The objective of this study is to improve understanding of the implications of climate change for the groundwater systems in coastal Bangladesh. This is achieved by: (a) obtaining available geologic, hydrologic, and geochemical information on coastal aquifers of Bangladesh; (b) developing groundwater flow and salt transport models representing general features and conditions along the coast of Bangladesh; and (c) simulating potential changes in the groundwater systems due to various aspects of human activity and climate change.

Floods are a major source of risk for the agricultural sector. Flood risk in the agricultural sector primarily arises from river flooding, flash floods, and coastal flooding. The impacts of floods can result in sizable agricultural damages at the local level. Floods in agricultural zones expose agricultural producers, agricultural supply chains, rural financial institutions (such as agricultural banks), and governments to financial risks due to the loss of crops, delinquency on seasonal production loans, damage to infrastructure and loss of public revenues.

The primary objective of the Southern Gobi Regional Environmental Assessment (REA) is to provide guidance for sustainable management of environmental resources in the future development of the Southern Gobi Region (SGR), development that will be led by rapid expansion of mining.

Epoca de siembra y cumbres
 * Oscar Bazoberry Chali
El mundo se ve distinto desde Charagua. Recibí al año 2010 en esta localidad del Chaco Boliviano, que acaba de  ganar por referéndum su reconocimiento como municipio indígena,  aunque realmente es intercultural,  debido a una presencia importante de población guaraní, criolla, mestiza, menonita, quechua y aymara. Gran parte de sus habitantes se dedica a actividades agropecuarias como principal fuente de ingresos.

It has emerged quite clearly from Urban LandMark’s work in South Africa – and increasingly in the region – that the emergence of more sophisticated property markets has taken place locally and in most larger cities in the region. While there might be a need to assist these markets to develop further, in particular the need to build market institutions and professions, these groupings tend to increase their own capacities as the markets develop, mostly with little assistance.

Africa is among the most likely vulnerable regions of the world that are to be negatively impacted by climate change. The continent’s vulnerability to climate change arises from a combination of many factors, including extreme poverty, high rate of population increase, frequent natural disasters such as droughts and floods, and agricultural systems that are heavily dependent on rainfall. Under-development in some African states has also been a function of existing protracted natural resource conflicts and climate change worsens the situation.

Environmental change and adaptation
in degraded agro-ecosystems: the case
of highland Madagascar
Jon Unruh*, Bill McConnell** and Joe Rodman†
Area (2010) 42.3, 359–368

Objectives of the study were to assess the evidence of climate change and the additional likely changes in the climate up to 2050. Further the recent changes in land use and their major drivers have been addessed. The outcome of the study are recommendation for adapted farming practices, taking predicted changes in climate into account.

We investigate the impacts of sustainable land management practices on soil carbon stocks and also impacts of soil carbon on the mean and variance of crop production using econometric tools. Using a cross-sectional plot-level dataset collected from three agroecological zones of Uganda with soil carbon measured at a depth of 0 to 15 centimeters, our results have robustly shown that irrigation, fertilizers, improved fallow, crop residues, mulching, and trash lines are positively and significantly associated with higher soil carbon, corroborating results from agronomic experiments.

The well-documented threats posed by climate change are serious and potentially devastating to the global community. The geographic areas that are most susceptible to the effects of climate change, such as increased droughts and flooding, are also the regions where the majority of the world’s poor live.

This paper analyzes the effects of climate change on hydrology and water resources in the Limpopo River Basin of Southern Africa, using a semidistributed hydrological model and the Water Simulation Module of the International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT). The analysis focuses on the effects of climate change on hydrology and irrigation in parts of the four riparian countries within the basin: Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

The ten ASARECA member countries (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda) have adopted, or are planning to adopt, a range of climate change adaptation strategies in agriculture (see Table 1 for a summary). Of the 26 strategies mentioned, only two are common to all 10 countries, while five more are common to five or more. The strategies common to all member countries include the development and promotion of drought-tolerant and early-maturing crop species and exploitation of new and renewable energy sources.