Although the Green Revolution has benefited millions, its accomplishments have not extended throughout the Third World. Millions of rural people, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and large parts of Asia, continue to live in abject poverty. Their chances of achieving a better life depend heavily on the more efficient use of land and water resources.

Research on better land management and methods of cultivation especially suited to marginal and erosion-prone lands is the cornerstone of the Foundation's efforts to bring about improved land use. Promising new approaches suggested by research are tested and the lessons learned from such experiments are disseminated for the widest possible benefit.

Agroforestry, a land-use system in which farmers grow trees, shrubs, and other woody perennials on land that is also used for agricultural crops and animals, has become increasingly important in efforts to improve the productivity of marginal or degraded lands. In 1985 the Foundation provided support for the International Council for Research in Agroforestry (icraf) and for several icraf-related projects. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, icraf conducts research and training on agroforestry technologies and on alternative land-use systems in developing countries. It received $775,000 in loan and grant funds to finance part of the construction costs of its new headquarters and for its core budget. Funds were also granted to the Jebel Marra Rural Development Project in the Darfur region of western Sudan, where icraf is helping introduce agroforestry technologies for small-scale farmers. Overgrazing and overcutting of trees and bushes have led to the desertification of substantial areas of Darfur. The Foundation is also supporting the training at icraf of thirty-one team leaders participating in an all-India agroforestry research project sponsored by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research and involving twenty-five agricultural universities and six national research institutes.

About half of India's rural population—some 300 million people—live at or below the poverty line, with the poorest heavily dependent on such marginal lands as pastoral commons, natural forests, and rain-fed croplands. Most of these lands are so degraded that they may be called "wastelands." Agroforestry offers hope for the rehabilitation of some of these lands, but training in forestry sciences is weak in India. Two Foundation grants, of $384,000 and $271,500, will help strengthen agroforestry research and training at the University of Agricultural Sciences in the south Indian state of Karnataka and at Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University in the low Himalayan hills of northern India.

The effectiveness of social forestry in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh is constrained by inadequate understanding of the natural and social causes of forest degradation and wastelands. Social forestry programs emphasize community participation in the conservation of forest land. A Foundation grant of $253,000 to the Department of Forestry and Resource Management of the University of California (Berkeley) will support multidisciplinary research, conducted in collaboration with Indian scientists, aimed at improving social forestry in South Asia. Researchers will examine past experiences in social forestry, summarize the lessons learned, and recommend improvements for greater efficiency and equity.

A century ago, northeastern Thailand was heavily forested