The impacts of climate change on livestock production are complex problems, existing in the rela-tionship among this sector and others sectors such as environmental, social, economic and political systems. The complexity and dynamic of these impacts cannot be solved simply in isolation with the linear approach. A system thinking methodology is introduced in this paper to understand the impacts of climate change on livestock production, and identify effective interventions strategies to address this systemic problem. System thinking is a way of thinking about the world and relationships which has been developed far along way in the past. Today, systems thinking has become increasingly popular because it provides a \'new way of thinking\' to understand and manage complex problems, whether they rest within a local or global context. While four levels of thinking is a fundamental tool to identify systemic problems, Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) is a visual tool created by a computer program to illustrate the whole picture of climate change impacts. CLD consist of feedbacks for system, which help strategists identify appropriate intervention strategies in solving the systemic problem. / Ảnh hưởng của biến đổi khí hậu đến ngành chăn nuôi là một trong những vấn đề phức tạp, bởi mối quan hệ chặt chẽ có hệ thống của chúng với các lĩnh vực khác như môi trường, xã hội, kinh tế và chính trị. Những tác động phức tạp đa chiều này không thể giải quyết đơn thuần bằng các giải pháp mang tính đơn lẻ. Phương pháp tư duy hệ thống được giới thiệu trong bài này cho phép hiểu đầy đủ, có hệ thống các tác động của biến đổi khí hậu đến ngành chăn nuôi, đồng thời xác định được những giải pháp chiến lược phù hợp để giải quyết vấn đề mang tính hệ thống này. Tư duy hệ thống là cách tư duy và tiếp cận với sự vật, hiện tượng khách quan, và các mối quan hệ của chúng, phương pháp này đã được nghiên cứu và phát triển từ xa xưa. Ngày nay, tư duy hệ thống đang được ứng dụng phổ biến và rộng rãi hơn trong các nghiên cứu phát triển bền vững vì phương pháp này cung cấp một “tư duy mới” để hiểu và quản lý được các vấn đề phức tạp, dù chúng ở qui mô địa phương hay trên phạm vi toàn cầu. Trong đó, bốn cấp bậc của tư duy là công cụ cơ bản để nhận biết các vấn đề phức tạp, và sơ đồ các vòng tròn tác động (CLD) là công cụ trực quan được xây dựng bằng phần mềm máy tính để chỉ ra bức tranh toàn cảnh các tác động của biến đổi khí hậu. Các vòng tròn tác động này phản ánh các diễn biến thực tế và các thông tin giúp cho việc xác định các giải pháp chiến lược.

Human health is frequently omitted from household-level studies on agricultural productivity, land-use choices, and forest degradation and deforestation. Intuition, however, suggests that it could be an extremely important factor. This dissertation is built on three essays that use household survey data from the Brazilian Amazon to examine the conditions under which human health and other critical market conditions are important factors in determining household agriculture production choices and efficiency. Essay I (Chapter 2) examines how health affects the labor allocation and production choices of migrant smallholders in the Brazilian Amazon. We show that the impacts of illness on household decisions depend critically on labor market function in the rural areas of the tropics. Furthermore, results from a formal statistical test of the labor markets shows that they do not work well, in other words are incomplete or thin, in the study area. These results are important both in specification of future smallholder household economic models and in targeting policies to better alleviate poverty and encourage more sustainable use of forest and land resources in similar tropical regions. Essay II (Chapter 3) investigates the role of health as a productive input and non-input factor of production. By using a non-neutral stochastic production approach, the impact of health is decomposed into direct effect on the production function and indirect effects on technical efficiency. The finding of the essay suggests that poor health has significant negative impacts on rural household production. The most important policy implication is that careful designing of agriculture development and rural settlements programs is important, and the provision of health care should be tied to these development projects. Essay III (Chapter 4) examines the demand for labor applied to land clearing, staple food production, livestock, working off-farm, and time taking care of sick people in the household. Specifically the empirical application examines the impact of disease on labor allocation, accounting for time lost by households taking care of sick members as a non-productive activity. Disease plays an important role in household decisions because farm activities are performed inefficiently by sick households and changes in household labor efficiency brings about a change in the relative price of competing uses for a household's time. Chapter 5 provides a summary and general conclusion of the work, and then provides comments on policy design and recommendations for further studies. In summary, the combined results of these studies show that both health condition and the quality of labor markets have significant interacting impacts on the labor allocation decisions by smallholders with accompanying welfare and deforestation implications. / Doctor of Philosophy / Most of the rural population of the Brazilian Amazon is made up of small-scale farmers – the so-called 'smallholders' – who are characterized by a lack of access to formal credit, a disconnection from social services, poor access to markets, and a dependency on their own labor as the main input in agricultural production, and thus survival. Since labor is the main input used in smallholder activities, albeit to different extents, anything that changes total household labor or labor efficiency adjusts the relative returns of competing uses, and thus labor allocation decisions. This PhD dissertation is an effort to understand whether markets, family health, and seasonality affect labor allocation decisions, and furthermore, whether those allocation decisions vary depending on productive activity. Based on cross-sectional farm data from the Brazilian Amazon, I find that the impacts of illness on household decisions depend critically on how well labor market function in rural areas. The results from a statistical test of the labor markets shows that they do not work well in the study area. These results are important both in specification of future smallholder household economic models and in targeting policies to better alleviate poverty and encourage more sustainable use of forests and land resources in similar settings. Also, I find that poor health has a significant negative impact on technical efficiency of rural household farm production. The most important policy implication is that careful designing of agriculture development and rural settlements programs is important, and the provision of health care care should be tied to these development projects. Finally, in the context of the region of study, where labor markets are thin, disease plays an important role on in household decisions because farm activities are performed inefficiently by sick households and change in labor efficiency brings about a change in relative prices of competing uses of household's time. My empirical work supports the hypothesis that health influence labor allocation decisions. In conclusion, the combined results of these studies show that both health conditions and the quality of labor markets have significant interacting impacts on the labor allocation decisions by smallholders with accompanying welfare and deforestation implications.

This thesis deals with the evaluation of noise exposure in the agricultural cooperative Hosín ? Dobrejovice. The aim of this work was to measure noise levels in the dairy barn area and its surroundings, during these processes work: milking, feeding, removal of excrement, bedding etc. Measurements were carried out in summer and autumn. During the measurement noise was the largest source of agricultural equipment. The results revealed that noise pollution resulting from the operation of agricultural cooperatives Dobrejovice is fair and negative influence on noise pollution does not occur.

The aim of this thesis is processing ÚZEI data for organic agricultural production in individual regions of the Czech Republic in the form of maps and graphs that provide a basic overview of the territorial deployment of crop and livestock production of organic farming. For crop production are given the following information: sown area in the conversion period and in the full organic mode, organic production and the average yield. Data of livestock in organic farming provide information about the numerical status of the individual categories of livestock. Part of the thesis is also devoted to the realization of crop and livestock organic products on the market in 2012. The thesis is part of the project Gaju 019/2013 / S.

La recherche vise à établir si les modes de gestion des ressources naturelles et sociales des producteurs familiaux, dont les exploitations sont majoritairement de petite taille, ont pu contribuer à la construction de systèmes de production et de paysages durables. Quelles stratégies ces paysans mettent-ils en œuvre pour garantir les conditions de production de leurs fermes, de reproduction de leurs familles, et de conservation des ressources naturelles ? Ensuite, peut-on découvrir dans ces stratégies des pistes pour la conception de systèmes durables ? Notre étude a été menée dans une zone tropicale des Andes du nord située en territoire colombien, sur les communes de Riosucio et Supia, département du Caldas. Lors de la crise du café (années 1990), les producteurs vont réagir de manières diverses. Une réaction particulièrement intéressante, que nous analysons en profondeur, est la proposition de l'Association des producteurs indigènes et paysans de Riosucio et Supia, ASPROINCA : recomposition des systèmes productifs, recherche de la durabilité par une diversification des stratégies fondées sur une approche agro-écologique et une gestion intégrée des systèmes productifs, et renforcement du capital social et humain. Au-delà des unités d'exploitation, la proposition est élargie à l'espace du micro-bassin et au paysage régional, ce qui implique la coexistence avec d'autres formes de production, la conclusion d'accords sur la gestion des ressources d'usage commun, en particulier l'eau, et la mise en œuvre de pratiques partagées pour leur conservation. / The research aims to establish how the modes of management of natural and social resources of family farmers whose holdings are generally small, have contributed to the construction of sustainable production systems and landscapes.Which are the strategies developed these producers to guarantee the production and reproduction conditions of their farms, their families, and conservation of natural resources? And, is it possible to discover in these strategies, elements for the design of sustainable systems? Our study was carried out in a tropical zone of the Northern Andes, located in Colombia in the municipalities of Riosucio, Supia, Department of Caldas. During the crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s coffee producers reacted in various ways. A particularly interesting reaction, we looked at a depth is the proposal of the Association of indigenous and peasant producers of Riosucio, Supia ASPROINCA: re-arrangement of productive systems, pursuit of sustainability through diversification of strategies supported in an agro ecological approach , integrated management of production systems, and the strengthening of human and social capitals. Sustainability building of production systems and landscapes implies a multiplicity of relations between social and ecological processes at different temporal and spatial scales. Beyond farm units, Asproinca proposal expands to the watershed and regional landscape, this implies the coexistence with other forms of production, the search for agreements for the management of common pool resources, in particular water, and the implementation of conservation practices at those levels. / La investigación busca establecer si las formas de gestión de los recursos naturales y sociales de los pequeños productores familiares, han podido contribuir a la construcción de sistemas de producción y de paisajes sostenibles. ¿Qué estrategias son las que desarrollan estos productores para garantizar las condiciones de producción de sus fincas, la reproducción de sus familias y la conservación de los recursos naturales empleados? ¿Es posible descubrir en estas estrategias pistas para el diseño de sistemas sostenibles? Nuestro estudio se desarrolló en la zona tropical de los Andes del Norte situada en territorio Colombiano, en los municipios de Riosucio y Supía en el Departamento de Caldas. Durante la crisis de los mercados cafeteros (de los años 1990), los productores van a reaccionar de maneras diversas. Una reacción particularmente interesante, que analizamos a profundidad, es la propuesta de la Asociación de Productores Indígenas y Campesions de Riosucio y Supía (ASPROINCA): que involucra la recomposición de sistemas productivos, la búsqueda de la sostenibilidad a partir de la diversificación de estrategias apoyadas en un enfoque agroecológico y una gestión integrada de los sistemas productivos, así como del fortalecimiento del capital social y humano. Más allá de las unidades de producción familiares, la propuesta se amplía al espacio de la micro cuenca y al paisaje regional, lo cual implica la coexistencia con otras formas de producción, el establecimiento de acuerdos sobre la gestión de recursos de uso común, en particular del agua, y la puesta en marcha de prácticas de conservación para la conservación de esto recurso.

South Africa and other developing countries are grappling with high levels of poverty as a result of slow to negligible rural development. Irrigation development is one essential component that can be used to address the challenges faced by smallholder farmers in rural areas. In the President‟s “State of the Nation Address” in 2011, the President of South Africa outlined measures to reduce hunger and poverty in communal areas through enhanced government‟s expenditures in rural infrastructure developments, especially for such amenities as irrigation and roads, with a view to promoting food security. The broad objective of this study is to assess livelihood strategies and opportunities with regard to farming in Qamata area of Intsika Yethu Local Municipality. The stratified random sampling method was applied in order to choose a sample of 70 household that were interviewed by means of semi-structured questionnaires. Out of these, 53 belonged to the irrigation project and 17 farmers were non-irrigation farmers. The results show that women play an active role in agriculture. The Multiple Regression model was used to assess the relative importance of different livelihood strategies adopted by both irrigation and non-irrigation farmers in improving household food security and welfare in Qamata. More specifically, the study assessed the impact of different livelihood strategies on production of butternut, goats, maize and poultry (Chicken) in Qamata. The results show increased agricultural production, crop diversification and higher incomes from irrigation farming as compared to dry land farming. Irrigation farming has enabled many households to diversify their sources of income and therefore include activities and enterprises that contribute to enhanced household welfare. The study showed that household size is crucial in crop production, followed by gender of the household head. The government and research institutes need to come up with programmes to train people on ways to produce crop and livestock products more efficiently.