The policy debate about the merits and demerits of biofuels is growing and changing rapidly, with concerns being voiced over their effectiveness for mitigating climate change, role in recent food price hikes and social environmental impacts. This study contributes to these debates through examining the current and likely future impacts of the increasing spread of biofuels on access to land in producer countries, particularly for poorer rural people. It draws on a literature review of evidence drawn from diverse contexts across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Decisions on water allocation and infrastructure lie at the heart of development planning in semi-arid lands. On paper, the laws and policies of Burkina Faso accord equal entitlement to drinking water for the residents of cities and the residents of small towns and villages.

In practice, Ouagadougou’s status as economic and administrative capital gives it much greater power to plan for and mobilise investment for its own water supplies. The Ziga project (in two phases) has been designed to secure bulk water supply for Ouagadougou until 2030.

This paper explores the role of markets for Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in facilitating climate change adaptation of local communities in the Congo Basin. While forests are regarded as safety nets in the climate change movement, emerging market systems that facilitate a shift to a more cash-based economy may reduce this traditional function. This paper contends that the size of trade in timber and non-timber forest products, overexploitation, and unsustainable practices threaten the integrity of forest ecosystems and the goods and services they provide.

Agriculture plays an important role in climate change, both as a contributor emitting greenhouse gasses (GHGs) and as a potential reducer of negative impacts. This paper gives an overview of how current and proposed agricultural practices affect climate change and how the proposed measures for mitigation and adaptation impact agriculture. The paper states that industrial agriculture, as currently practiced with monocultures and agrochemicals in a globalised production system, is a major contributor to climate change.

This paper assesses the prospects of mitigating climate change through emission reductions from forestry and agriculture in the Brazilian Amazon. It uses official statistics, literature and case study material to identify the scope for emission reductions, in terms of potential additionality, opportunity costs, technological complexity, transaction costs, and risks of economic and environmental spill-over effects.

This report discusses the need and options to balance consumption with sustainable production, as changing trends in both the production and consumption of land-based products put increased pressure on land resources across the globe. It focuses on land-based products (food, fuels and fibre) and describes methods which enable countries to determine whether their consumption levels exceed sustainable supply capacities. Strategies and measures are outlined with the aim of allowing the adjustment of policy framework to balance consumption with these capacities.

This annotated bibliography provides evidence that community tenure over forests can result in more forest cover and more species-rich forests, less deforestation and degradation, and fewer fires than some other approaches to protecting forests. The authors initiated the review by identifying relevant scholarly articles published since 2002 based on interviews with experts and keyword searches of databases.

World over the nutmeg continues to be a prized spice because of its unique flavour and pharmaceutical properties.

This report aims to assess what poverty means to marginalized rural families, what kind of survival strategies families use in times of hardship, and what these families believe is needed to alleviate their poverty.

Agriculture is the largest global user of biodiversity. Over-reliance on a handful of crops puts global food security at great risk especially in the context of climate change. Selected and used by generations of farmers, agricultural biodiversity contributes to reducing malnutrition, alleviating poverty and combating climate change challenges. This diversity has been in decline for decades and is now in danger of disappearing and efforts needed to conserve them using both ex situ and in situ approaches.

Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to global challenges such as food insecurity, climate change, rural poverty, malnutrition and environmental protection. This puts pressure on the fragile food production system. The term ‘Sustainable Intensification’ – ‘producing more outputs with more efficient use of all inputs on a durable basis, while reducing environmental damage and building resilience, natural capital and the flow of environmental services’ – has become synonymous with big, industrial agriculture.