Dryland biodiversity is of tremendous global importance, being central to the well-being and development of millions of people in developing countries. In June 2012, at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (or “Rio+20”), global leaders from governments and civil society reaffirmed the intrinsic value of biological diversity and recognised the severity of global biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystems. Although drylands were implicitly recognised, there continues to be inadequate attention to this major biome that covers such a vast part of our world’s terrestrial surface.

The challenges and threats of water scarcity to dryland populations are set to increase in magnitude and scope. As the world’s population has swollen to well over 6 billion people, some countries have already reached the limits of their water resources. With the existing climate change scenario, almost half the world’s population will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030, including between 75 million and 250 million people in Africa. In addition, water scarcity in some arid and semi-arid places will displace between 24 million and 700 million people (WWDR 2009).

Parmi l’éventail des mesures souvent mises en avant dans l’approche genre dans le cadre de la lutte contre la désertification, la dégradation des terres et de l’atténuation des effets de la sécheresse, figurent l’amélioration de la participation des femmes à la prise de décision, le renforcement des capacités des organisations féminines, l’élimination de l’illettrisme féminin, l’allègement de la charge de travail des femmes et l’élimination des disparités hommes-femmes au travail, dans l’accès aux ressources et à la propriété.

El conjunto de medidas a menudo señaladas desde la perspectiva de género para revocar la desertificación y la degradación de las tierras y atenuar los efectos de la sequía (DLDD) incluye: la mejora de la participación de las mujeres en la toma de decisiones, la creación de capacidad de las organizaciones de mujeres, la erradicación del analfabetismo femenino, la disminución de su carga de trabajo y la desaparición de las disparidades de género, tanto en el trabajo como en el acceso y posesión de recursos.

Tanzania's land, local government and forest laws mean that rural communities have well defined rights to own, manage and benefit from forest and woodland resources within their local areas through the establishment of village forests. This approach, known by practitioners as Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) results in the legal establishment of village land forest reserves, community forest reserves or private forests. By 2008, 1,460 villages on mainland Tanzania1 were involved in establishing or managing village forests covering a total of over 2.345 million hectares.

Weather is the term used to describe the atmospheric conditions (heat, wetness, wind, etc.) prevailing at any one place and time. Climate is the sum of the prevailing weather conditions of a given place over a period of time, typically summed over many decades. This paper seeks to provide strategic directions for mainstreaming support for climate change within the World Bank's broader program of assistance to Vietnam.

More than two billion people depend on the world’s arid and semi-arid lands. Preventing land degradation and supporting sustainable development in drylands has major implications for food security, climate change and human settlement. This report, issued at the beginning of the United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification, sets out a shared strategy by UN agencies to rise to the challenge of addressing the special needs of these vital zones.

As the world reviews its progress in tackling global poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), drylands can no longer be ignored. Drylands account for more than a third of the world’s land surface and more than 2 billion of its people. Yet for too long, drylands and their inhabitants have been neglected in development processes.

The International Land Coalition (ILC) has commissioned this present report to analyse the illegal/irregular acquisition of land by Kenya’s elites to ascertain the types of land affected, the processes used to acquire land, and the profiles of the perpetrators, as well as to identify the victims and the impacts of land grabbing.

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) encouraged FAO at its VII Session to promote the recognition of indigenous peoples’ territorial rights.

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) encouraged FAO at its VII Session to promote the recognition of indigenous peoples’ territorial rights.

This lesson brief explores the history of land conflicts in Kenya.