Los problemas relativos al desarrollo de nuestros asentamientos huma nos tienen como una de las principales causas, el crecimiento explosivo - de la población y concentración en unas pocas ciudades mayores que crecen aceleradamente, ubicadas en su mayor parte en la zona costera del país, en detrimento de un desarrollo urbano rural, nacional, articulado y equilibrado.

Renewable energy assessment arises in the context of Territorial Planning of Lerma Valley in Salta as a strategy for regional development and improved quality of life and environment. The methodology applied is based on Multi- Criteria Evaluation tools, Geographic Information Systems application and participatory consultation techniques. The results were oriented to territorial diagnosis, energy resources assessment and alternative technologies as well as planning and management proposals.

El trabajo pretende desde una perspectiva académica contribuir a la discusión sobre la búsqueda de soluciones eficientes e implementables para los problemas de contaminación ambiental en Colombia y se centra en el análisis particular del problema de contaminación del Río Bogotá. Se propone en el documento la aplicación de herramientas propias del análisis económico del derecho que permitan una aproximación al problema mediante la combinación de elementos jurídicos y económicos relativos a políticas ambientales aplicables al Río Bogotá.

Se analiza el efecto de las instituciones en las decisiones de conservación de recursos naturales de los productores agropecuarios en la región montañosa de Nariño. El análisis se basa en las características del sistema de propiedad: derecho de exclusión, seguridad y capacidad de ser transado. A pesar de que la teoría considera a la propiedad privada como la que mayores incentivos genera para la conservación, los resultados del análisis demuestran que esto no siempre es cierto y que otros factores, como los demográficos y tecnológicos, fueron determinantes de las decisiones.

The agricultural policies after Independence in South Korea can be roughly classified into three policies: policies for food increase till the 1970s, policies for structural improvement in the 1980s and 1990s, and policies for rice production adjustment in the 2000s. In the process, a policy for price support to encourage food production and increase farmer income, the policies for modernization of production processes, and the policies for expanding the scale of management were made and implemented.

Water is central to the Zimbabwean economy, people's livelihoods and their social well-being; its availability and reliability is a function of highly variable climatic conditions. Irrigated agriculture is the major water using sector while rain fed agriculture depends on reliable rainfall.

Kilombero Plantations Ltd (KPL) is a 5,818 hectare (ha) rice plantation located in the heart of the fertile Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. In addition to developing a large-scale rice farm, KPL works with local smallholder farmers through an outgrower model based on System of Rice Intensification (SRI) technologies.

This paper reports on a workshop held in Ethiopia in 2004, targeting stakeholders involved in implementing Ethiopia’s National Action Plan (NAP) for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The workshop was based on international, national and regional experiences, principles and practices related to dryland management and combating desertification to the development of community driven processes.

This paper, which focuses on the Chinyanja Triangle (CT), an area inside the Zambezi River Basin, characterises three distinct farming subsystems across rainfall gradients, namely maize-beans-fish, sorghum-millet-livestock and the livestock-dominated subsystem. It presents the socioeconomic characteristics, historical drivers of change, resources use and management (water, land, forestry) and the institutional disincentives affecting agricultural production and productivity in the region.

Extractive Industries (EI) explore, find, extract, process and market sub-soil assets – oil, gas and mined minerals. EI represent a large and growing activity in many less-developed countries. But natural resource wealth does not always lead to sustainable and inclusive growth. This guide sets out the recent rise in importance of EI to less-developed countries. It provides a framework for thinking about (i) the socio-economic impacts of these industries and (ii) the relationship between EI, host country public policies and donor activities.

The guide:

Climate change prompts policymakers to pursue a low carbon energy pathway in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, this can lead to trade-offs with other sustainability objectives. This policy brief outlines key issues relating to biodiversity and the development of the hydropower sector in Vietnam. It is aimed at informing policymakers, civil society and donors. It argues that the large-scale development of the country’s hydropower sector is being undertaken without due consideration of the impacts that this is having on the nation’s biodiversity.