The expanding demand for livestock products in developing countries is expected to drive changes in livestock farming systems, such as intensification and technological development. However, while large commercial farms can take advantage of these new opportunities, semi-subsistence agriculture will be the main option for many poor livestock keepers. Development pathways may depend on local and...

Background and objectives. In some studies, the prevalence of hay fever and asthma has been found to be lower in children from rural areas than in children from an urban environment. We hypothesised that living on a farm might be protective against development of allergic sensitisation and allergic diseases. Methods. In a cross sectional survey, parents of 2283 children aged 8-10 years from a m...

Karel Charvat [email protected] Rural tourism starts to play important role in the whole agribusiness and rural development. In many remote areas, it starts to be the main economic activity. The development of such kind of activities is now supported as an opportunity for sustainable development of rural areas. Rural tourism is a chance, how to give farmers a new opportunity for profit from the tour...

This paper demonstrates how crop diversification impacts on two outcomes of climate smart agriculture; increased productivity (legume and cereal crop productivity) and enhanced resilience (household income, food security, and nutrition) in rural Zimbabwe. Using data from over 500 smallholder farmers, we jointly estimate crop diversification and each of the outcome variables within a conditional...

Botswana is a semi-arid, middle-income African country that imports 90 percent of its food. Despite its relative prosperity, Botswana also suffers from one of the highest measures of income inequality in the world, persistent poverty, and relatively high levels of food insecurity. The objective of this paper is to explore how political economy, climate change and livelihood dynamics are synergi...

The human gut microbiota is impacted by host nutrition and health status and therefore represents a potentially adaptive phenotype influenced by metabolic and immune constraints. Previous studies contrasting rural populations in developing countries to urban industrialized ones have shown that industrialization is strongly correlated with patterns in human gut microbiota; however, we know littl...