Large areas of the humid tropics are like mosaics, combining features of forests and agriculture and housing hundreds of millions of people. Land uses that store high quantities of carbon, such as agroforestry and other tree-based systems, make up a large part of those mosaic areas. Yet current discussions on reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) within the UNFCCC do not adequately address these land uses as part of a potential mitigation strategy.

Focusing on water resources and irrigation, this paper documents a talk by Michael Lipton exploring approaches to poverty alleviation in developing Asia. The talk discusses the findings of a recent paper ‘Pro-poor intervention strategies in irrigated agriculture in Asia: poverty in irrigated agriculture - realities, issues, and options with guidelines’. It looks at a number of topical issues such as irrigation in relation to access and global poverty, irrigation corruption, and sustainability.

This bi-annual addition of id21 Natural Resources Highlights looks specifically at rural livelihoods. It contains the following three articles:

New thinking needed to tackle the rural employment crisis

A further 106 million people will have joined the rural labour force in the developing world by 2015. This article asks whether enough jobs can be created in rural areas to meet this demand, or whether further urban migration is the only answer.

How can small-scale producers compete globally?

La mission assignée au Programme National de Développement Rural (PNDR) est la suivante: « Infrastructure reliée, le développement rural, l’économie à forte croissance et la préservation de l’environnement » Pour réaliser cette vision, le PNDR s’articule autour de 5 grandes orientations, à savoir: promouvoir la bonne gouvernance au sein du secteur de développement rural; faciliter l’accès au capital et aux facteurs de production (foncier, infrastructures, finances rurales, matériel/équipement, énergie); améliorer la sécurité alimentaire et augmenter la production et la transformation agrico

The present Strategy is based on the notion that adaptation to climate change is a long-term process, and that it is still uncertain what the consequences of climate change will be and how soon they will take effect.

Liberia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) is built on the foundation of the Government’s 150-Day Action Plan. The PRS is part of a longer-term continuum of the Government’s strategy for rapid, inclusive and sustainable growth and poverty reduction, including progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The PRS covers the three-year period from April 2008 to June 2011.

The present Ordinance enforces the Burgenland Building Law (LGBl. No. 10/1998). In particular, the Ordinance lays down provisions relating to building technology and building equipment, as well as to special environmental, health and energy requirements of buildings. Furthermore, the Ordinance also applies to parcel of lands and other constructions and facilities subject to requirements of the present Ordinance.

This paper examines the impact of land reform on agricultural productivity in Tajikistan. Recent legislation allows farmers to obtain access to heritable land shares for private use, but reform has been geographically uneven. The break-up of state farms has occurred in some areas where agriculture has little to offer but, where high value crops are grown, land reform has hardly begun. In cases where collectivized farming persists and land has not been distributed, productivity remains low and individual households benefit little from farming.