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Choices in project approach affect the continuation of soil and water conservation (SWC) after project withdrawal, and thus the sustainability and cost effectiveness of the project. A SWC project was carried out in southern Mali between 1986 and 1998. Its features were the promotion of cheap and simple SWC measures, a participatory village extension approach with limited use of incentives, and the incorporation of the SWC programme in an existing Malian extension service. By 2000, farmers in half the 5000 villages in southern Mali had been trained in SWC. By 2002, erosion-control measures had been installed in 94 per cent of the villages in southern Mali by 46 per cent of the farmers and in 15 per cent of the fields. Though external donor support has stopped, farmer adoption is steadily continuing and spreading to untargeted villages.

What is the food system decision support toolbox? Content General introduction Food system analysis process Introduction for policy makers Defining a food system objective The Food System Decision Support Toolbox WHAT IS THE FSDS TOOLBOX?

The use of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) based quality assurance has a well established place in controlling safety hazards in food supply chains. The work in the Integrated Project QUALITYLOWINPUTFOOD, QLIFWP 6.2 was designed to support the implementation of HACCP systems in the organic food sector. The structure of the organic food supply chain was examined to identify those aspects that are common throughout the food industry and those that require special attention in organic systems. These differences arise during the production and processing stage and in the distribution chain, and are prescribed by organic legislation and standards. Information generated in QLIF WP6.1 (analysis of structures, conduct and performance of supply chains for organic foods in Europe) and the output from COST action organic HACCP provided a background for the production of HACCP protocols. The detail in the protocols was obtained by further examination of the production chain for the six selected commodities by Campden BRI and Agro Eco. The manuals provide up-to-date information on the concept of prerequisite programmes (PRPs) and the different types of control point such as PRP and Operational PRP in addition to critical control points (CCPs). Consideration is also given to the use of HACCP to manage food quality and organic integrity in the supply chain in addition to the management of food safety hazards. The study resulted in six commodity-specific HACCP training manuals that focus on primary production. These have been used to disseminate HACCP knowledge to businesses in the organic food supply chain. The second phase of the work package enabled the information in the training manuals to be disseminated to the organic sector by offering training workshops. The training was arranged at five venues arranged by partner organizations in the QLIF project. The final deliverable of this part of the project was to consolidate the six training manuals into one organic HACCP protocol document that includes updated information from other QLIF work packages and experiences gained from delegates attending the training workshops.

Rills are indicators of erosion, easily recognized by farmers and extension workers. However, they are rare on fields in Mali with slopes of 0–3%, even though run‐off and sheet erosion may be a problem. The suitability of three other soil surface features as erosion indicators was therefore investigated: (1) structural crusts formed by rainfall impact without lateral soil movement; (2) in situ depositional crusts, formed by sedimentation leaving the finest particles on top; and (3) run‐off deposits of fine and coarse sand, formed after the removal of finer particles. Feature (1) occurred on the elevated parts and ridges, whereas (2) and (3) occurred in lower parts and in furrows. Soil cover with a run‐off deposit of coarse sand proved to be a suitable indicator and this was well explained by erosion risk: a 2% increase in slope related to a 9% increase in deposit cover. The extent of this deposit also related well to cotton yield from the previous season: a 30% increase in deposit cover was reflected in a 23% decrease in cotton yield. Only a few farmers confirmed that the deposits were produced by erosion. It is recommended that soil and water conservation programmes pay more attention to the presence of crusts and deposits.