"This paper investigates the effects of wheat genetic diversity and land degradation on risk and agricultural productivity in less favored production environments of a developing agricultural economy. Drawing production data from household survey conducted in the highlands of Ethiopia, we estimate a stochastic production function to evaluate the effects of variety richness, land degradation, and their interaction on the mean and the variance of wheat yield. Ethiopia is a centre of diversity for durum wheat and farmers manage complex variety mixtures on multiple plots.

Participants in this workshop reviewed and discussed findings from the research project‚ Policies for Sustainable Land Management in the Highlands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, begun in January 1998, and from other related research being conducted in the highlands of Tigray by Mekelle University and its collaborators.

This report is timely input into the ongoing development agenda for Africa South of the Sahara (SSA).

The year 2011 highlighted ongoing challenges to global food security, from food price volatility, extreme weather shocks, and famine to unrest and conflicts. On the policy front, major devel­opments at the global and national levels both offered grounds for encouragement and pointed to areas where further action is needed.

This report identifies the links among economic growth, poverty alleviation, and natural resource degradation in Brazil. It examines the effects of (1) a major devaluation of the Brazilian real (R$); (2) improvements of infrastructure in the Amazon to link it with the rest of Brazil and bordering countries; (3) modification of land tenure regimes in the Amazon agricultural frontier; (4) adoption of technological change in agriculture both inside and outside the Amazon; and (5) fiscal mechanisms to reduce deforestation." -- from Author's Abstract

Low agricultural productivity, land degradation and poverty are severe interrelated problems in the East African highlands. While the proximate causes of such problems are relatively well known, the underlying causes are many and complex, and depend upon many site-specific factors that vary greatly across the diverse circumstances of the region. In this paper, we argue that the appropriate strategy for sustainable development depends greatly upon the “pathways of development” that are feasible in a given location.

Der Welthunger-Index (WHI) 2014 stellt die nationale, regionale und weltweite Hungersituation zum neunten Mal in jahrlicher Folge multidimensional dar. Er zeigt, dass bei der globalen Hungerbekampfung seit 1990 Fortschritte erzielt werden konnten, jedoch angesichts sehr ernster oder gar gravierender Hungerwerte in 16 Landern noch immer groser Handlungsbedarf besteht. Der Schwerpunkt dieses Berichts liegt auf einem entscheidenden Aspekt des Hungers, der haufig ubersehen wird, dem verborgenen Hunger.