Livestock in general, and smallstock in particular (including sheep, goats and poultry) have an important role to play in enhancing the livelihoods of the poor.

In poor households, these animals are often kept under scavenging conditions with little or no attention paid to supplementing feed inputs, or to disease control and housing. At the same time, these animals provide products for cash sale when a need arises, and provide the household with much needed protein.

For more than two decades, governments and development agencies around the world have focused on reducing poverty. There have been advances, but progress has been uneven and nearly a quarter of the world's population still suffers from extreme "income poverty." Income poverty,however, is only part of the picture. A multi-faceted account of poverty and human welfare incorporates elements that go beyond income to capture the characteristics of poverty as experienced by the poor themselves.

This policy brief looks at the factors constraining the productivity of smallholder farmers to achieve food security for poor households and communities, as a contribution to poverty eradication in southern Africa. The brief examines the characteristics of the region in terms of poverty, the state of food security in the region, and current factors that limit smallholder farmers’ capacity to produce more food in a sustainable way. It also identifies key policy areas for attention and makes recommendations to address policy gaps.

Information Provided by the Southern Africa Trust Website

This paper explores the potential for governments to create 'green jobs' in developing countries by funding public employment activities to preserve biodiversity, restore degraded land, combat erosion, and conserve water. The paper draws on the experiences of the Working for Water programme in South Africa and the National Rural Employment Guarantee in India.

By :Maikel R. Lieuw-Kie-Song Discussion Paper, April 2009

UNDP Poverty Resources UNDP Website
Wet-Africa.org Waterway Transformation Africa Wet-Africa Website

Information Provided by Carol Lombard, Department of Social Development Population Website

The International Water Management Institute IWMI Website has released a Water Policy Brief addressing "Flexible Water Storage Options and Adaptation to Climate Change." Key findings in this Water Policy Brief include: water storage should be one component of a multi-pronged approach to adapting agriculture to climate change; attention must be given to the full continuum of physical water storage from ground water; and appropriate water storage for agriculture can contribute to poverty alleviation and climate change adaptation. (c) IWMI August 2009:

Information Provided by Carol Lombard, Department of Social Development Population Website

Produced by: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2009)

What opportunities are there at farm and local community level to increase the incomes of small-scale farmers? This series of booklets aims to raise awareness and provide decision support information about opportunities for increasing the incomes of small-scale farmers. Each booklet focuses on a farm or non farm enterprise that can be integrated into small farms to increase incomes and enhance livelihoods.

This guide offers suggestions to practitioners and the rural communities they serve on ways to prevent, mitigate and reduce poverty through forest-based interventions. Those who may find it of interest include district forestry officials, forestry and rural development extension workers, local administrators and planners, and people involved in small-scale enterprises, including their partners.

The document highlights the importance of tailoring activities to local circumstances and of using participatory approaches to design and implement interventions. Emphasis is on making and responding to changes for the benefit of people living in or near forests, and on helping users gain a better understanding of:

Appropedia is a website for collaborative solutions in sustainability, poverty reduction and international development through the use of appropriate technology and the sharing of project information. It provides a collaborative wiki and has been described as an "appropriate technology wiki," but it is much broader than that - it is a green wiki, and a wiki for all matters of international development and aid. See the Appropedia Website for further information.