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Provides in-depth analysis of agricultural diversity and explores its history, using case studies from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific. Also considers the effect of the "gene revolution" on small farmers and reviews the effects of the "green revolution" in Asian countries. In conclusion, it questions whether the diverse agricultural practices employed by small farmers can survive modern pressures and the global ambitions of the biotechnology industry.
IntroductionPart I. Presenting Agrodiversity 1. Presenting Diversity by Example: Mintima and Bayninan2. Diversity, Stress, and OpportunityPart II. Diversity Within Rotational Land Systems 3. Defining, Describing, and Writing About AgrodiversityPart III. Paths of Transformation 4. Learning About the History of AgrodiversityPart IV. The Future of Agrodiversity 5. Understanding Soils and Soil--Plant Dynamics6. Analyzing Shifting Cultivation7. Alternative Ways to Farm Parsimonious Soils8. Managing Plants in the Fallow and the Forest9. Coping with Problems: Degraded Land, Slope Dynamics, and Flood10. Who Has Driven Agricultural Change?11. Farmer-Driven Transformation in Modern Times12. The Green Revolution13. Recent Trends in Agriculture14. Science, Farmers, and PoliticsEpilogue: Looking at the FutureReferences
Harold Brookfield is professor emeritus at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies of the Australian National University. He has written several books, including Land Degradation and Society.
Brookfield brings together a rich collection of evidence... and elegantly outlines the importance of agrodiversity. Nature Brookfield has again broken the mould with this extrememly valuable and detailed introduction to, and exposition of, his latest interest and speciality -- the agrodiversity of small farmers... An excellent treatment of small farmer management strategies. Land Degradation and Development A valuable contribution...provides many interesting examples that question well established and widely disseminated hypotheses. Basic and Applied Ecology Harold Brookfield has written a book well worth the read... Few scholars are as well positioned as Brookfield to write about dynamic diversity in traditional agricultural systems centered on the farmer and the farm. Conservation Ecology Brookfield has emphasized the extremes of agriculturally managed landscapes in the small-farming regions of developing countries... [T]he volume is an excellent resource for scholars and policymakers, as well as a major contribution to the field of agrodiversity. -- Shivaji Prasad The Professional Geographer [T]his is an interesting book and would be a worthwhile addition to any personal or academic library just for a range of case studies alone... There is a fascinating range of examples of variations on the themes of human adaptability and landscape change. -- Christopher Young Landscape Ecology
