 and 20  were mixed among other statements and set to identify if farmers acknowledge the value of these ecosystem services delivered in coffee-banana farming system.

When asked if they believed that “harvests can be reduced to nil if stingless bees, honeybees and other wild bees do not visit the flowers of crops they grow”, 45  of males and 37 of female respondents disagreed with the statement number 10. However, there was no significant difference in the disagreement in relationship to gender . This result indicated that the majority of respondents did not perceive the contribution of wild bees, stingless bees and honey-bees in boosting their crop harvests including coffee. In other words, farmers were not aware of the value of ecosystem services delivered by bees to their crops.

The purpose of the present study was not to assess how genotypic differences between the donor colonies affected fertilization rate, but aimed to investigate how many donor colonies are necessary to consistently achieve high fertilization rate. If the importance of allelic diversity of a population is taken into consideration, cross-fertilization with 10 colonies or more may be needed, but for practical nursery farming of sexually propagated corals, cross-fertilization with 6 or more colonies could be recommended in the laboratory. A rarefaction analysis of population genetic datasets conducted by Shearer et al.showed that >50% of the allelic diversity of a population could be retained by using gametes of 10 randomly sampled donor colonies,while 35 colonies would retain 90% of the original diversity. In practice however, it would be difficult and impractical to mix gametes from 35 gravid donor colonies to establish sexually propagated coral cultures. Since2006, juvenile colonies of Acropora tenuis cultured after mixing gametes from 6 or more donor colonies were out-planted at Majanohama.They spawned initially at 4 and 5-year-old .

Spawning has continued every year since 2009. Fertilization rates among these 6 cultured colonies were >98.4%that was similar to those measured in crosses of 3 wild colonies .In the present experiment, the number of donor colonies was limited to 6. It lacks replication and statistics,but shows evidence that fertilization rate increases with the number of donor colonies, as if there exists a threshold where the relationship reaches an asymptote. The purpose of the present study was not to assess how genotypic differences between the donor colonies affected fertilization rate, but aimed to investigate how many donor colonies are necessary to consistently achieve high fertilization rate. If the importance of allelic diversity of a population is taken into consideration, cross-fertilization with 10 colonies or more may be needed, but for practical nursery farming of sexually propagated corals,blueberry grow pot cross-fertilization with 6 or more colonies could be recommended in the laboratory. variables and build models that can be useful for predictive purposes as well as accounting for past events .Birth and McVey were among the first scientists to utilize remote sensing techniques to explore new areas of natural resource research. They evaluated the color of grass turf using a ratio of Near Infra-Red to red reflectance,and called it the turf color index. Their work utilized a two-filter instrument called Ratiospect to measure this index on eight samples of turf of three species. The high correlation coefficient confirmed a strong relationship between the Ratiospect readings and the visual score of turf color. This mathematical relationship gave birth to the development of computer simulations in ecosystems studies.Several studies have followed Birth and McVeyin utilizing satellite remote sensing to overcome natural resource monitoring challenges in terms of space and time.

One such study is the need for a better knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of surface water resources . Spatially, many sampling programs are limited to few locations, owing to factors such as lack of sufficient financial, institutional, and/or human resources. Hence, the need for a wider coverage of sampling points has been an area of active natural resource remote sensing application. Similar factors may also impede frequent monitoring programs. Such gaps in sampling periods may pose the risk of missing important incidents, such as flooding, and diminish the robustness of management strategies. Because of these limitations, researchers have explored new remote sensing tools to understand the mechanism of catchment changes over time.This work follows from those methodologies in the literature, postulating that Lands at spectral data can enable development of predictive models as early warning systems for impacts of land use changes in the Bumbuna watershed. The objective is to showcase the usefulness of Landsat data in providing scientifically proven evidence to pinpoint cause-effect relationships between land-use practices and land cover changes in the study area. To achieve this objective, this work will exemplify a regression algorithm relating water level fluctuations in the reservoir and spectral reflectance values of Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper and Landsat 8 Optical Land Imager .This work will lay the foundation for utilization of Landsat data to solve complex environmental problems in this data scarce region. Hence, future actions will not suffer from lack of information in clarifying land cover boundary limits and common interest. In addition, future predictive models from satellite studies will inform management strategies for biodiversity conservation. This is more obvious giving study findings of high species diversity of primates and other large mammals, birds, herptiles,butterflies, bats, and flora . This study utilized both manual level readings and in situ “Rugged TROLL” absolute pressure data loggers.

This programme legitimised interstitial farming in the city with no fear of crops destructions, as the bylaws on urban agriculture were relaxed to increase food supply in the community . This program me permitted urban agriculture for everyone and not just for the government administrators as was the case during British colonial rule, where only colonial administrators were allowed to practice urban farming. From the discussion above, political interest and international relations have a direct effect on the socio-economic environment of a country and indirectly its agricultural system.Urban dwellers got involved in patch agriculture as a source of survival and also as a source of secondary income. During this time smallholder farmer were favoured in comparison with large scale farms owners.Urban agriculture in the city grew during this time as opposed to the colonial era where city planning did not permit urban agriculture for everyone due to health and hygiene reasons.

In the 1990’s donkey carts were introduced from neigh-bouring Burkina Fasoto aid farmers in transporting manure, compost and tools to farms and later food to markets for sale. Even though donkey carts were very useful to farmers,the prices for these carts remained a main financial obstacle for many farming families . When these carts developed faults, they were often abandoned due to the lack of technical expertise in the region to work on it,nft hydroponic system so many farmers did not adopt this technology. Farmers presently using donkey carts are the wealthier farmers. Tractors were available as subsidies flowed in but with the end of these subsidies only a few wealthy farmers had tractors which they hired out to other farmers at the start of the planting season . From the above information,governmental interventions were sometimes not accepted by the subjects not because they were not good, but sometimes due to other socio-economic factors like the lack of finance to acquire and maintain these resources.The post-colonial period saw a lot of investment by multilateral and international agencies in rice and maize cultivation—in irrigation sites and natural floodplains .

Socio-economic and political policies like the Poverty Reduction Strategy which is an extension of the Structural Adjustment Programme was introduced by the government and facilitated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund . Even though these policies were put in place to improve the failing economy of the country, the reduction of subsidies contributed to the lapse in agricultural development and research . Agricultural projects did not all cease, as several initiatives on smallholder projects on crop cultivation and livestock were launched by international agencies such as the Food and Agricultural Organisation and later the International Fund for Agricultural Development . These projects were mostly carried out by local non-governmental organisations in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture sometimes in what refers to as trans-governmental interventions or transnational governmentality. I have discussed how different political regimes addressed agricultural activities especially vegetable cultivation. It was clear that urban agriculture became widespread as a result of governmental interventions which encouraged it and declined when the agricultural policies changed. Food production and consumptions patterns in this region have changed significantly due to the adoption of different technological packages from various national and international NGO’s .Many of such technological packages were agricultural inputs such as improved seeds, fertilisers, and tractors. Recent technological packages introduced in the horticultural sector are, drip irrigation in Sakpehalegu and Gumbihini old damsite, solar irrigation panel in Fooshegu and Daitoyili, organic compost and improved seed varieties in Gumbihini, Ganasco dam, and many other sites. These technologies are changing the pattern of vegetable production and consumption in this region, especially in Tamale as more middle-income urban dwellers are consuming more vegetables than before.

The Dagomba families are large and range from 6 20 people. Intercropping and mono-cropping were both practised by farmers. Cereals and rice were usually planted on the same land, and never rotated with other crops.Legumes, cereals, and vegetables were intercropped in the compound or backyard farms.Dickson detailed the farming process in this quote “preparation of land for sowing began with burning the bush, after which the charred bush was slashed with cutlasses and thrown, together with tree trunk…”.When crops get into the barn especially cereals, the men are in charge of giving it out to their different wives or sister-in-laws assigned to cook. A woman cannot help herself to cereals in the barn without permission from the household head.Other forms of labour existed apart from family labour like communal labour.It involves people working communally without monetary rewards on the farms of another. This communal form of labour was organised amongst groups of families, friends or lineages. The host farmer was expected to provide food and drinks like pitofor all during the period they worked in his field.

This system of farming was rotatory and was sometimes extended to the sick or very old in the community,who at one time was part of this scheme.This is seen clearly in Fortes and Fortesethnographic data which stated that chiefs and headmen had food even in hard times due to community labour. This is further reflected in Weissdiaries, where locust invasion destruction was less on the farms of the chiefs than the villagers as the chiefs mandated their subjects to kill locust on their farms first before theirs. Chiefs as the heads of their communities had considerable power over decisions that touched on the socio-economic and political structure of the communities. There was a defined set of rules in matters of tributes from the people to their chiefs, giving the chieftaincy institution prestige in the communities. For example, a prescribed quantity of yams, maize,hydroponic grow table and other foodstuffs was provided by the head of a compound to the local chief to safeguard use rights over land for farming and maintain a cordial relationship that permits continual access to land. In this way, the Dagombas recognised the right of their chiefs, as caretakers of land on behalf of the community, who as allodial owners gave land to those who needed it to farming and development.In the pre-colonial era, the hierarchy of subspontaneous tree species was from the african locust/dawadawa to the shea ,kapokand the neem tree .

The fruits or seeds of all these trees were considered to be of great value and their collection and processing the subject of some competition . These trees were relied on for different purposes; as a food spice, cooking oil, bathing soap, energy, stuffing for pillows, clothes and cream for the body. Women could access these four important economic trees only through the men in their lineages . The sub-chiefs owned the dawadawa, so one needed to obtain permission before it could be accessed. Blench supported this assertion when he said that “in a feware as, major trees, such as dawadawa, belong not to the farmer but to the chief who has the right to harvest them and give a portion to the farmer.”The processing of dawadawa and shea were mainly in the hands of the women.These products were consumed in the household, and the surpluses sold, for the purchase of other household basic needs. Shea nuts were also processed and used as candles . The shea butter trade existed long before colonialism in West Africa. Sutton description of goods traded at the regional markets during the pre-colonial era states that “the amount of yams, cattle and shea butter passing south was directly related to the amount of salt going to north” through the trading links between the Sahelian kingdoms in the North and the Ashante kingdoms.Apart from crop farming, the Dagomba’s also reared livestock for many reasons;as sacrifices to the gods in demand for a request, annual rites to appease the earth god, for payment in exchange for farming services. During the rainy season, animals were enclosed, to avoid crop destruction as agriculture was mainly rain-fed. Their feeding and care were primarily in the hands of women and children. During the dry season, animals are allowed out of the pens to roam and feed. At this time ploughs were unknown, and animals were not used for farm work nor integrated into the farming economy .

The soil series description is described as medium base status, clay loam to clay textured subsoil; high base status , clay loam to clay. Other soils that characterize the area in which the study falls are: Streambeds, Valsrivier, Shortlands, Katspruit, Glenrosa.In terms of the commodities, all soils in the district are suitable for production of these crops. Macadamia nuts prefer well drained soils ; as a result, most soil types can be regarded as suitable for macadamia production provided, they are well drained without restrictive layers in the top 1 m of the soil. According to Hutton soils are described as an optimal soil type suitable for mango cultivation both under irrigation and dry land cultivation. With regard to colour,indicate that only reddish-brown, red and dark-brown soils, particularly in the subsoil, are suitable for avocado growth. All of the above requirements match the characteristics of Hutton soil. Three weather stations within the Vhembe district around which the farm sites for the study are located were selected namely Makwarela, Mutale and Malamulele.

The data sets were for a 10-year period . The mean annual rainfall from the 3 stations ranges from 642 mm at Malamulele to 1037 mm at Makwarela . Based on the coefficient of variation at the 3 weather stations over the 10 years there was a distinct difference in the CV across the stations with Makwarela having the lowest CVand a sharp increase to 45% and 50% at Mutale and Malamulele respectively. This showed that there is extremely high variability within the months between the years at Mutale and Malamulele while the rainfall at Makwarela was relatively more reliable. High variability in rainfall amount between years can limit growth.The total monthly rainfall distribution at all 3 indicates that most of the annual rainfall comes during the months of September to March.This can be generalized as the wet summer season. The peak rainfall is from December to January/February with rainfall declining significantly after April. Very little rainfall, if none at all,ebb and flow table is received between May and August. This can be generalised as the dry, winter season. This discussion will relate the various results to each other and to the overall understanding of these results on the sustainability of the systems. The results showed that males were mostly responsible for the farming activities and this may have a negative impact on sustainability of the farming systems in the future because demographic statistics show that female numbers are growing more quickly than male numbers.The age of active farmers was mostly above 51.According to in most rural smallholder communities in the Limpopo Province,the youth often leave the farm lands in the rural areas to seek employment in the towns; this may pose a threat to sustainability as there will not be enough farmers with suitable agricultural experience to continue the cultivation of HVCs in future.

It is proposed by that secure land tenure is a necessary pre-condition for the adoption of long-term sustainability of farming practices which characterizes sustainable farming systems. Results of the study do not support this theory as the majority of the farmers farm on communal land. If there were significant changes in land tenure policy in the Vhembe district, this would make the area vulnerable in terms of sustainability of the farming systems for both farm sizes. This is highly plausible, in the future, as land reform remains a pressing and controversial issue in the South African political context. The agronomic conditions for crop cultivation are mostly suitable with respect to the inherent soil fertility, however, fertilizer inputs are low due to high prices. The three areas studied receive differing amounts of rainfall, two areas are in the 650 mm range and the other area receives about 1020 mm. However, the CV of annual amount is much larger in the areas with the lower amounts of rainfall making these areas more vulnerable which may result in non-sustainable production conditions. According to the adverse effects of climate change on agricultural productivity in South Africa are on the increase. These include rainfall decreases amongst others. Future decreases in rainfall will make farms that are completely dependent on rain-fed agriculture, such as the mango farmers in the study, vulnerable in terms of sustainability.