ABSTRACT
The growing linkages among poverty, resource decline, and ecological degradation constitute a formidable challenge to development policy and practice. In many countries of the South, the natural resource base on which large populations depend for their livelihood is deteriorating significantly, Pressures of commercialization often affect land use adversely from the perspective of the needs of the poorest households. Poverty forces families to cultivate increasingly fragile, marginally productive lands, addressing short-term needs for survival while putting off concerns about tomorrow (Kates and Haarman 1992).
