The World development report 2010:
development and climate change highlights the link between
biotechnology, development, and environment. Aside from
recognizing biotechnology's potential to improve crop
productivity, increase crop adaptation to climatic stresses
such as drought, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the
report emphasizes the need to establish science-based
regulatory systems 'so that risks and benefits can be

The livelihoods of communities in rural
areas of Peru are predominantly dependent on
climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture. Given their
close connection with the environment, the understanding of
how these communities perceive risks and how they adapt to
and cope with climate hazards is important for identifying
entry points for efforts aimed at building resilience. In
this context, it is assumed that the successful use of

This paper seeks to clarify how
valuation should be conducted to answer specific
environmental policy questions. In particular, it looks at
how valuation should be used to examine four distinct
aspects of the value of ecosystems: 1) Determining the value
of the total flow of benefits from ecosystems; 2)
Determining the net benefits of interventions that alter
ecosystem conditions: 3) Examining how the costs and

This paper analyzes the available
literature about the effects of structural adjustment
programs (SAPs) on the environment and the convincing
evidence for their success or failure. The studies covered
refer to the SAPs by the World Bank as well as to general
government programs that have similar policy implications.
SAPs are designed to reform economies to become more
liberalized and export-oriented while reducing the role of

Many fear China's accession to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) will impoverish its rural
people by way of greater import competition in its
agricultural markets. Anderson, Huang, and Ianchovichina
explore that possibility bearing in mind that, even if
producer prices of some (land-intensive) farm products fall,
prices of other (labor-intensive) farm products could rise.
Also, the removal of restrictions on exports of textiles and

The authors evaluate the impact of
farmer field schools, an intensive participatory training
program emphasizing integrated pest management. Their
evaluation focuses on whether participation in the program
has improved yields and reduced pesticide use among
graduates and their neighbors who may have gained knowledge
from graduates through informal communications. The authors
use panel data covering the period 1991-99 in Indonesia.

28 May 2014

GRAIN | La Vía Campesina

For immediate release

Forest Peoples Programme and the Amerindian Peoples Association are pleased to announce the publication of a new special report:

Edited by Kate Dooley and Tom Griffiths

Authors: Oda Almås (FPP), Lawrence Anselmo (APA), Laura George (APA), Tom Griffiths (FPP), Solveig Firing Lunde (RFN) and Jean La Rose (APA)

May 2014

ISBN 978-0-9544252-8-9

The authors examine the impact of land
reform in Vietnam which gives households the power to
exchange, transfer, lease, inherit, and mortgage their
land-use rights. The authors expect this change to increase
the incentives as well as the ability to undertake long-term
investments on the part of households. Their
difference-in-differences estimation strategy takes
advantage of the variation across provinces in the issuance

In countries such as Azerbaijan, the
risks of climate change for the agricultural sector are a
particularly immediate and important problem because the
majority of the rural population depends either directly or
indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods. The need to
adapt to climate change in all sectors is now on the agenda
of the countries and development partners. International
efforts to limit greenhouse gases and to mitigate climate

This sourcebook summarizes the outputs
and lessons of the Livestock in Africa: improving data for
better policies project. It aims to present the challenges
facing professionals collecting and analyzing livestock data
and statistics and possible solutions. While the Sourcebook
does not address all conceivable issues related to enhancing
livestock data and underlining statistical issues, it does
represent a unique document for a number of reasons. To

Since 2006, there has been an explosion
of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) projects in
Brazil, as well as efforts to pass PES laws at federal,
state, and municipal levels. Even in this short period, an
extraordinarily rich range of experiences has developed,
with examples of the application of PES at a variety of
scales, ranging from microwatersheds to entire states; in a
variety of contexts, from remote forest frontier areas to