The objective of this Convention is to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, through effective action at all levels, supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements, in the framework of an integrated approach which is consistent with Agenda 21, with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development in affected areas.

Dear Sir/ Madam

Please see my blog published on website of Responding to Climate Change (RTCC);

Desertification action not possible until fair land management addressed

25 April 2012

By Tanveer Arif

The Rangelands Observatory

The International Land Coalition (ILC) believes that a fair and effective monitoring of ongoing conversion and fragmentation of rangeland ecosystems is needed in order to provide a thorough understanding of the trends and their implications – and also to enhance informed and participatory decision making on land use and investments in rangelands, and on the trade-offs involved.

To this aim, a Rangeland Observatory (RO) project has been established.

The Rangelands Observatory - The International Land Coalition (ILC) believes that a fair and effective monitoring of ongoing conversion and fragmentation of rangeland ecosystems is needed in order to provide a thorough understanding of the trends and their implications – and also to enhance informed and participatory decision making on land use and investments in rangelands, and on the trade-offs involved.

To this aim, a Rangeland Observatory (RO) project has been established.

Oxfam International

Farmers and herders in arid regions of Africa face serious challenges in adapting to climate change and variability. They are highly exposed to climate stresses, especially drought, but adaptation to climate change is far from being a clear-cut biophysical or technical problem: it is also a social challenge.

This paper is part of a broader Chatham House study which assesses illegal logging and the associated trade. The study, which began in 2006, measures the nature and extent of the problem, and the effectiveness of the response by both the government and the private sector in a number of producer, processing and consumer countries.

Urgent action required to challenge impunity of perpetrators, protect citizens and address root causes of environmental crisis

Most analyses of violence in Darfur ignore the local dimension of the crisis, focusing instead on the region’s economic and political marginalization and climatic variability. However, agricultural change and other changes relating to the land-rights and land-use systems have led to competition and exclusion, and have played a major role in the collective violence that has raged throughout the region. Understanding these questions is essential for the successful resolution of political and policy debates in Darfur.

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"For millions of people living in the world’s poorest countries, access to land is a matter not of wealth, but of survival, identity and belonging. Most of the 1.4 billion people earning less than US$1.25 a day live in rural areas and depend largely on agriculture for their livelihoods, while an estimated 2.5 billion people are involved in full- or part-time smallholder agriculture.

In line with the conventional view that customary land rights impede agricultural development, the traditional tenure system in Nigeria has been perceived to obstruct the achievement of efficient development and agricultural transformation. This led to the Land Use Act (LUA) of 1978.

Food First Backgrounder, Spring 2014, Vol. 20, No. 1

Introduction: Land, Race and the Agrarian Crisis

The disastrous effects of widespread land grabbing and land concentration sweeping the globe do not affect all farmers equally. The degree of vulnerability to these threats is highest for smallholders, women and people of color—the ones who grow, harvest, process and prepare most of the world’s food.

Although several institutional and management approaches that address the degradation of the rangelands have been tested in the dry areas of Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA), impact has been limited. Nonetheless, the development of National Action Plans to combat desertification highlights the interest of governments to tackle this issue. Payment for Environmental Services (PES) may be a viable policy option, though, to date, most PES programs have focused on the management of different resources (forests, watersheds).