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Voices From Africa Anuradha Mittal and Melissa Moore (editors) The Oakland Institute 2009
African farmers and environmentalists speak out against a new green revolution in Africa.
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Keywords: environment, natural resources, climate change, africa, farmer, green revolution
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Nature's benefits in Kenya: an Atlas of Ecosystems and Human Well-Being World Resources Institute 2007
"Nature's benefits in Kenya" integrates spatial data on poverty and the environment in Kenya, providing a new approach to examining the links between ecosystem services(the benefits derived from nature) and the poor.
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Keywords: environment, natural resources, ecosystem, africa, kenya, poverty
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Aquaculture: Responsible Practices and Certification IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation 2009
Guide for the Sustainable Development of Mediterranean Aquaculture
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Keywords: environment, natural resources, climate change, aquaculture, Mediterranea
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The Great Land Grab: Rush for World's Farmland Threatens Food Security for the Poor Shepard Daniel, Anuradha Mittal The Oakland Institute
This report from the Oakland Institute builds on the important work done thus far by drawing attention to the actors facilitating the land grab. In particular, it examines the role of international financial institutions in promoting private investment in agriculture and land markets in response to the global food crisis. Multilateral institutions - for example, the International Financial Corporation, the private sector branch of the World Bank - are further impelling the shift from public to private sector control over food resources. This report explores and highlights the implications and potential consequences of this shift for global food security.
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Keywords: environment, natural resources, climate change, land grab, farmers
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Six Years of the Biological Diversity Act in India Kanchi Kohli, Mashqura Fareedi (Kalpavriksh) and Shalini Bhutani (GRAIN) 2008
This report demonstrates that biodiversity regulation is critically linked to the idea of community
sovereignty. Unless local decision-making and control over biological resources and their knowledge
becomes a reality, the latter will be continue to be treated as the property of the nation state which is
intent on commercialising these resources. The responsibilities of the State need to be redefined, given
the role it has played thus far in biodiversity "regulation" and "knowledge management". There is need to
examine and highlight the implications of the commercialisation of biological resources and knowledge.
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Keywords: environment, natural resources, climate change, India, biological diversity act
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Emerging Water Shortages Lester R. Brown Plan B 2.0 Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble 2006
The world is incurring a vast water deficit - one that is largely invisible, historically recent, and growing fast. Because much of the deficit comes from aquifer overpumping, it is often not apparent. Unlike burning forests or invading sand dunes, falling water tables are often discovered only when wells go dry. This global water deficit is recent, the result of demand tripling over the last half-century. The drilling of millions of
irrigation wells has pushed water withdrawals beyond the
recharge of many aquifers. The failure of governments to limit pumping to the sustainable yield of aquifers means that water tables are now falling in countries that contain more than half the world's people.
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Keywords: environment, natural resources, climate change, water shortages
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Change - Adaptation of Water Resources Management to Climate Change Ger Bergkamp, Brett Orlando, Ian Burton IUCN 2003
Climate change is here and will be with us for the long-term. The challenge facing water professionals is how to make decisions in the face of this new uncertainty. This book outlines a new management approach that moves beyond technical quick fixes towards a more adaptive
style that is inclusive and innovative. Only by thinking, working and learning together can we tackle the impacts on water resources and uncertainties induced by climate change.
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Keywords: environment, natural resources, climate change
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Perspectives on Water and Climate Change Adaptation - Towards a Framework for Climate-Proofing IUCN / WWC / CPWC 2010/12/03
The consortium of the Co-operative Programme on
Water and Climate, the World Water Council, and
the International Union for Conservation of Nature
derived the following key messages from a series of
16 Perspective Documents on Water and Climate
commissioned for the 5th World Water Forum. It is
our hope that these interdependent principles can
serve as a guidance to both the water and climate
communities by providing the water community with
information on how to build climate change adaptation
into water work, and by offering the climate
community an explanation of why water ought to be
at the centre of their efforts.
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Keywords: environment, natural resources, climate change, water
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Even the Himalayas Have Stopped Smiling: Climate Change, Poverty and Adaptation in Nepal Wayne Gum, Prabin Man Singh and Beth Emmett (lead authors) Oxfam International 2009
In February and March 2009, Oxfam conducted interviews in rural communities in three ecological zones (Terai, Hills and Mountains) and in the Mid and Far Western Development Regions to capture a snapshot of how climate change is already affecting people living in poverty. The results were remarkably consistent with regional climate change projections,and deeply worrying.
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http://www.oxfaminternational.org Keywords: environment, natural, resources, climate, change, Nepal, poverty, adaptation
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Credibility Crunch: Food, poverty, and climate change: an agenda for rich-country leaders Max Lawson Oxfam International June 2008
Climate change is already hitting poor people first and worst, causing increased droughts and floods and threatening livelihoods. Although not directly included in the MDGs, 2015 is also a critical milestone in efforts to combat climate change. The brutal reality is that unless the global trend of greenhouse-gas emissions growth is reversed by 2015, our chances of avoiding unmanageable climate impacts will be very poor. This will have direct life or death consequences for the poorest, most vulnerable people around the world.
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http://www.oxfaminternational.org Keywords: environment, natural, resources, climate, change, food, poverty, credibility, developing, country
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Survival of the fittest: Pastoralism and climate change in East Africa Mary Kirkbride and Richard Grahn Oxfam International August 2008
Climate change is having a destructive impact on many groups around the world. Pastoralists in East Africa have been adapting to climate variability for millennia and their adaptability ought to enable them to cope with this growing challenge. This paper explains the policies required to enable sustainable and productive pastoralist communities to cope with the impact of climate change and generate sustainable livelihoods.
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Keywords: environment, natural, resources, climate, change, livelihoods, pastoralism, Africa
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Climate Wrongs and Human Rights: Putting people at the heart of climate change policy Kate Raworth Oxfam International Sept. 2008
In failing to tackle climate change with urgency, rich countries are effectively violating the human rights of millions of the world's poorest people. Continued excessive greenhouse-gas emissions primarily from industrialised nations are - with scientific certainty - creating floods, droughts, hurricanes, sea-level rise, and seasonal unpredictability. The result is failed harvests, disappearing islands, destroyed homes, water scarcity, and deepening health crises, which are undermining millions of peoples'rights to life, security, food, water, health, shelter, and culture. Such rights violations could never truly be remedied in courts of law. Human-rights principles must be put at the heart of international climate-change policy making now, in order to stop this irreversible damage to humanity's future.
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Keywords: environment, natural, resources, climate, change, human, rights, agriculture, policy
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Agriculture and Biodiversity P Balakrishna IUCN 2001
Over 800 million human beings suffer from hunger and malnutrition. The future of global food security depends on the success of our efforts in the conservation and enhancement of agrobiodiversity, the biodiversity occurring in plants and animals. It is important that both intensification and diversification of agriculture, particularly in the developing countries, is based on sound ecological foundations essential for sustainable advances in crop and animal productivity.
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http://cms.iucn.org Keywords: environment, natural, resources, climate, change, biodiversity, agriculture
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Links between biodiversity conservation, livelihoods and food security : the sustainable use of wild species for meat Sue Mainka and Mandar Trivedi (editors) IUCN 2002
The global use of wild animals for meat is now the primary illegal activity in many protected areas, and growing human populations and a lack of livelihood options suggest that demand for wild meat is likely to continue to rise. This Occasional Paper contains the background information presented to participants at a workshop jointly organized by IUCN, FAO and TRAFFIC in Yaounde, Cameroon. The workshop aimed to forge functional links among the various stakeholders concerned with the unsustainable use of wild fauna for food, and it contains the communique and a summary of the discussions related to problems and solutions.
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Keywords: environment, natural, resources, climate, change, biodiversity, conservation, wild, species, food, security
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The Development of The Lake Victoria Fishery: A Boon or Bane for Food Security? Richard O. Abila IUCN June 2000
The Lake Victoria fishery has undergone tremendous development in the last two decades. From a socio-economic
point of view, the greatest impact has been in the commercialization of the fishery and development of an export and fish meal industry based on Nile perch and "dagaa", which together constitute over 90% of fish of Lake
Victoria. The benefits of industrialization of the fishery are foreign exchange earnings to the country; higher value
of the fishery, hence, its contribution to GDP; increased employment in fish production and processing; better incomes to fish factories, their middlemen and some categories of fishermen, especially those owning boats, gear
and outboard engines. The development of the fishery of Lake Victoria has, on the other hand, had an impact the
food security situation for lakeside communities. This report argues that the importance of fish in national food security has been reduced in two ways: one, food has become less available especially to non-fishing communities in the lake region.
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Keywords: environment, natural, resources, climate, change, food, security, water, fish, community
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About Global Food Security
There are more than 1.02 billion hungry people in the world
Source:FAO 2010
Providing global food security is one of the principle challenges for humanity in current times. The scale of the challenge is immense. According to an FAO estimate over 1 billion people suffer from hunger. One sixth of all humanity currently goes hungry every day. This is a challenge that has reached unprecedented levels in recent years. There are more people hungry today than at any time since 1970.
Malnutrition has also been growing since the mid-1990s, and in 2008 was affecting approximately 915 million people. These trends are expected to worsen given high food prices, and structural issues relating to the recent downturn in the global economy.
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The work of The Network of European Foundations' Mercator Fund is underpinned by the principle that the global philanthropic community has a vital role to play in promoting and implementing the work necessary to bring about social and political change. The Mercator Fund aims to generate innovative ideas to respond to key global challenges through the development of projects that address core global social issues.
The Sir Ratan Tata Trust is one of the oldest philanthropic institutions in India, and has played a pioneering role in changing the traditional ideas of charity and introducing the concept of philanthropy. Through its grant making, the Trust supports efforts in the development of society, through institutional grants in areas of Education, Health, Arts & Culture, Enhancing Civil Society & Governance and Rural Livelihoods & Communities. Besides institutional grants, the Trust also makes individual grants for education and medical relief.
Nearly 70% of the tribal communities of India reside in central India, concentrated in about 110 districts within the nine central Indian states. The region is endowed with rich natural resources; however, issues such as abject poverty, primitive farming methods, improper use of water resources, naxalism, etc. ensure that this tribal belt lags behind other parts of India. Central India Initiative, one of the flagship initiatives of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, was initiated in 2004, with the basic objective of enhancing tribal livelihoods through a Natural Resource Management (NRM) based approach. Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI), a registered organization seeded by the Trust, is the nodal agency for the Central India Initiative.
ICOS ICOS is an independent international organisation providing local solutions to tackle new global challenges. Through an innovative combination of research, analysis and project implementation, ICOS examines the root causes of current challenges to achieve measurable and direct results.
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