Water, food and energy are fundamental to African development. However, several crucial issues need to be addressed. Are African resources used to meet African needs or are they being exploited to satisfy the needs of other actors facing food and energy insecurity?

Market solutions based on the trade of carbon offset credits remain a dominant feature in international climate change negotiations. This paper undertakes a preliminary assessment of potential of climate change mitigation projects by evaluating Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects related to agriculture and land use change in Latin America. Results suggest that potential benefits of carbon markets in the agriculture and forestry sectors are often overstated, with failures in the areas of additionality, project accountability and sustainable development.

The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) compares and assesses national and global action against a range of different climate targets across all relevant time frames. This report assesses whether Mexico’s current policies and climate action pledges meet the country's targets and approach the targets required for a global 2°C or lower pathway. According to the report, Mexico is among the countries most advanced in reducing emissions from deforestation and ensuring afforestation through payment for environmental services.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) annual report 2011 describes the achievements of its programme of work through 240 projects in 94 countries, as well as its new strategic framework for 2011-2015. The report documents the milestones and indicators towards sustainable rural development, including a number of regional examples. It highlights IFAD’s efforts to support the empowerment of poor rural women and young people, to increase rural financial services and weather insurance, and to address climate change, which is one of IFAD’s most central strategic aims.

Land and forestry-based activities could in principle play important roles as climate change mitigation strategies. In practice, however, several questions have been raised about their feasibility. Therefore, understanding the processes and determinants of land use changes is critical. This paper aims to contribute to such understanding in the larger part of a larger project on sustainable development and economic growth. It begins with a dynamic model of land use.

The advance of the agricultural frontier constitutes the biggest source of deforestation in Central America today. This conversion of tropical forests into agricultural land and pasture is the direct result of individual land use decisions. This paper presents a simple analytical model of household land use, followed by an econometric analysis of household survey data from the Río San Juan region of Nicaragua in order to test for consistency with the model.

The success of REDD+ depends on whether it can be economically viable and if any resulting payments are sufficient to cover the opportunity cost plus any transaction cost. Where tenure security over forested areas is weak, REDD+ can pose a risk for forest communities, who could be dispossessed, excluded and marginalised. This review explores how payment for avoided deforestation and forest tenure impact the success of REDD+ projects in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and equity.

This report presents an analysis of the synergies between environmental policies and the development of comprehensive environmental projects.

This working paper reviews historical and current factors and patterns affecting land use, land tenure, resource access, human settlement, and conflicts over resource access and tenure in the districts around Mt. Elgon in Kenya and Uganda. The paper draws on a series of interviews conducted with government officials in the districts along with other support sources such as paper maps and existing GIS databases.Based on this approach, the common findings from this study in the current setting of land tenure and land management are:

Trade in ethanol is increasing, and raises the need for the classification of various biofuels within frameworks such as the WTO. With that being said, this paper wonders how do biofuels policies and programs fit within the WTO’s stated goals of liberalisation. In addition, it examines the effects of the rapid biofuels expansion on the prices of grains, and the effects triggered in the livestock industries. The paper indicates that the biofuels industry affects and is affected by government policies in countries around the globe.

This policy brief examines the manner in which Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) pilot projects have been undertaken in Indonesia and Peru. The research data summarized within the brief was gathered using a method known as Fair and Efficient REDD Value Chain Allocation (FERVA). The FERVA analysis is used to capture the perceptions and expectations of REDD stakeholders at the preliminary stages of REDD initiatives; it also informs stakeholders of the different functions of the REDD value chain.

This paper looks for the possible explanations for the land productivity differential between high caste and low caste farm households in Nepal. The paper indicates that caste position still plays a vital role in rural areas of Nepal.The paper finds that: land productivity is higher among low caste households. However, in case of owner-operated plots, the land productivity differential between low caste and high caste is found to be insignificant after controlling for land quality and household characteristics. This difference remains highly significant in case of rented in plots.