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Within the framework of the MANITATRA project implementation on COMESA funding which consists in scaling up the dissemination of agro ecological techniques and /or Climate Smart Agriculture[1] in the Middle West and South East regions of Madagascar, a field day dedicated to Climate Smart Agriculture was planned in each intervention area. The Field Day in the Middle West was held in March 2015 and was a real success.

The department has, over the years, continued to make a notable contribution in creating employment and skill development opportunities through implementation of the environment sector employment programmes broadly. In all 12 priority government outcomes, job creation features as a priority output. In the context of this imperative and the departmental mandate on ensuring benefit from environmental assets which, presents an opportunity to contribute significantly to job creation, social inclusion and the low carbon green economy; the department is responsible for the implementation of environmental Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and the National Green Fund projects among others.

Instruction handbook for manual drilling teams on hydro-geology for well drilling, well installation and well development

This programme requires an institutional mechanism to undertake the programme. After extensive stakeholder consultation within the region, and a review of regional and international experience, a semi-autonomous sub-regional organisation (SRO), linked to the SADC Secretariat through a formal memorandum of understanding has been determined as the most appropriate structure for such an agency.

SADC MAPP is designed as a comprehensive 15-year programme of change, arranged around three 5 year phases. The overall programme goal is to bring about pluralistic and strengthened agricultural technology generation and dissemination, together with strengthening linkages among agricultural institutions in the SADC region in order to accelerate smallholder productivity. The result will be market- and smallholder-responsive and accessible agricultural technologies which will create agricultural growth, and increase incomes especially amongst the rural poor. In the first phase, SADC MAPP will focus on two major objectives:

• strengthen SADC R&D institutions in their efforts to become more pluralistic, responsive to updated regional priorities, and to participate in priority R&D activities in the SADC region, and,
• make a significant contribution to enable farmers, especially smallholders, to have improved access to, and to increase the early adoption of productive, profitable, and ecologically sustainable technologies, as well as enhanced access to markets.

Video of APPSA Project

Various crop alternatives can be used as vegetative cover (grains, legumes, root crops and oil crops) in conservation agriculture (CA) and are of great benefit to the soil. This entry discusses in particular the use of leguminous crops as vegetative cover in crop rotation. It provides detailed advice on when to introduce legumes and provides criteria for the selection of the most appropriate legumes. For that purpose a list of almost 80 leguminous cover crops is attached ordered according to the environmental and climatic conditions they can be used under (e.g. humidity, fire, drought, shade, fertile soils, flooded area or cold conditions).
This technology is part of a series on conservation agriculture.

Energypedia is a wiki platform for collaborative knowledge exchange on renewable energy, energy access, and energy efficiency topics in developing countries.

Today one in five people worldwide lack access to electricity, while every third person cooks on unhealthy fireplaces. First-hand knowledge on modern and sustainable energy solutions often only exists locally or in fragments and thus is difficult for individuals to access. Therefore, there is a great need to facilitate and expand the diffusion of these technologies in developing countries through knowledge exchange and collaboration

Crop residues consist of dead plant parts, or stover, that remain from previous crops, including green manure cover crops, and may be supplemented with dried weeds or other imported plant material.
Soil cover is one of the most critical factors in ensuring the success of conservation agriculture (CA). In conventional agricultural systems, residues are usually fed to animals, taken off the field for other uses, incorporated or burned. In many places communal grazing rights are observed, and protecting the residues on the fields from free roaming animals can entail considerable conflicts. However, farmers managing CA systems derive huge benefits from surface residue retention, which makes keeping them on the fields very worthwhile, and some communities have found ways to overcome the problems of communal grazing rights.

The African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) provides leadership in the development of animal resources for Africa. By supporting and empowering the African Union (AU) Member States and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), AU-IBAR's vision is that of an Africa free from hunger and poverty in which animal resources make a significant contribution within the global arena.

Farmers tell their stories about using various new and helpful technologies such as Green Super Rice, the Superbag, direct seeding of rice using a drumseeder, using flood-and salt- tolerant rice.