Two-thirds of the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have already submitted or are preparing to submit to the United Nations their land degradation goals, to combat a problem that threatens agriculture and the lives of their people. In 2015, the parties to the United Nations Convention…

The Security Council today adopted a presidential statement that welcomed positive developments in several West African countries, but expressed its serious concern over the challenging security situation in the region and the Sahel.

This article aims to provide a better understanding of how NDCs might facilitate SDG progress in West Africa, particularly across goals 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger), 6 (access to clean water and sanitation); 7 (affordable and clean energy); 13 (climate action) and 15 (life on land). Our analysis…

Food-insecure households in many countries depend on international aid to alleviate acute shocks and chronic shortages. Some food security programmes (including Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program–PSNP – which provides a case study for this article) have integrated aid in exchange for labour on…

The goal of the project is to reduce food insecurity and improve livelihoods of poor people living in African drylands by restoring degraded land, and returning it to effective and sustainable tree, crop and livestock production, thereby increasing land profitability and landscape and livelihood…

The resurgence of violent conflict in recent years has caused immense human suffering, at enormous social and economic cost. Violent conflicts today have become complex and protracted, involving more non-state groups and regional and international actors, often linked to global challenges from…

Where in the world will people’s lives be affected by water issues by the year 2050? What is the impact of the growing global population, further urbanisation and climate change on these water risks, the food supply and migration? This new report by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment…

Climate-smart interventions in agriculture have varying costs and environmental and economic impacts. Their implementation requires appropriate investment decisions by policy makers that are relevant for current as well as future scenarios of agro-ecology, climate and economic development. Decision…

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 highlights progress being made in many areas of the 2030 Agenda. Since the turn of the century, the maternal mortality ratio in sub-Saharan Africa has declined by 35 per cent and the under-five mortality rate has dropped by 50 per cent. In South Asia, a…

This paper conceptually integrates resilience and nexus approaches, developing a combined framework and indicating how it could effectively be operationalized in cases from mountain and mangrove social‐ecological systems. In doing so, it advances understanding of complex social‐ecological systems…

For the African continent, the ability to manage trade-offs at a landscape scale has huge potential to influence the future of migration and conflict, as well as the future of land resources, food security and biodiversity. Integrated land management can act as an accelerator for achieving the…

The report — Mechanized: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture Value Chains—summarizes the findings of a systematic analysis of what countries at the forefront of progress in mechanization have done right. It analyzes which policy decisions were taken and which interventions were implemented to…

A ground-breaking report by the University of Texas for USAID points out how climate hazards like cyclones, floods, wildfires, rainfall anomalies and chronic water scarcity relate to state fragility. Climate hazards put an enormous strain on the effectiveness and legitimacy in economics, politics…

Desertification: the Invisible Frontier of Land Degradation, Poverty and Migration, an Exposure story to highlight the causes and consequences of land degradation

The Atlas is based on an analysis of mapped regional security issues and development objectives to open the necessary dialogue between regional and international organizations, governments, researchers and local stakeholders tracks

Why Europe should care more about environmental degradation triggering insecurity- Hartmut Behrend in " Global Affairs" Volume 1; Issue 1; 2015

This study revealed that conversion of croplands to grasslands or integration of appropriate agroforestry trees in cropping fields in the region has large technical potential of SOC and TN sequestrations.

The Global Calculator is a free and interactive tool that helps you to understand the link between our lifestyles, the energy we use, and the consequences for our climate.

Grey literature is defined as ‘that which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers.’

CrisisWatch, is a monthly global conflict tracker, is an early warning bulletin designed for busy readers in the policy community, media, business, civil society and the interested general public. It provides a succinct, regular update on the state of play in all the most significant conflicts and…

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) released data showing that 71% of migrants on Mediterranean routes to Europe experience “exploitation and practices which may amount to human trafficking.” IOM’s data analyze the scale of abuse, exploitation and trafficking experienced by migrants…

Soil erosion is a significant problem in the Ethiopian highlands. The objective of this study was to investigate how farmers perceive the severity of soil erosion in the Upper Blue Nile Basin. The study is based on a detailed survey of 300 households and 1010 plots owned by these households in three…

Land resources are one of nature’s most precious gifts. They feed us and help our societies and economies to thrive.

Land matters. It is worthy putting it as bluntly as that. It feeds and nourishes us. It provides fuel to warm us and the home we live in. Its loss is a real world driver and amplifier of instability. Humans will fight to defend their land and kill to grab enough land for their needs.

The authors identified seven compound risks that make climate change a serious threat. These complex, systemic risks emerge when climate change interacts with other stressors and pressures such as increasing demand for resources, environmental degradation, unequal economic development, population…