How can wetland management better take into account climate uncertainty, considering the risks posed to the important services wetlands provide? Ritesh Kumar of Wetlands International --South Asia explains that climate change and environmental impacts are affecting the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people that rely on wetland services provided by Chilika Lagoon in India. The project team is working with local government authorities to identify strategies for improving community resilience to such changes.

Across South Asia, many rural people use common land to harvest naturally-growing plants, grow crops and feed their livestock. Increasingly this activity is being commercialized as farmers move to sell the produce they obtain. Despite the importance of this development to village people, its overall effect is uncertain and there are fears that it will damage the environment.

The objective was to determine the influence of market access or lack of it, on farmer investment in soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies in the highlands of eastern Uganda. Linking farmers to better markets for their agricultural commodities would contribute to raising their incomes and motivate farmers’ adoption of conservation in SWC technologies. Areas of relatively high agricultural potential but remote from major markets face disincentives; when farmers are unable to transport produce to markets on time, they are left in the hands of middlemen who dictate low prices.

The people of the Sahel — that huge region stretching along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert — are still striving to recover from the fallout of the terrible droughts that have afflicted the area since 1973. Drought has shattered the momentum of socioeconomic development in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. According to researchers with Burkino Faso’s Institut de l’environnement et de recherches agricoles, “Rural men and women are now struggling to survive in a land that is exhausted, denuded, desiccated, and swept away by the wind and water.”

This note is part of an Action Notes series and provides guidance for governments and companies on examples to follow to engage youth in participating in agriculture.

This note is part of an Action Notes series and provides guidance for governments on how to create an investment climate that is conducive to attracting high-quality, responsible investment in agriculture.

This note is part of an Action Notes series and provides guidance to governments on how to screen and select prospective investment projects to ensure they maximize the social, economic, and environmental benefits while minimizing the risks. It provides investors information on what can be expected in cases of good screening practice.

This practical guide aims to help journalists in resource-rich countries identify, analyze and report on issues in the extractive industries. It offers tools for building convincing stories, research leads, and inspiration from experienced reporters.