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Islands of the future: building resilience in a changing world
UNESCO, 2014This booklet outlines UNESCO's activities in small island developing States (SIDS), covering the period from 2006-2013. It features chapters on: (i) promoting quality education in islands; (ii) building island resilience; (iii) valuing and sharing island heritage and identities; (iv) building knowledge societies in islands; (v) enabling island cohesion and social well-being; (vi) managing natural resources for a sustainable future; and (vii) the UNESCO participation programme in SIDS.
On resilience, the booklet underlines the particular vulnerability of SIDS to disasters, which ...
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Available online: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002245/224512e.pdf
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Published by: UNESCO ; 2014This booklet outlines UNESCO's activities in small island developing States (SIDS), covering the period from 2006-2013. It features chapters on: (i) promoting quality education in islands; (ii) building island resilience; (iii) valuing and sharing island heritage and identities; (iv) building knowledge societies in islands; (v) enabling island cohesion and social well-being; (vi) managing natural resources for a sustainable future; and (vii) the UNESCO participation programme in SIDS.
On resilience, the booklet underlines the particular vulnerability of SIDS to disasters, which are expected to be exacerbated by climate change. Other factors, such as population growth and urban development, are also highlighted as increasing the vulnerability of SIDS to natural disasters, particularly in urban and coastal areas. UNESCO provides an overview of its activities aimed at increasing SIDS' resilience, including by improving disaster management and climate change adaptation.Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Climate change ; Disaster Risk Management (DRM) ; Education
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Climate change, crop production and child under nutrition in Ethiopia; a longitudinal panel study: In BMC Public Health, 14:884
2014Background: The amount and distribution of rainfall and temperature influences household food availability, thus increasing the risk of child under nutrition. However, few studies examined the local spatial variability and the impact of temperature and rainfall on child under nutrition at a smaller scale (resolution). We conducted this study to evaluate the effect of weather variables on child under nutrition and the variations in effects across the three agro ecologies of Ethiopia.
Methods: A longitudinal panel study was conducted. We used crop productions (cereals and oilseeds), lives ...
Climate change, crop production and child under nutrition in Ethiopia; a longitudinal panel study: In BMC Public Health, 14:884
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Available online: https://bora.uib.no/bitstream/handle/1956/8453/1471-2458-14-884.pdf?sequence=2
Background: The amount and distribution of rainfall and temperature influences household food availability, thus increasing the risk of child under nutrition. However, few studies examined the local spatial variability and the impact of temperature and rainfall on child under nutrition at a smaller scale (resolution). We conducted this study to evaluate the effect of weather variables on child under nutrition and the variations in effects across the three agro ecologies of Ethiopia.
Methods: A longitudinal panel study was conducted. We used crop productions (cereals and oilseeds), livestock, monthly rainfall and temperature, and child under nutrition data for the period of 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2004. We applied panel regression fixed effects model.
Results: The study included 43 clusters (administrative zones) and 145 observations. We observed a spatio temporal variability of rainfall, stunting and underweight. We estimated that for a given zone, one standard deviation increase in rainfall leads to 0.242 standard deviations increase in moderate stunting. Additionally, a one standard deviation increase temperature leads to 0.216 standard deviations decrease in moderate stunting. However, wasting was found to be poorly related with rainfall and temperature. But severe wasting showed a positive relationship with the quadratic term of rainfall.
Conclusions: We conclude that rainfall and temperature are partly predicting the variation in child stunting and underweight. Models vary in predicting stunting and underweight across the three agro ecologic zones. This could indicate that a single model for the three agro ecologies may not be not applicable.Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Agroclimatology ; Food Safety ; Social aspects ; Ethiopia
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Meta-analysis of crop responses to conservation agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa
The aim of this study is to compare and combine the results from different conservation agriculture experiments using meta-analysis in the hope of identifying patterns among study results, sources of disagreement among those results, or interesting relationships that may come to light in the context of the different studies.
Conservation agriculture involves reduced or no-tillage, permanent soil cover and crop rotations to enhance soil fertility and crop yields. Conservation agriculture practices are increasingly promoted on smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa as a means to overcome ...
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Available online: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/41933/CCAFS%2520Report_12%2520w [...]
(CCAFS) CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security
Published by: CCAFS ; 2014The aim of this study is to compare and combine the results from different conservation agriculture experiments using meta-analysis in the hope of identifying patterns among study results, sources of disagreement among those results, or interesting relationships that may come to light in the context of the different studies.
Conservation agriculture involves reduced or no-tillage, permanent soil cover and crop rotations to enhance soil fertility and crop yields. Conservation agriculture practices are increasingly promoted on smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa as a means to overcome continuing poor-profitability and soil degradation. In recent years a growing number of studies have been carried out in sub-Saharan Africa comparing conservation agriculture practices to conventional tillage-based practices.Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Agroclimatology ; Food Safety ; Region I - Africa
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Facing Uncertainty : the value of climate information for adaptation, risk reduction and resilience in Africa
This report puts participatory scenario planning (PSP - a multi-stakeholder platform for making seasonal climate forecasts useful) into the broader context of climate communication, with a focus on Africa.
It is aimed at new users and intermediaries interested in integrating climate information into adaptation, resilience, disaster risk reduction (DRR), early warning, agriculture and other sector-based development programmes and related work. It explains why and how climate information is a valuable resource for informing responses to climate variability and change. Based on lessons fro ...
Facing Uncertainty: the value of climate information for adaptation, risk reduction and resilience in Africa
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Available online: http://www.careclimatechange.org/files/Facing_Uncertainty_ALP_Climate_Communicat [...]
Published by: CDKN ; 2014
This report puts participatory scenario planning (PSP - a multi-stakeholder platform for making seasonal climate forecasts useful) into the broader context of climate communication, with a focus on Africa.
It is aimed at new users and intermediaries interested in integrating climate information into adaptation, resilience, disaster risk reduction (DRR), early warning, agriculture and other sector-based development programmes and related work. It explains why and how climate information is a valuable resource for informing responses to climate variability and change. Based on lessons from the Adaptation Learning Programme (ALP) and national meteorological services in Ghana, Kenya and Niger, the report demonstrates how climate information can inform decision-making, planning and policy development and ensure results are climate resilient.Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Climate change ; Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) ; Adaptation ; Poverty and Poverty reduction
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Climate change in Central and South America : recent trends, future projections, and impacts on regional agriculture
Central and South America. The report assesses the implications of climate change for agriculture, with a particular focus on those aspects of climate change that will have greatest impact on the crops currently grown in each region. The study investigated the ability of General Circulation Models (GCMs) and downscaled climate change scenarios to reproduce already observed climates, to establish the reliability of future climate projections, as well as projections of how associated crops might grow under future conditions.
Climate change in Central and South America: recent trends, future projections, and impacts on regional agriculture
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Available online: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/41912/Climate%20change%20in%20C [...]
J.A. Marengo ; S.C. Chou ; R. Torres ; (CCAFS) CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security
Published by: CCAFS ; 2014Central and South America. The report assesses the implications of climate change for agriculture, with a particular focus on those aspects of climate change that will have greatest impact on the crops currently grown in each region. The study investigated the ability of General Circulation Models (GCMs) and downscaled climate change scenarios to reproduce already observed climates, to establish the reliability of future climate projections, as well as projections of how associated crops might grow under future conditions.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Agroclimatology ; Food Safety
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The Vulnerability Sourcebook : concept and guidelines for standardised vulnerability assessments
The Vulnerability Sourcebook sourcebook provides a standardised approach to vulnerability assessments covering a broad range of sectors and topics (e.g. water sector, agriculture, fisheries, different ecosystems) as well as different spatial levels (community, sub-national, national) and time horizons (e.g. current vulnerability or vulnerability in the medium- to long-term). It refers to vulnerability as ‘the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the char ...
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Agriculture and disaster risk : a contribution by the United Nations to the consultation leading to the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR)
United Nations (UN) - United Nations, 2014This document provides some recommendations for addressing disaster risk in agriculture in the post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction. It presents: (i) the status of mainstreaming disaster risk in agriculture, reporting on the progresses and highlighting some emerging trends; (ii) the drivers for mainstreaming disaster risk into agriculture; (iii) the regional/international policy frameworks and initiatives within agriculture to be targeted; (iv) measuring disaster risk in agriculture; (v) a list of agencies contributing and description of institutional commitment; and (vi) key docume ...
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Climate variability, adaptation strategies and food security in Malawi
This study has a focus on climate adaptation strategies for farmers in Malawi.
This paper assesses farmers’ incentives and conditioning factors that hinder or promote adaptation strategies and evaluates its impact on crop productivity by utilizing household level data collected in 2011 from nationally representative sample households in Malawi. The study distinguishes between (i) exposure to climatic disruptions, (ii) bio-physical sensitivity to such disruptions, (iii) household adaptive capacity in terms of farmers’ ability to prepare and adjust to the resulting stress, and, finally, ( ...
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Policy Research Working Paper, 6916. Climate change, conflict, and cooperation : global analysis of the resilience of international river treaties to increased water variability
World Bank, 2014Although water variability has already been observed across river basins, climate change is predicted to increase variability. Such environmental changes may aggravate political tensions, especially in regions that are not equipped with an appropriate institutional apparatus. Increased variability is also likely to challenge regions with existing institutional capacity. This paper argues that the best attempts to assess the ability of states to deal with variability in the future rest with considering how agreements have fared in the past. The paper investigates to what extent particular mecha ...
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Integrating urban agriculture and forestry into climate change action plans: Lessons from Sri Lanka
This case study aims to illustrate how the Western Province in Sri Lanka is promoting urban and peri-urban agriculture and forestry as a strategy to reduce vulnerability to climate change, while at the same time enhancing urban liveability and livelihoods. Key messages include that the province is promoting the rehabilitation of flood zones through their productive use as a strategy to improve storm water infiltration and mitigate flood risks. It is recommended that future upscaling of these interventions will need new urban design concepts and the development of a provincial climate change ...
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United Nations World Water Development Report 2014: Water and Energy, Volume 1
This report provides an overview of major and emerging trends from around the world, with examples of how some of the trend-related challenges have been addressed, their implications for policy-makers, and further actions that can be taken by stakeholders and the international community. It argues that water and energy are closely interconnected and highly interdependent. Choices made and actions taken in one domain can greatly affect the other, positively or negatively. Trade-offs need to be managed to limit negative impacts and foster opportunities for synergy. The argument is given that wat ...
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What climate change means for farmers in Africa: A triptych review middle panel: Introductional matters and consequences of global warming for African farmers: In African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (Vol. 14 No. 1)
This paper deals with the consequences of climate change for farmers in Africa, including increasing temperatures and changing rainfall, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide content and impacts on agricultural production. The paper attempts to illustrate local conditions that must be taken into account to understand the impacts/consequences of climate change for African farmers and how they may cope with them. The review is in three parts; climate change is approached by dealing with the three sides from which the danger comes: (i) global warming, (ii) increasing climate variability, (iii) mo ...
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Impact of climate change on agriculture and food crops: options for climate smart agriculture and local adaptation in East NusaTenggara, Indonesia
This paper highlights the impact of climate change on agriculture. It argues that the erratic climate of the region has strongly impacted the local food system especially the seed availability and therefore food security in general. This paper identifies some of the innovation in water use efficiency, water management at crop levels, and proposes some agriculture interventions in order to achieve a sustainable local seed systems, participatory breeding, livestock adaptation measures and improvement of existing agroforestry as well as knowledge management.
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Establishing links between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the context of loss and damage : policies and approaches in Bangladesh
The aim of this paper is to examine the challenges of addressing loss and damage through national institutional arrangements that integrate disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in Bangladesh. Published as part of the Germanwatch Loss and Damage Initiative, it analyses DRR and CCA policies, strategies, institutions and approaches, and identifies areas where greater synergy may be achieved.
The paper recommends that the following steps be undertaken: develop a comprehensive policy on the integration of DRR and CCA to address loss and damage; establish policy a ...
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Cities in developing countries and their development in response to climate change and resource scarcity
Johannessen L.M. - Evidence on Demand, 2013Future Fit is a DFID Executive Management Committee initiative, to produce a vision and strategy for the department’s response to the challenges and opportunities that climate change and resource scarcity pose for poverty reduction and development. The Future Fit strategy asks the question what strategic shifts in front line sectors - Food, Water, Energy, and Cities - are needed to protect development gains and respond to the challenge of climate change and resource scarcity. Answers to this question will feed into the review of the DFID business model and resource allocation. As part of this ...
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