This
website contains pages related to a research project on rodents,
particularly about the role pest rodents play in damaging agriculture
and people's livelihoods in Africa. The project started in January
2007 and ended in December 2009. The project was part of the Implementation
and Coordination of Agricultural Research and Training (ICART)
Programme in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Region.
The overall objectives of this project were to:
To reduce the high level of rural poverty
in southern African countries by making agriculture more competitive
and to raise poor farmers’ incomes by cost beneficially
increasing crop yields, reducing storage loss and preventing
the transmission of diseases to people and livestock caused
by rodent pests.
To offset the high rate of natural resource
degradation particularly small mammal biodiversity through
improving the management and invasion of commensal rodents
and increasing knowledge about rodent-human interactions and
agricultural expansion.
To develop effective rural policy options
with institutions and farmer groups to support rodent pest
management actions. Policies will be developed and introduced
to ensure the right tools and knowledge are made available
to rural farming communities and to inform national regulations
regarding rodenticides, research provision and extension staff
training.
Please contact
Dr Steven Belmain from the Natural Resources Institute of
the University of Greenwich for further information about this
project. Alternatively, go to the Project
Team page to contact other staff members involved.