Actors involved in promoting conservation agriculture have often not taken into account perceptions of smallholder farmers of climate change and conservation agriculture as an adaptation strategy. This study documents smallholder farmers' perceptions of climate change and conservation agriculture. Most farmers attributed climate change to supernatural forces. Smallholder farmers' perceptions related to floods and droughts were significantly associated with adoption of conservation agriculture. The extent to which smallholder farmers perceived conservation agriculture as a climate change adaptation strategy was very low. This suggests existence of other important reasons for practicing conservation agriculture than adaptation to climate change. Policy implications of the study are: conservation agriculture projects should not only focus on technical approaches to increase adoption rates but also consider social aspects such as perceptions that are equally important in conservation agriculture. Inclusion of climate change communication to facilitate exchange of climatic information that could enable smallholder farmers relate to conservation agriculture as an adaptation strategy is essential.

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This study examined the agronomic practices of smallholder Conservation Agriculture (CA) farmers in Zambia. Questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, field assessments, desk study and soil analyses were employed to collect data on tillage systems, crop rotations, weed control, soil fertility management, crop residue retention and crop yields. The results showed that weed management, crop residue retention, timely planting and soil fertility management were the most challenging for CA farmers especially those without reliable access to oxen. Crop residue retention conflicted with the socio-cultural practices of the communities and was hardly practised while crop rotation seemed difficult in light of the dominance of maize cultivation and the lack of markets for crop legumes. Possible options for improving smallholder CA systems were greater integration of livestock, correct herbicide application, market provision for crop legumes, farmer training in agri-business and better access to agricultural credit and subsidized inputs. CA promoters must incorporate the farmers' local cultural contexts in order to better address the challenges associated with adopting CA.

The sustainability of wildlife resources in Africa is threatened by poaching for trophies and meat as well as changes in land use. In order to motivate local people for sustainable wildlife management, efforts to transfer decision-making power as well as bene®ts from central to local level have been made in several countries. Such efforts have not yet been seen in Kilombero Game Controlled Area, which is the area covered by the present study. The paper documents the importance of wildlife to local people, explores local people's perceptions on wildlife management and identi®es constraints to sustainable wildlife management. A total of 177 household interviews in 5 villages and 129 interviews of pupils in schools have been conducted. The majority of pupils reported that their latest meal of meat was from a wild animal, and the most common species was buffalo. Apart from availability of cheap wildlife meat, advantages from living close to wildlife include the use of various parts of animals for, e.g. medical and ritual uses, and various plant products from wildlife habitats. Disadvantages include damages to crops, predation on livestock, and injuries to humans. The estimated loss of yield due to raiding by wildlife amounted to 21Á9 and 47Á8% of the harvest of rice and maize, respectively. Traditional wildlife management in Kilombero includes few rules to avoid resource depletion, because depletion has traditionally not been a problem due to low hunting technology and low human population. Government management includes strict rules, with hunting quotas as the main instrument, but the government has failed to enforce the rules. Ongoing discussions on new approaches to wildlife management like co-management and community-based management were largely unknown to the villagers in the area. Both poaching and agricultural expansion threaten the sustainability of Kilombero Game Controlled Area. It is suggested that transfers of decision-making power and bene®ts to local people is necessary in order to achieve sustainable management.

There is a growing concern of pesticide risks to human health, natural environment and ecosystems. Many previous economic valuations have accounted health aspects or environmental components, but rarely combined; thus, overall risk assessment is partially distorted. The study, conducted close to the capital of Nepal, addressed the health effects of pesticides on small-scale farmers and evaluated the monetary risks of pesticide use on human health and environmental resources. We also aim to establish the relationships among valuation methods. The paper adopts cost of illness, defensive expenditure and contingent valuation willingness to pay approach. The study concluded that the methods used for valuing pesticide risks to human and environmental health are theoretically consistent. The exposed individuals are likely to bear significant economic costs of exposures depending on geographical location, pesticide use magnitudes and frequency. Individuals are willing to pay between 53 and 79% more than the existing pesticide price to protect their health and environment. The integrated pest management training is less likely to reduce health costs of pesticide exposure, although it leads to higher investment in safety measures.Keywords Pesticides Á Cost of illness Á Defensive expenditure Á Willingness to pay Á Vegetable farming Á Nepal Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.