Land & Food Security

Irrigated agriculture is widespread in the Central Asian drylands and important for food security of the region. However irrigation practices based on rules made for cotton production on large units do not provide adequate guidance for the now widespread small farms that produce cotton wheat and rice. Excessive unsustainable water use is the consequence.

This project was initiated to promote conservation agriculture (CA) in Tanzania so as to improve the food security and rural livelihood of small- and medium-scale farmers through the scaling-up of CA as a sustainable land management (SLM) tool as well as increasing the numbers of SLM-CA farmer field schools (FFS) in communities. The project had two phases from 2004 to 2010.

There is increasing interest in Zimbabwe in developing a biofuels industry based on the production of biodiesel using Jatropha as the main feedstock. This has led to the introduction of Jatropha as a commercial energy crop in the country. There are plans to grow 1220 km2 of Jatropha which will supply about 365,000 t of seed.

This toolkit is the first of its kind to provide information on promoting and protecting the nutritional status of mothers and children in crises and emergencies. Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to major crises and emergencies.

Bangladesh is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world. Situated in the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna (GBM) rivers, the country is exposed to a range of river and rainwater flood hazards due to climate variability, the timing, location, and extent of which depend on precipitation in the entire GBM basin.

The implementation of effective Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programmes in countries emerging from violent conflict are essential for building and maintaining peace and security.

This paper provides an overview of major groundwater issues for Sub-Saharan Africa, with an assessment of their policy implications in terms of potential development and appropriate management.

Includes introduction, context, land deals (extent, nature and origins), key issues (land availability, consultations, compensation, agrofuels), impacts (food security, water, social and political effects), conclusions – major challenges include lack of information and coordination, secrecy and flaws in the investment processes, need for transparency and open debate.

Keywords: Rwanda; farm household typology; sustainable technology adoption; multivariate analysis;
land degradation; food security; bioeconomic model; crop simulation models; organic fertiliser; inorganic fertiliser; policy incentives

This review outlines livestock's major emission pathways and production trends, and explores the challenges and options for livestock in addressing and coping with climate change. Ruminant production is, and will continue to be, the chief source of the livestock sector's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mainly as a result of deforestation, land degradation and enteric fermentation.

Concerns about future food security in the face of volatile and potentially lower yields due to climate change have been at the heart of recent discussions on adaptation strategies in the agricultural sector.