Background: Cultivation is the most appropriate management option when both demand and harvesting of wild plant species increase beyond natural production levels. In the current study we made the assumption that, besides the intrinsic biological and ecological characteristics of the species, the decision to cultivate and/or to conserve an overharvested wild plant species is triggered by the socioeconomic factors such as land tenure and size, origin of respondents, gender, and users’ knowledge of the plant phenology.

Assesses the effect (balance or imbalance) of the present relationships between the natural resource base and human activities; examines the role of some potentially destabilising forces, i.e, international markets, government programmes and socio-economic stratification; and reviews government's role in terms of its contributions to prudent natural resource management and options for the promotion of sustainable rural development.

Integrated rainwater management strategies combine technologies, policies and institutions. Work in this project will aim to integrate land and water management, crop component technology, crop management, crop livestock systems, pastoral systems and even agroforestry systems so as to raise productivity and incomes and enhance resilience, while slowing land degradation and reducing downstream siltation. It is clear, however, that the shape of policies and institutions can foster or discourage farmer adoption of productivity-increasing, resource-conserving strategies.