As the Government of Kenya treads the path to economic recovery, every Kenyan should be at home with the fact that many forms of economic development activities damage the natural resources upon which the economies are based. Nationally and internationally, a major environmental and development challenge is how to maintain the equilibrium between population, ecosystems and development.

ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This research analyses the ways in which current changes in land tenure, agrarian and socio-economic systems are reshaping resource allocations and transfers within households in indigenous communities in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. While other gendered aspects of the transformations occurring in indigenous societies have received more attention in recent years, the changes occurring in the customary laws that determine land access, ownership and inheritance alongside gender, as well as generational lines, have not been explored.

WEBSITE INTRODUCTION: This report presents a synthesis of the main findings from case studies carried out in six countries in Africa (Ghana, Sierra Leone, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia) and Asia (Laos and Philippines). The findings were disseminated and discussed in multistakeholder initiatives at regional and country level. The report illustrates how poor rural women and men are affected differently by agricultural investments, and demonstrates that they may not benefit equally from emerging opportunities.

WEB INTRODUCTION: The literature on agricultural large-scale land acquisition in Myanmar is rather fragmented and consists mainly of case studies. While these provide key insights into particular stories, they often fail to identify the main patterns and trends at country level. To fill such gaps, this thematic study aims to present an updated synthesis of the genealogy, institutional complexity and the ins and outs of large-scale land acquisition processes for agricultural development in Myanmar.

Mainstream analysis of contemporary livelihood transformations and rural development in the upland regions of Southeast Asia has hitherto focused primarily on the role of agricultural commercialization and cash crops. This is reflected in policy narratives that conflate the fortunes of rural households to the expansion of a particular kind of entrepreneurial agriculture. In this article, we problematize the dynamics of economic and social change in the little-studied uplands of Chin State, Myanmar, against this policy backdrop.

Street trees, native plantings, bioswales, and other forms of green infrastructure alleviate urban air and water pollution, diminish flooding vulnerability, support pollinators, and provide other benefits critical to human well-being. Urban planners increasingly value such urban ecosystem services (ES), and effective methods for deciding among alternative planting regimes using urban ES criteria are under active development.

With growing global demand for food, unsustainable farming practices and large greenhouse gas emissions, farming systems need to sequester more carbon than they emit, while also increasing productivity and food production. The Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project (KACP) recruited farmer groups committed to more Sustainable Agricultural Land Management (SALM) practices and provided these groups with initial advisory services on SALM, farm enterprise development and village savings and loan associations.

Amid climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity, there is the growing need to draw synergies between micro-scale environmental processes and practices, and macro-level ecosystem dynamics to facilitate conservation decision-making. Adopting this synergistic approach can improve crop yields and profitability more sustainably, enhance livelihoods and mitigate climate change.

Insects, the most diverse and abundant animal species on the planet, are critical in providing numerous ecosystem services which are significant to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). In addition to the UN-SDGs, the UN has declared the period 2021–2030 as the “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.” Insects, because of the ecosystem services they provide, are critical indicators of restoration success.

As a response to the environmentally and socially destructive practices of post-war mechanization and intensification, the concept of sustainable agriculture has become prominent in research, policy, and practice. Sustainable agriculture aims to balance the economic, environmental, and social aspects of farming, creating a resilient farming system in the long-term. Over the last few decades, various concepts have been used in research and policy to encourage the adoption of sustainable practices.

One of the main causes of tropical forest loss is conversion to agriculture, which is constantly increasing as a dominant land cover in the tropics. The loss of forests greatly affects biodiversity and ecosystem services. This paper assesses the economic return from increasing tree cover in agricultural landscapes in two tropical locations, West Java, Indonesia and eastern Bangladesh. Agroforestry systems are compared with subsistence seasonal food-crop-based agricultural systems.

The extensive arable land and great biodiversity present in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have the potential to ensure sustenance and a good quality of life for its more than 600 million inhabitants. LAC has experienced important changes in land use. When the Europeans arrived in the 15th century, the forest cover of LAC accounted for approximately 75 per cent of the territory.