Although it is not possible to state with confidence how climate change may alter precipitation patterns in Rwanda, it is clear that this process will affect the management and generation capacity of its hydroelectric sector in the future. The Government of Rwanda sought to restore the degraded Rugezi-Bulera- Ruhondo watershed by halting on-going drainage activities in the Rugezi Wetlands and banning agricultural and pastoral activities within and along its shores, as well as along the shores of Lakes Bulera and Ruhondo.

Climate change is set to have a significant impact on climate-sensitive sectors of national economies, such as agriculture. This report, published by the World Agroforestry Centre, discusses the challenges that climate change brings to smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia, and outlines adaptive measures that can be taken. It begins with a brief general discussion of climate change and moves on to describe the likely impacts for farmers. The following section highlights adaptive strategies available to small-scale farmers in the region.

Agriculture across Africa must undergo a significant transformation to meet the multiple challenges of climate change, food insecurity, malnutrition, poverty and environmental degradation. The case studies described here are just some of the climate-smart agricultural practices that already exist in Africa. This publication aims to inspire farmers, researchers, business leaders, policy makers and NGOs to take up the mantle of climate-smart agriculture and accelerate the transformation of Africa’s agriculture into a more sustainable and profitable sector.

This policy brief discusses the issue of food security in relation to trade and the anticipated impacts of climate change within Southeast Asia. It begins by contextualizing the debate before examining the manner in which trade, climate change and food security are interlinked within the Mekong region. The brief goes onto examine Cambodia as a case study in order to establish lessons for other countries in the region.

This paper reviews the current state of the literature on Indian urbanisation to analyse existing urban development trajectories at the state level.

New technology that enables sustainable and profitable production of food and fibre is critical for both food security and economic development. Whether framed in terms of modernisation, productivity enhancement, poverty reduction, social protection, environmental protection or adaptation to climate change, technical change is at the heart of most agricultural policy, programmes and projects. From a development perspective, a nagging question is why the benefits of new agricultural technology often appear to by-pass poorer farmers – even when they are the ‘target’ group.

This paper summarises a study undertaken by the Indonesian Forest Climate Alliance (IFCA) to support Indonesian stakeholders to participate in global negotiations. The authors note that the objective of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) payment distribution mechanisms is to support policies and measures that reduce deforestation and degradation through transfer of revenues from international REDD funds or carbon markets to national levels.

This study aims at understanding the influence of policy frameworks on climate change adaptation in Uganda. It combines literature review on existing natural resource management policies, focus group discussions with farming communities and interviews with key informants across various policy implementation levels. Findings reveal that even when farmers are exposed to appropriate adaptation practices, adoption is still constrained by limited enforcement of policies and regulations.

The valuation of resources found in the watershed area is important in assessing the impacts of changes in the watershed. While the change will have positive impacts which are short-term in nature, there are long-term environmental damages associated with economic benefits.

This paper gives a rational judgment on the soundness of such changes through cost and benefit analysis. The watershed approach is utilized to capture the effects that are relevant in the analysis.

[adapted from source]

This regional report by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) highlights that, although urban slums are decreasing and urban innovations are being introduced, the Arab region still faces major challenges, including high youth unemployment rates and climate change. The report argues that climate change can increase competition over scarce resources, decrease food security, increase poverty and social instability, and accelerate environmental migration and militarisation over natural resources in the area.

The Asia-Pacific Regional Human Development Report (APHDR) focuses on the need for the region to find ways to continue to grow economically, while reducing poverty and tackling climate change and environmental concerns. The report addresses climate challenges facing small island developing states (SIDS) in the region with special attention given to the least developed countries (LDCs), including Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

This policy-brief examines a two year moratorium on new permits for primary natural forest and peat land that came into force in Indonesia on May 20th 2011. The brief aims to inform a range of decision-making actors in developing countries about the nature of improved forestry management in the face of a changing climate. It is asserted that the moratorium demonstrates progress in the areas of: data transparency, industry buy-in, political support and institutional co-ordination.