Introduction

The end of a year is always busy – and this year especially so for N2Africa. While we work on the final reporting on many milestones and on the consolidated report of Phase I of the N2Africa project, we are winding up for Phase II. Adverts for the staff positions are posted on the website – and Phase II officially starts on the 1st January 2014. Please help us to circulate these as widely as possible. The success of N2Africa depends on pulling together a winning team!

MSc students doing field research in the Usambara Mountains, northern Tanzania

Jori Langwerden and Elise Bressers, two MSc students from Amsterdam and Wageningen, are currently working in the Usambara Mountains, northern Tanzania. The Usambara Mountains are an important bean growing area because of its favourable climatic conditions and natural resources. However, many of the production areas are located on steep slopes which are intensively cultivated and highly degraded over the last couple of years.