Comprehensive yet concise report outlining the key challenges and projected demands in the global agricultural sector, from an energy-water-food nexus perspective.

The current debate on climate change, its impacts on socio-ecological systems and the role of agriculture has shifted from an emphasis on how to mitigate the effects of increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to how to prepare and adapt to the expected adverse impacts. This follows the recognition that the climate is already changing as a result of mankind’s activities and there is little that can be done to prevent further increases in atmospheric concentrations of GHG in the short term.

This report cautions against an overly rigid approach to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which it argues could limit development options for poor countries, particularly in how they are able to manage critical water resources. It identifies key challenges such as setting realistic targets, carefully considering the local context to address the needs of the poor, and promoting sustainable water resources development in a way that values healthy ecosystems.

This report examines the history, structure and monitoring mechanisms of REDD+ to better understand how it impacts upon, and interacts with, Community Forest Management (CFM). It presents case studies of CFM and REDD+ governance from Bangladesh, Indonesia and India, and concludes with some lessons learned.REDD+ is an example of multilevel governance that uses a variety of institutional structures and processes aimed at promoting sustainable management of forests, including financial incentives to reduce deforestation and forest degradation.

The inspiration for this sourcebook came from a 2014 meeting of researchers, practitioners and policy makers in Addis Ababa under the auspices of an event co-convened by the Global Water Initiative East Africa (GWI EA), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Water, Land and Ecosystems programme of the CG system. The event agreed there was a pressing need for greater regional consolidation of knowledge on improving water management for smallholder farmers.

The Limpopo River Basin is home to 14,000,000 people, at least half of whom live in rural areas. Over ten million South Africans live in the basin - nearly 25% of the national population. The remaining population live in Botswana - one million people, nearly 60% of the national population - Mozambique and Zimbabwe. While there are no major cities located on the river, several major urban areas in or adjacent to the basin impact water availability including quality.

Each year, tens of thousands of people in Bangladesh are internally displaced as a consequence of riverbank erosion. Yet, such erosion does not draw the attention of policy makers in the same way that other natural disasters do and as a result, a number of coping mechanisms are employed by those affected, with the burden of displacement largely falling on women. This brief argues that instead of attempting to alter the course of nature, it is time to address the institutional mechanisms needed to help affected people cope with displacement and their material and social loss.

This perspective document: 1 Provides examples of ‘no regrets’ approaches, applied in small island countries to cope with current climate variability and adapt to future climate change, at different levels ranging from communities, local administrations and national governments. 2 Demonstrates the need for a sound knowledge base and information system, as well as a better understanding of the relation between water resources, water and health, and climatic extremes.

Through the analysis of newspaper articles and a survey of journalists, this publication identifies gaps and highlights differences in how the media portray pastoralism in Kenya, China and India. In discussing their methodology, the authors note that their reliance on national, English-language publications meant that they were not able to include data from vernacular language press in pastoral regions.Although able to make significant contributions to food security, livelihoods and economic prosperity, the benefits of pastoralism often go unnoticed.

As geographical areas subjected to rapid urbanisation and constantly  changing land use, peri-urban sites offer women and men greater economic opportunities.At the sametime,peri-urbanresidents are also drawn away from traditionalmeans of livelihood.As the city encroaches into prime agricultural lands in the fringe areas,occupations become more subsistence in nature.  This increases women's workload. Often women, who migrate from rural areas after marriage and settle in peri-urban zones,face enormous challenges in accessing water.

Climate change prompts policymakers to pursue a low carbon energy pathway in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, this can lead to trade-offs with other sustainability objectives. This policy brief outlines key issues relating to biodiversity and the development of the hydropower sector in Vietnam. It is aimed at informing policymakers, civil society and donors. It argues that the large-scale development of the country’s hydropower sector is being undertaken without due consideration of the impacts that this is having on the nation’s biodiversity.

Avoided deforestation (AD) has become a global concern with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This paper discusses financial incentive schemes to reduce rates of deforestation and forest degradation in tropical countries may be established and considers some of the issues from the perspective of host countries and the forest-dependent poor.