In this oil research paper, we have set out the challenges confronting oil producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa by giving case studies of Nigeria, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. We have also critiqued the draft National Oil and Gas Policy under formulation as well as the legal framework. We argue that the oil Dutch Disease and conflict nexus associated with oil producing countries are not a given since there are examples such as Norway which have utilised their oil revenue for transformation and sustainable development.

The ways in which people obtain land in Uganda are changing fast. Land that used to be secured through inheritance, gifts or proof of long-term occupancy is now more commonly changing hands in the market. Those with wealth and powerful connections are frequently able to override local rules and gain access to land at the expense of poorer individuals. Government-backed agribusiness investors receive large areas of land with benefits for some local farmers who are able to participate in the schemes, while other smallholders see their land access and livelihoods degraded.

The Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) project, MLIKE (Mekong Land Information and Knowledge Exchange),  and the Land Portal co-facilitated an online dialogue on “Responsible Large Scale Agricultural Investments in the Mekong Region” on 09-27 October 2017. The full dialogue can be read here. This report delineates the key messages emerging from the dialogue.

This paper examines 30 years of experience in zones, reviewing development patterns and economic impacts of zones worldwide. The experience shows that while zones have been effective in addressing economic growth and development objectives, they have not been uniformly successful; successes in East Asia and Latin America have been difficult to replicate, particularly in Africa, and many zones have failed.

Background:

The wild relatives of crops represent a major source of valuable traits for crop improvement. These resources are threatened by habitat destruction, land use changes, and other factors, requiring their urgent collection and long-term availability for research and breeding from ex situ collections. We propose a method to identify gaps in ex situ collections (i.e. gap analysis) of crop wild relatives as a means to guide efficient and effective collecting activities.

Methodology/Principal Findings:

With the rapid growth of biofuel production and consumption and the proliferation of policy decisions supporting this expansion, concerns about the biofuel sector’s environmental and social impacts are increasing. Consequently, a range of actors – among them governments, multilateral institutions, nongovernmental organisations and multistakeholder industry groups – have created sustainability frameworks, some mandatory, others voluntary. This report examines how the most developed sustainability frameworks for feedstock production (including biofuels) address key environmental issues.

About 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions are from landuse, landuse change and forestry (LULUCF) and mostly are from deforestation in the tropics. In March 2001 the Centre for International Forestry Research facilitated an international workshop to identify a global agenda of high priority research questions key to research areas related to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and LULUCF.

Presentación de la dra. Aracely Castro, líder de suelos para LAC del CIAT, durante la primera Casa Abierta de 2013, dirigida a decanos y docentes.

AEPS, Agricultura Específica por sitio, es un conjunto de métodos y herramientas que permiten colectar información de experiencias productivas comerciales, analizar datos con métodos novedosos y generar información que le servirá a productores, asistentes técnicos y entidades del sector agrícola, para tomar mejores decisiones sobre donde sembrar, cuando sembrar, que sembrar y que prácticas de manejo aplicar, cuando se cuenta con ciertas condiciones específicas de clima y suelo.

The participatory forest fire prevention programme of Forest Fire Prevention Management Project (FFPMP) aims at intensive fuel management and fire control with the integrated green belt on community land on the boundary of Berbak National Park, Jambi Province, Sumatra. It aims to motivate farmers to cultivate their land continuously, reducing fire hazards and risks through formation of fuel breaks around the forest. Participating farmers face technical limitations in seedling production, land preparation without burning, and crop planting and protection.