François Ruf

Frederic Lançon

The most traditional and widely used farming systems in the humid upland tropics are based on fallowing and various forms of slash and burn agriculture. Their sustainability depends on the duration of the fallow. When fallow duration drops below the threshold of seven or eight years crop yield usually declines. A concept described as "forest rent". Given the plight of millions of farmers the development of upland agriculture has become increasingly important. This book reports the results of fieldwork conducted by the editors and other experts in some 40 regions of Indonesia from 1989 to 2001. It finds that some of the most successful improvements have been the result of innovations by the farmers themselves.

Green Revolutions in the Indonesian Uplands?

From Slash-and-burn to Replanting

P S Siswoputranto

The cyclical boom-to-recession nature of the economics of cocoa supply is a major problem for the international cocoa industry - and especially for countries whose economies depend on cocoa exports. Only through an understanding of the dynamics of cocoa cycles can policy decisions be made through the various phases of supply cycles. Based on a major international cocoa conference, this book presents seventeen edited papers from leading experts, making a major contribution to that understanding. It explains the powerful economic, social and political factors which impact on the cocoa economy. It shows the laws of cocoa supply are closely linked to environmental, ecological and institutional factors.

The Economics of Cocoa Supply

Cocoa Cycles

Götz Schroth

The monoculture systems that have been encouraged by governments since the 1960s have led to major socio-economic and environmental crises. Now the diversification of tree crop systems is advancing throughout the tropics. Why and when does diversification take place? What categories of farmers diversify? What obstacles do they have to overcome, and how do public and private policies interfere in this process? How do land use systems and landscapes evolve as a result of this diversification? According to the authors of this volume, diversification is certainly a response to market risks, but also to the depletion of environmental resources. Ecological changes such as declining soil fertility and increasing pressure from pests, diseases and weeds intensify at the end of monoculture cycles, driving crop change and diversification of farming systems. Through 15 case studies from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific, the authors provide us with in-depth insights into the economy and ecology of family agriculture and its recent developments.

François Ruf

Books

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