This article synthesises findings on various topics relating to drought strategies and land use in African pastoral systems. These include:an exploration of the ecology of african rangelandsan investigation into pastoral strategies for mitigation of droughta look at the importance of opportunistic behavior and mobility as a strategy for pastoralistsan exploration of the factors contributing to a gradual breakdown of nomadism.

In contemporary South Africa, land use management may be considered to be a crucial, but weak link in the transformative project attempted by the overall land management system, and planning activity in general. Land use management is increasingly recognised to have been a neglected area of engagement, and this neglect has had significant consequences.

Jordan is dominated by arid climate with limited arable land and water resources. This study focuses on crop production and water resources under trends of anticipated climate change and population growth to analyse how these affect water and food security in the country. It finds that recession of irrigated areas led to lesser food production and food security. Results indicate that climate change and population growth increase and intensify problems of water scarcity and food insecurity.

This paper presents a meta-analysis of what drives deforestation and what stops it. The researchers find that forests are more likely to be cleared where economic returns to agriculture and pasture are higher, either due to more favorable climatological and topographic conditions, or due to lower costs of clearing forest and transporting products to market. It is argued that timber activity, land tenure security, and community demographics do not show a consistent association with either higher or lower deforestation.

The indigenous cloud forests in the Taita Hills, Kenya, have suffered substantial degradation due to agricultural expansion. Currently, only one per cent of the original forested area remains preserved. Furthermore, climate change imposes an imminent threat for local economy and environmental sustainability. In such circumstances, elaborating tools to conciliate socio-economic growth and natural resources conservation is an enormous challenge.

The Agroforestry for Livelihoods of Smallholder farmers in Northwestern Viet Nam project (2011-2016) focuses on agroforestry trials on farms in the northwestern mountainous region of the country. The objective of the study was to make an inventory of the current upland farming systems and identify key strengths and weaknesses of each system, including economic efficiency. The farming system diagnosis was based on participatory assessments and focus group discussions and in- depth interviews with 45 project ‘farmer co-operators’ in 17 villages in Yen Bai, Son La and Dien Bien provinces.

This brief discusses Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) safeguards in the context of Vietnam and makes recommendations for future action. It begins by outlining the Vietnamese context and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defined REDD+ safeguards.

This working paper examines how Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has been framed in Indonesia’s media. The report’s findings are based on content analysis of three national newspapers and a series of expert interviews. It is argued that Indonesia’s REDD+ discourse revolves primarily around land use, where REDD+ conservation is pitted against economic growth fuelled by land use change.

Zero-deforestation commitments are emerging rapidly in Indonesia. They already encompass a large portion of crude palm oil production and almost all the pulp and paper (P&P) sector; typically, they reflect the values of the “no-deforestation, no-exploitation (social) and no-peat” policies.

These commitments depend on definitions of ‘forests’ for their identification and conservation, which in turn rely on methodologies such as High Conservation Value and High Carbon Stock.

The Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL) spreads across a vast region that includes remote portions of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China (TAR China) and contiguous areas of Nepal and India. This area is historically, ecologically, and culturally interconnected; it is the source of four of Asia’s most important rivers, and at the heart of this landscape is the sacred Mount Kailash, revered by millions of people in Asia and throughout the world.

Climate change poses severe threats on agriculture. Even though some countries may experience beneficial change to agricultural gross domestic product (GDP), the majority, particularly developing countries, will experience significant negative impacts. This paper by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) promotes an integrative, holistic framework for climate change adaptation. It presents the potential impacts of climate change and the different approaches to adaptation, as well as knowledge gained through FAO's experience in the field.