This website contains pages related to a research project on rodents, particularly about the role pest rodents play in damaging agriculture and people's livelihoods in Africa. The project is part of the Implementation and Coordination of Agricultural Research and Training (ICART) Programme in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region.

The overall objectives of this project are to:

1. To reduce the high level of rural poverty in southern African countries by making agriculture more competitive and to raise poor farmers’ incomes by cost beneficially increasing crop yields, reducing storage loss and preventing the transmission of diseases to people and livestock caused by rodent pests.
2. To offset the high rate of natural resource degradation particularly small mammal biodiversity through improving the management and invasion of commensal rodents and increasing knowledge about rodent-human interactions and agricultural expansion.
3. To develop effective rural policy options with institutions and farmer groups to support rodent pest management actions. Policies will be developed and introduced to ensure the right tools and knowledge are made available to rural farming communities and to inform national regulations regarding rodenticides, research provision and extension staff training.

Please contact Dr Steven Belmain from the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich for further information about this project. Alternatively, go to the Project Team page to contact other staff members involved.