Just a couple weeks ago,  Iowa State University (ISU) withdrew from advising the Iowa-based firm AgriSol Energy on itsplanned land deal in Tanzania.

Land means the basic part of the natural environment, the basic instrument of human life, activity and immovable property, which is being disposed of in the process of land relation. Land should be used when coordinating private and public interests as well as environment protection requirements.

Aid in Support of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (pdf, 1.5MB) published in March 2011, presents statistics on aid from DAC members to sectors focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment for the period 2008-2009.

The Global Donor Platform OECD focal point, Karim Hussein, points out that page 5 of this new publication reviews agriculture and rural development and interestingly showed that only 5% of DAC donor aid for agricultural inputs had a gender equality focus.

This brief produced for the Dialogue Initiative on Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and their Alternatives provides an overview of the  Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and Other Natural Resources.

This brief produced for the Dialogue Initiative on Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and their Alternatives provides an overview of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), the most inclusive international and intergovernmental platform to facilitate and coordinate work to ensure food security and nutrition for all.

You can get involved in the CFS through the Civil Society Mechanism. Check out http://cso4cfs.org/ to connect with your constituency and sub-regional focal points.

 

Ethiopia remains one of the least-developed countries in the world: 50 percent of the population lives in abject poverty, and average life expectancy is only 43 years. Agriculture-the main sector of the Ethiopian economy-employs about 80 percent of the population and is dominated by small-scale, mixed crop and livestock production with very low productivity, which can be attributed to obsolete farming techniques; soil degradation caused by overgrazing and deforestation; poor complementary services, such as extension, credit, markets, and infrastructure; and frequent droughts and floods.

Nanotechnology is research and development that involves measuring and manipulating matter at the atomic, molecular, and supramolecular levels at scales measured in approximately 1 to 100 nanometers (nm) in at least one dimension.”Materials at such small scales often exhibit different electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, and other physical properties from their bulk material counterparts, leading to the development of potentially revolutionary technologies in a variety of industries,including agriculture and food.

This annual trends report for agricultural and rural development indicators is a monitoring and evaluation tool. It can be used to facilitate critical assessment of the progress being made in implementing and achieving the goals of Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) and other national developmental goals. CAADP aims at helping African countries to achieve high economic growth through agriculture-led development. The agricultural sector in Kenya contributes significantly to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment.

Climate is a robust determinant of both agricultural and general economic performance in Kenya and elsewhere in rainfed Sub-Saharan Africa. Frequent droughts and floods have cost the Kenyan economy billions of Ksh, and adverse impacts and costs are expected to rise over time. Drought is by far the most pressing climate-related shock experienced by Kenyan farmers, resulting in declines in crop yields, food shortages, and food price spikes. At the same time, climate change is expected to result in a drier coast while the highlands and northern Kenya are likely to become wetter.

Agricultural development has traditionally focused on raising productivity and maximizing production of cereals. In this regard, the world’s farmers and farming systems have made enormous advances, multiplying cereal production several times over in the past half century. Yet hunger, malnutrition, and poor health remain widespread and persistent problems. Nearly 1 billion people still go hungry, and billions more are malnourished.

Addressing the problem of hunger in a world where food production systems, particularly in developing countries, are being eroded and undermined by climate change is one of the most important challenges of our time. Studies by the Food and Agriculture organization (FAO), Oxfam and the Asian Development Bank, among others, underscore the significance of climate change impacts on agriculture and food production (FAO 2007, Oxfam 2009, ADB 2009).

In response to the 2008 food crisis, Senegal developed an ambitious food self-sufficiency programme which aims to entirely cover national rice consumption needs with local rice by 2015, mainly through massive investments in existing and new rice perimeters in the Senegal River Valley (SRV). It has yet to be seen, however, how the projected rice production boom will reach urban markets, where the product is often unknown or misconstrued.