Dennis Tully - Böcker

This book illustrates that external factors, especially international political processes interacting with large-scale ecological and demographic changes, are the primary cause of problems experienced by the Masalit and other people in the Third World. The Masalit are Muslim farmers formerly independent as part of the sultanate of Dar Fur. Tully examines the local processes by which the Masalit became economically, politically, and culturally incorporated into the Sudan, and thus into a nexus of global forces.Culture and Context in Sudan clarifies the complicated macro-micro linkages responsible for the continuing environmental degradation, increasing inequality, and cultural assimilation that is so detrimental to the people of Dar Masalit. The author analyzes new data as well as previously-existing information to demonstrate the multi-level process of change and how it determines individual choices.

The basic objective of agricultural research at ICARDA is to enhance pro­ ducer and consumer welfare through increasing the productivity, stability, and profitability of agriculture. Improved practices must be technically, ec­ onomically, and socially suitable to farmer conditions. The rainfed areas of West Asia and North Africa have highly variable environmental conditions as well as complex social and economic structures. In recent years, the region has been experiencing major changes in the relative availabilities and costs of the classical factors of production: land, labor, and capital. These changes have important implications for the design of new agricultural technology. On the one hand, the availability of labor may be an important factor determining the acceptability of new technology. On the other, it is important to consider the impact that technology can have on rural employment. To develop a better awareness of these issues and their relevance to technology development, ICARD A initiated a project on Agricultural Labor and Tech­ nological Change. The first stage of the project is published here; it is a review of available literature on selected issues of regional importance, com­ bined with more detailed analyses of the situations of eight countries with important rainfed agricultural sectors. ICARDA greatly appreciates the financial assistance of the Ford Foun­ dation, which allowed us to support the execution of the study and publi­ cation of its findings. We also appreciate the great efforts of the authors in the face of often limited data and facilities.