Food cannot be grown without water. In Africa, one in three people endure water scarcity and climate change will make things worse. Building on Africa’s highly sophisticated indigenous water management systems could help resolve this growing crisis, but these very systems are being destroyed by large-scale land grabs amidst claims that Africa's water is abundant, under-utilised and ready to be harnessed for export-oriented agriculture.

Across vast areas of the world, human activity has degraded once fertile and productive land. Deforestation, overgrazing, continuous farming and poor irrigation practices have affected almost 2 billion hectares worldwide, threatening the health and livelihoods of over one billion people. In this edition of New Agriculturist, a collection of articles explores some of the approaches and policies that can help to successfully rehabilitate degraded land.

The key messages of this presentation are:

Increasing competition for water severely limits irrigation and constrains food production

Slow progress in extending access to safe drinking water; water quality will decline; amount of water for environmental uses will be inadequate

Moderate worsening in current water policies and investments could lead to full-blown water crisis

Fundamental changes in water management and policy can produce a sustainable future for water and food

The paper argues that the indigenous knowledge of the Herero could provide the basis for better land-use policy and user rights in the communal lands of Namibia.This short article:reviews recent academic literaturelooks at the historical and legal backgound to land management in Namibiareports in 2 village field studies

Comprehensive yet concise report outlining the key challenges and projected demands in the global agricultural sector, from an energy-water-food nexus perspective.

This paper aims to learn from the household survival strategies in Ethiopia that have evolved to manage diverse disaster hazards with a view that such strategies can inform more effective disaster preparedness, relief, recovery and prevention, policies and interventions.This report describes the systems that are in place that are designed for the early detection of crisis, the nature of humanitarian responses these systems have induced, and the outlook for the coming year.Recommendations arising from the research include:early warning/monitoring information systems need to operate independe

This first background paper from the CGIAR Water for Food Program seeks to identify research needs to increase crop water productivity, such that food security can be ensured and farmers’ livelihoods enhanced without increasing water diverted for agriculture.The paper proposes a number of priority topics for research on crop water management in the challenge Program on Water and Food, which will be amended during the development of the Program.

This report focuses on the sustainability of pastoralism in the lowlands of the Great Rift of East Africa and the Horn, arguing that pastoralism as a mode of production and a way of life has entered a phase of decline, often accompanied by conflict, drought, famine and flooding.The report details the historic evolution and chief characteristics of pastoralism, discussing the eras of colonialism and independence, livestock development, land tenure and conflict, as well as local and regional politics.

This report cautions against an overly rigid approach to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which it argues could limit development options for poor countries, particularly in how they are able to manage critical water resources. It identifies key challenges such as setting realistic targets, carefully considering the local context to address the needs of the poor, and promoting sustainable water resources development in a way that values healthy ecosystems.

This report, by researchers working in urban agriculture (UA), examines concrete strategies to integrate city farming into the urban landscape. Drawing on original field work in cities across the rapidly urbanising global South, the book examines the contribution of UA and city farming to livelihoods and food security. The case studies covered by the authors, focus on the following aspects of urban agriculture:

Conflicting interests in land and resource use emerged in postwar Mozambique, giving rise to multiple layers of dispute. This article explores the disputes occurring between 1992 and 1995 in two districts which are notable for the severity of competition over land by virtue of their proximity to Maputo, namely, Matutuíne and Namaacha. Although private sector claims were beginning to be staked with the potential for displacing people occupying the same land, other conflicts still predominated.

Analyses two examples of changing institution-resource access relationships in Africa and Latin America. The Africa case (Kakamega, Western Kenya) highlights the resource endowments and problems associated with the participation of individuals in multiple institutions, whereas the Latin America case (Oaxaca, Mexico) focuses on the changes in a single institution in response to population growth. Suggests that even in situations of complexity, there are some clear entry points and directions for policy advice.