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Sorted by (Issue date descending, Date of update descending, Date of creation descending, Number of collection descending) Add the result to your favourites Refine your searchThe state of food and agriculture: investing in agriculture for a better future
FAO, 2012Recent food crises and growing concerns about global climate change have placed agriculture on top of the international agenda. Decision-makers have recognised the strong link between the dual goals of eradicating hunger and making agriculture sustainable. Achieving these goals will require a significant increase in agricultural investment but, more importantly, it will require improving the quality of this investment. This annual flagship report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reviews the economic and social rationale for agricultural investment, examines the causes of underinv ...Using scenarios to improve understanding of environment and security issues
EEA, 2012Analysing the security risks resulting from climate change is essential for effective policy-making. The Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) is running the joint project 'Security implications of climate change in the OSCE regions' with the aim of improving understanding of the links between global megatrends and environment, and the security of food, fuel and water in different regions. It also aims to enhance cooperation and networking among the main institutions addressing climate security issues. A participatory-based scenario-bu ...The demand for micro-insurance: a literature review
Why are demand and renewal rates for micro-insurance so low despite the important protection against disasters it may offer? To address the puzzle this paper provides a selective overview of the current state of research on demand from farmers for risk micro-insurance mostly associated to lack and excess of rainfall (drought and flood). It first looks at the theoretical research and then reviews the empirical evidence on the factors influencing risk attitude and demand for disaster insurance from low-income farmers.Disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change: experience from German development cooperation
German Government, 2012This publication aims to pinpoint commonalities between disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change. It describes the experience gathered from German development cooperation’s work in seven countries, which we see as a stimulus to aim for more effective and efficient interaction between the two fields and to work towards a significant reduction of risk in our partner countries by implementing risk management measures adapted to the respective conditions.Adaptation to climate change with a focus on rural areas in India
The publication provides an overview of the main issues in current adaptation discussions and suggests adaptation options in six different fields related to rural areas: (i) agriculture; (ii) forests; (iii) biodiversity; (iv) water resources; (v) coastal zones; and (vi) disaster risk management. It describes concepts and approaches for adaptation and its integration into development planning using examples from India, as well as other parts of the world, to illustrate how existing theory can be put into practice.Climate Security Report
ASP, 2012One of the most significant challenges to the global security system in the 21st Century will be a changing climate; the effects of these changes are already being felt all over the world. Climate change poses a clear and present danger to the United States through its effects on our global allies as well as its direct effects on our agriculture, infrastructure, economy and public health.Recalibrating Food Production in the Developing World: Global Warming Will Change More Than Just the Climate
Thornton Philip K.; CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) - CCAFS, 2012Pounds of prevention, a disaster risk reduction story: focus on Brazil
This issue travels to Ceará State in northeastern Brazil, an area that faced increasingly frequent drought conditions, and the efforts of community organizations to develop strategies to minimize the negative impacts from droughts and adapt their livelihoods in such a way that makes families more resilient. It describes how the residents, using techniques to conserve water, enhance agricultural practices, and diversify income sources, have managed to mitigate the risk of drought.Pounds of prevention, a disaster risk reduction story: focus on locusts
This issue examines the desert locust, a pest that affects the lives of millions of people in more than 65 countries throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia, an area that represents about 20 percent of the earth’s surface. It presents the case of Mauritania, one of several countries in West Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Middle East to benefit from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s locust prevention system known as the EMPRES Program, to which USAID and other donors contribute.Pounds of prevention, a disaster risk reduction story: focus on Afghanistan
This edition focuses on the potato as a targeted disaster risk reduction effort in western Afghanistan. By helping farmers adapting how they handle the potatoes, it describes how the USAID program is enabling farmers to grow more food to last through the cold winter months and even have a chance to sell surplus produce when prices are favorable to them. It demonstrates that a more resilient livelihood means less vulnerability to weather-related and economic shocks.CCAFS Policy Briefs, 06. Recalibrating Food Production in the Developing World
Thornton P.; CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) - CCAFS, 2012^An analysis of the effects of climate change on 22 critical agricultural commodities and three important natural resources in the developing world reveals a number of cross-cutting themes: The world’s agricultural systems face an uphill struggle in feeding a projected nine to ten billion people by 2050. Climate change introduces a significant hurdle in this struggle.
- Securing and maintaining necessary levels of calories, protein and nutrients for populations around the world will be an exceptional challenge.
- Recalibrating agriculture in the face of climate change is more t ...Tortillas on the roaster: Central American maize-bean systems and the changing climate
This study predicts the potential impacts that climate change will have on the production of maize and beans, the two most important food crops in Central America. Using state-of-the-art climate models and GIS tools, agronomic research and socio-economic analyses, it makes recommendations to climate change adaptation strategies tailored to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The results of the study are intended to fill a critical gap in the knowledge of the impacts of climate change on maize/bean production in Central America, in order for stakeholders to shift from a position of ...Climate change and agriculture: can market governance mechanisms reduce emissions from the food system fairly and effectively?
Agriculture accounts for 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. How agriculture is practised, therefore, has significant potential for mitigating climate change, providing food security and improving the livelihoods of food producers worldwide. There is growing interest in the use of market governance mechanisms for tackling climate change by giving the financial incentives to make the required changes. The key messages emerging from this study are that economic measures have a vital part to play, but to be effective, emissions from food production and consumption must be addressed to ...Extreme weather events and crop price spikes in a changing climate: illustrative global simulation scenarios
Willenbockel D. - Oxfam, 2012Agriculture is highly sensitive to climate variability and weather extremes. Various impact studies have considered the effects of projected long-run trends in temperature, precipitation and carbon dioxide concentrations caused by climate change on global food production and prices. However, according to this study, an area that remains underexplored is the food price impacts that may result from an expected increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. The study uses a global dynamic multi-region computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to explore the potential food pri ...CGIAR Working paper, 23. Impacts of climate change on the agricultural and aquatic systems and natural resources within the CGIAR’s mandate
CCAFS, 2012The document attempts to distil what is currently known about the likely impacts of climate change on the commodities and natural resources that comprise the mandate of CGIAR and its 15 Centres. It was designed as one background document for a review carried out by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) at the behest of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) on what is known about the likely effects of climate change on food security and nutrition, with a focus on the most affected and vulnerable regions and populations. A total of 25 summaries covering 22 ...Climate change, water stress, conflict and migration
UNESCO, 2012This collection of papers, presented at the symposium ‘Climate change, water stress, conflict and migration’ held on 21 September 2011 in the Netherlands, highlight how climate change, water stress and other environmental problems threaten human security. For example, the paper by Muniruzzaman ilustrates how water ignores political and community boundaries, and how decisions in one place can significantly affect water use elsewhere. India’s plans to build more dams could, for instance, have devastating affects for Pakistan’s agricultural productivity which is highly dependent on water supply f ...Feeling the heat: the human cost of poor preparation for disasters
Islamic Relief Worldwide, 2012This report shows the positive difference Islamic Relief Worldwide is beginning to make in the area of disaster risk reduction (DRR) by highlighting how village disaster committees and earthworks to raise people’s houses have reduced the impact of seasonal flooding in north-western Bangladesh. It shows how irrigated vegetable growing and microfinance loans for small businesses are helping former pastoralists to build new livelihoods in north-eastern Kenya that are less vulnerable to drought. It provides evidence that being better prepared can save money as well as lives and shows that it can b ...Ocean-Based Food Security Threatened in a High CO2 World : a Ranking of Nations’ Vulnerability to Climate Change and Ocean Acidification
Emissions from human activities are changing the ocean’s chemistry and temperature in ways that threaten the livelihoods of those who depend on fish and seafood for all or part of their diets. The changes may reduce the amount of wild caught seafood that can be supplied by the oceans and also redistribute species, changing the locations at which seafood can be caught and creating instability for ocean-based food security, or seafood security. This report ranks nations based on the seafood security hardships they may experience by the middle of this century due to changing ocean conditions from ...Managing drought risk on the ranch: a planning guide for great plains ranchers
National Drought Mitigation Center ; United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) - University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), 2012This guide is designed to help rangeland managers to better prepare for and manage drought. For ranchers in the United States, drought can be defined as too little soil moisture to meet the needs of dominant forage species during their rapid growth windows. The longer you wait to make decisions, the fewer options you will have available to you and producers who focus on increasing flexibility and maximizing the health of resources are more likely to find solutions during drought that minimize painful decisions with limited resources. Accordingly, having a plan will help producers get through a ...Good Practices in Building Innovative Rural Institutions to Increase Food Security
Continued population growth, urbanization and rising incomes are likely to continue to put pressure on food demand. International prices for most agricultural commodities are set to remain at 2010 levels or higher, at least for the next decade (OECD-FAO, 2010). Small-scale producers in many developing countries were not able to reap the benefits of high food prices during the 2007-2008 food price crises. Yet, this upward food price trend could have been an opportunity for them to increase their incomes and food security. The opportunity that high food prices could have provided as a pat ...The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue
Bigas Harriet; Axworthy Thomas S.; UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH); et al. - UNU, 2012In March 2011, high-level experts from around the world were invited to Toronto, Canada, to meet with members of the InterAction Council about the status of the world’s freshwater supply as it relates to global security issues (see List of Participants in this volume). These experts reported that that the global water crisis is real and that there is urgency in addressing the growing number of security risks associated with threatened water supply and quality. They also, however, expressed hope and identified opportunities that can be realized by the timely triggering of change in policies, in ...Water for wealth and food security: supporting farmer-driven investments in agricultural water management
IWMI, 2012This report addresses the effective use of available water as a way to help to improve productivity and reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. It combines the practical improved water management systems and approaches, including the reduction of risks associated with climate variability through environmental risks monitoring. It documents the benefits of irrigation already been invested by farmers in small-scale irrigation, and provides practical recommendations and tools for governments, the private sector, donors and organizations to effectively support these farmer-led initiatives to improve ...Climate change, agriculture and food security in Tanzania
The consequences of climate change for agriculture and food security in developing countries are of serious concern. Due to their reliance on rain-fed agriculture, both as a source of income and consumption, many low-income countries are considered to be the most vulnerable to climate change. This paper estimates the impact of climate change on food security in Tanzania. Representative climate projections are used in calibrated crop models to predict crop yield changes for 110 districts in the country. The results are in turn imposed on a highly-disaggregated, recursive dynamic economy-wide mo ...Climate Change and Price Volatility: Can We Count on the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve?
ADB, 2012On 12 July 2012, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three intergovernmental agreement establishing the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) entered into force. In this paper, lead author Roehlano Briones, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, assesses the effectiveness of APTERR as a mechanism for addressing food security in light of the rising challenges of climate change and price volatility. Using Riceflow, a model of the global rice economy, he studies the possible impacts of APTERR releases on the rice market by simu ...Green Accounting and Data Improvement for Water Resources
Winpenny James; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) - UNESCO, 2012 (UNESCO Side publications series-No. 02)Water makes a critical contribution to all aspects of personal welfare and economic life. However, global water resources are coming under increasing pressure. It is widely recognized that over the next few decades global drivers such as climate change, population growth and improving living standards will increase pressure on the availability, quality and distribution of water resources. Managing the impacts of these drivers to maximize social and economic welfare will require intelligent policy and management responses at all levels of collection, production and distribution of water. The go ...Crop yield response to water
Steduto Pasquale; Hsiao Theodore C.; Fereres Elias; et al. - FAO, 2012 (FAO irrigation and drainage paper-No. 66)Food production and water use are inextricably linked. Water has always been the main factor limiting crop production in much of the world where rainfall is insufficient to meet crop demand. With the ever-increasing competition for finite water resources worldwide and the steadily rising demand for agricultural commodities, the call to improve the efficiency and productivity of water use for crop production, to ensure future food security and address the uncertainties associated with climate change, has never been more urgent.Feeding a thirsty world: challenges and opportunities for a water and food secure future
This report provides input into the discussions at the 2012 World Water Week in Stockholm and its special focus on water and food security. This report presents the latest thinking and new approaches to emerging and persistent challenges to achieve food security in the 21st century, including the use of early warning systems to bolster food security by reducing damages caused to agriculture by water scarcity and drought. It focuses on critical issues that have received less attention in the literature to date, such as: food waste, land acquisitions, gender aspects of agriculture, and early war ...Noragric Report, 66. Management for adaptation to climate change : Mid-term review of a project implemented by Total Land Care, Malawi
The Management for Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) project in Malawi is implemented by Total Land Care (TLC) with funding from the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Malawi and a 5 years time frame from 2008 to mid 2013. The key objectives of the project are to reduce deforestation, to improve household food security and incomes, and to develop rural-based enterprises. The review team found the project in line with Malawian as well as Norwegian development policy. TLC also has an extensive and good cooperation with Malawian NGOs as well as with international organisations, both in Malawi and abroa ...Ending the everyday emergency: resilience and children in the Sahel
This report demonstrates that shortage of food is only part of the severe and life-threatening crisis facing children in the Sahel region of west Africa in 2012. It focuses in particular on the experience of children, and makes detailed recommendations around disaster risk reduction, nutrition, and social protection to build resilience. The report also addresses the urgent need for political ambition to change the international system and end the everyday emergencies.Bangladesh: a sustainable and disaster resilient future
This document addresses how people in disaster prone areas of Bangladesh are at risk to lose their lives, land, and livelihoods due to floods, cyclones, earthquakes and drought, and how sustainable development and effective risk reduction can help prevent these risks. It also discusses how disasters in Bangladesh hamper the country's long-term ability to effectively tackle poverty. The document acknowledges the growing awareness among citizens that disaster risk reduction (DRR) is necessary to assist vulnerable communities; and that there needs to be a coordinated effort to undertake intensive ...Food security and climate change: a report by the high level panel of experts on food security and nutrition of the committee on world food security
FAO, 2012This report analyses the connected problem of food security and climate change. It observes that a social vulnerability lens is essential to understand why certain individuals, households or communities experience differences in food insecurity risks, even when they are in the same geographic region. Examples of strategies for community-based adaptation include improving water management practices, adopting practices to conserving soil moisture, organic matter and nutrients, and setting up community-based seeds and grain banks. The report includes the following recommendations: integrate food ...Rainfall variability, occupational choice, and welfare in rural Bangladesh
This study investigates the choice of occupational focus versus diversification between household members in rural Bangladesh as an autonomous and proactive adaptation strategy against ex ante local rainfall variability risks. The analysis combines nationally representative household level survey data with historical climate variability information at the Upazila level. The authors note that flood prone Upazilas may face reduced risks from local rainfall variability as compared with non-flood prone Upazilas. They find that two members of the same household are less likely to be self-employed i ...The Millennium Development Goals Report 2012
United Nations, 2012Three important targets on poverty, slums and water have been met three years ahead of 2015, says this year’s Report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Meeting the remaining targets, while challenging, is possible ─ but only if Governments do not waiver from their commitments made over a decade ago.
Sustainable development: Perspective of the World Meteorological Organization
This position paper outlines how, through the Global Framework for Climate Services experts from various disciplines and regions will work together to develop science-based climate and environmental information tailored to end-users’ needs for the purpose of increasing agricultural productivity to improve food security and reduce hunger; Improving and optimizing management of water resources to provide sustainable access to freshwater for drinking, irrigation and household use; Reducing the risk of disasters and other climate hazards, the cost of which often burdens developing and least develo ...A preliminary analysis of disaster and poverty data in Quang Binh province, Viet Nam
As a follow-up to a first paper A preliminary analysis of flood and storm disaster data in Viet Nam, this Quang Binh case study provides a more in-depth disaster profile of one particular province in Viet Nam, including specific temporal and spatial distribution patterns while using district aggregated data. It also looks deeper into the relationship between disasters and poverty through analysis of various indicators: number of deaths, impact on housing and agricultural produce, poverty rate and the percentage of poor households.
The first part of this paper examines the disas ...Southern Africa disaster risk reduction plan, 2012-2014
Aligning with the priorities outlined in the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, this plan responds to the need to develop a longer-term strategic approach that helps articulate funding and program priorities to allow for comprehensive disaster programming that reduces future humanitarian needs in the Southern Africa region. It presents the disaster risk reduction DRR activities selected for implementation in coordination with other USG agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), U.N. agencies, other donors, higher educati ...Building resilience and fostering growth in the horn of Africa
This paper addresses the crisis in the Horn of Africa in 2011 and the need to enable communities to withstand droughts and move forward by building resilience and fostering sustainable growth. It presents USAID's vision for change through: (i) key principles, such as early action in response to early warning, connecting humanitarian and development programmes, fostering women's empowerment, ensuring evidence-based decision making and supporting and strengthening local, national, and regional capacities; and (ii) a new way of doing business, which includes joint planning, joint focus on resilie ...Training Guide for Gender and Climate Change Research in Agriculture and Food Security for Rural Development
Together, both women and men play a significant role in safeguarding food security. It is important to understand their respective roles and responsibilities to ensure that they benefit equally from climate-smart agriculture practices. However, insufficient research has been undertaken to understand how they are adapting to climate change, mitigating emissions and maintaining food security. To address the gap, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security have jointly come up with this training guide. Its ...Climate Change and Food Security – New E-learning Course
FAO, 2012Starting with an overview of the concept of climate change, the course then looks at its impact on food security. After examining strategies for mitigating or adapting to the effects of climate change, it suggests concrete ways to make sure agriculture is “climate smart”.
The course is aimed at policy makers and people working in development agencies, who need to better understand how climate change affects agriculture and food systems, and what concrete actions can be taken.
The course also includes face to face training materials, such as exercises, trainer’s no ...
Устойчивое развитие: видение Всемирной Метеорологической Организации
Настоящий позиционный документ содержит информацию о том, как при помощи Глобальная рамочная основа для климатического обслуживания основы экс-перты в различных областях и из различных регионов смогут сотрудничать для подготовки научно обосно-ванной информации о климате и окружающей среде,ориентированной на потребности конечных поль-зователей, с целью: увеличения продуктивности сельского хозяй-ства для повышения продовольственной безо-пасности и искоренения голода; улучшения и оптимизации водохозяйственной деятельности для обеспечения устойчивого доступа к пресной воде, годной для питья, ирри- ...
Le développement durable: point de vue de l’Organisation météorologique mondiale
[Ce document] montre comment, par le biais du Cadre mondial, des experts de diverses disciplines et de différentes régions vont oeuvrer de concert afin de produire des informations scientifiques sur le climat et l’environnement adaptées aux besoins des utilisateurs finals, pour: Accroître la productivité agricole en vue d’améliorer la sécurité alimentaire et de réduire la faim dans le monde; Optimiser la gestion des ressources en eau afin d’offrir un accès durable à l’eau douce destinée à la consommation, à l’irrigation et aux ménages; Réduire les risques de catastrophes et d’autres périls cli ...
Desarrollo sostenible: la perspectiva de la Organización Meteorológica Mundial
En este documento se describe la forma en que los expertos en diversas disciplinas de distin¬tas regiones colaborarán, por medio del Marco Mundial para los Servicios Climáticos, para desarrollar información climática y ambiental basada en conocimientos científicos y adaptada a las necesi¬dades de los usuarios, con el fin de: aumentar la productividad agrícola para mejorar la seguridad alimentaria y luchar contra el hambre; mejorar y optimizar la gestión de los recursos hídricos para facilitar un acceso sostenible al agua dulce para su uso como agua potable, de riego y de uso doméstico; reducir ...Objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement 2012
Nations Unies, 2012Le rapport de 2011 souligne des avancées réelles dans la réalisation des Objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement notamment un déclin de la pauvreté dans le monde, reflété par un accès à l’éducation plus poussé et un recul de la mortalité infantile. Qui plus est, l’accès à l’eau potable s’est généralisé malgré l’isolement de certaines régions comme en Afrique subsaharienne, où les populations les plus pauvres en milieu rural – les plus vulnérables - sont souvent les plus dures à atteindre.
Face aux disparités demeurantes, ce rapport n’est pas sans rappeler l’engagement réitéré en s ...- Summer 2011 - Food & Water: smarter management of global resources
is an issue of Options. IIASA, 2011One of the three global problem areas IIASA will focus on this decade.Impulso de la seguridad alimentaria
El doctor Salinger, ex presidente de la Comisión de Meteorología Agrícola de la OMM (2006-2010), esboza los retos de la Comisión por lo que respecta a contribuir a la seguridad alimentaria, desarrollando así el papel que ha desempeñado durante los últimos 60 años.Biodiversidade, obrigado aos povos autóctones
Esporo, N° 151. CTA, 2011“A luta contra a fome não será conseguida sem eles”, afirmou o Director-Geral da FAO, na apresentação da política desta organização para o reforço da cooperação e do diálogo com as populações indígenas e tribais em todo o mundo. Esta nova política visa garantir a integração, em todas as acções da FAO, dos interesses e património de conhecimento destes povos, que constituem cerca de 5 por cento da população mundial, mas também 15 por cento dos pobres do planeta.Biodiversity, indigenous people
Spore: the magazine for agricultural and rural development in ACP countries, N° 151. CTA, 2011“The fight against hunger will not be achieved without them”, said FAO’s Director-General, presenting the organisation’s policy to strengthen cooperation and dialogue with indigenous and tribal people worldwide. The new policy seeks to take account of the interests of indigenous people in all FAO activities, and make good use of the wealth of knowledge they have to offer. Indigenous people make up 5% of the world’s population, but they account for 15% of the world’s poor.Biodiversité , merci aux peuples autochtones !
Spore: le magazine du développement agricole et rural des pays ACP, N°151. CTA, 2011“La lutte contre la faim n’aboutira pas sans eux”, a affirmé le directeur général de la FAO lors de la présentation de la politique de l’organisation pour le renfort de la coopération et du dialogue avec les peuples autochtones et tribaux dans le monde. Cette nouvelle politique vise à garantir, dans toute action de la FAO, l’intégration des intérêts et du patrimoine de connaissances de ces peuples qui constituent près de 5 % de la population mondiale et 15 % des pauvres de la planète.Agriculture and food systems in sub-Saharan Africa in a 4°C+ world
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 369. N° 1934. Thornton Philip K.; Jones Peter G.; Ericksen Polly J.; et al. - The Royal Society, 2011Agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa faces daunting challenges, which climate change and increasing climate variability will compound in vulnerable areas. The impacts of a changing climate on agricultural production in a world that warms by 4°C or more are likely to be severe in places. The livelihoods of many croppers and livestock keepers in Africa are associated with diversity of options. The changes in crop and livestock production that are likely to result in a 4°C+ world will diminish the options available to most smallholders. In such a world, current crop and livestock variet ...
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