The majority of small-scale farmers have no legal access to water

Self-declared state wants to shift much of its population to the coast as grazing land fails

It is often said that climate change will hurt the world’s poorest people first. Nowhere is that potentially truer than in Somaliland, an unrecognised state in the Horn of Africa sandwiched between an expanding desert and the Red Sea.

A prolonged drought has killed 70 per cent of the area’s livestock in the past three years, devastating the region’s pastoralist economy and forcing tens of thousands of families to flee their grazing land for urban camps, according to authorities.

A court has ruled that companies must first seek permission from local communities if they plan to mine on their ancestral land. This represents a new achievement in land and mining rights for South Africa.

We, the women pastoralists gathered in Mera, India, from November 21-26, 2010, representing 32 countries, have met to strengthen alliances and forward practical solutions to issues that affect us.

Effective cooperation and secure property rights play key roles in improving agricultural productivity, food security, and rural livelihoods. They can also help to ensure that resources are available to meet future needs. All too often, however, their application evades the communities who stand to benefit most. A new book sets out to provide practical guidance that local groups and development agencies can use in enabling marginalized people to effectively and sustainably access and manage the farmland, forests, and water on which they rely.

Time:  12:15 pm to 1:45 pm EST (Please join us for lunch beginning at 11:45 am); Live webcast coming up at the scheduled time.

Presenter(s):  Mark Rosegrant, IFPRI; Sherman Robinson, Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Contact/RSVP: 

RSVP to Simone Hill-Lee - s.hill-lee@cgiar.org 202-862-8107

Location: 

International Food Policy Research Institute
2033 K Street, NW, Washington, DC
Fourth Floor Conference Facility

This fall, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) launched the Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification, an effort to protect and preserve drylands, currently under threat from desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD).

Drylands, defined as arid, semiarid, and dry sub-humid areas, are home to one in three people, 90 percent of whom live in the developing world. These threatened areas support half the world’s livestock and make up 44 per cent of the world’s cultivated systems.

On March 8th, International Women’s Day, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is launching the 2010-2011 State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) on “Women in agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development.” The report documents gender differences in access to agricultural inputs in developing countries and stresses the importance of gender equality in promoting agricultural development and food security.

Type of Post:  News

Click here to view the slideshow with captions.

Yemen has the highest poverty rates in the Middle East and North Africa and ranks among the most food insecure countries in the world. According to IFPRI research, 42 percent of the people live in poverty and one-third suffer from food insecurity. Fifty-eight percent of children are malnourished. To address these challenges, the Government of Yemen has adopted a National Food Security Strategy (NFSS) and a seven-point Action Plan for improving food security.

Type of Post:  News