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Saturday, June 6, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Combating Desertification and Drought
No More Mass Deaths from Drought in Northeast Brazil
The drought that has plagued Brazil’s semiarid Northeast region since 2012 is already more severe than the 1979-1983 drought, the longest in the 20th century. But prolonged dry spells no longer cause the tragedies of the past.
Feminism Helps Villagers Coexist with Drought in Northeast Brazil
“The vegetable garden changed my life,” said Rita Alexandre da Silva, in the village of Primeiro do Maio where 65 families have obtained land to grow crops since 1999, in this municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in Northeast Brazil.
Soil: Keeping Nutrients in Food and Carbon in the Ground
Healthy soil not only makes food more nutritious it also helps keep carbon out of the atmosphere by storing it underground.
Battle of the Desert (and III): UNCCD ‘s Louise Baker on The Silk Road
Marking this year's World Day to Combat Desertification last June, the United Nations announced the launch of a China-United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Belt and Road Joint Action initiative to curb Desertification along the Silk Road.
Climate Finance for Farmers Key to Avert One Billion Hungry
With climate change posing growing threats to smallholder farmers, experts working around the issues of agriculture and food security say it is more critical than ever to implement locally appropriate solutions to help them adapt to changing rainfall patterns.
Battle of the Desert (II): A ‘Great Green Wall for Africa’
Desertification, land degradation, drought, climate change, food insecurity, poverty, loss of biodiversity, forced migration and conflicts, are some of the key challenges facing Africa—a giant continent home to 1,2 billion people living in 54 countries.
New Fund Aims to Help Build Resilience to Climate Change
The world has been too slow in responding to climate events such as El Niño and La Niña, and those who are the “least responsible are the ones suffering most”, Mary Robinson, the special envoy on El Niño and Climate, told IPS at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech (COP22).
Battle of the Desert (I): To Fight or to Flee?
To fight or to flee? These are the stark choices Maria, a single mother from the Bangalala midlands of Tanzania, faces repeatedly. “After the rains failed for a few years, some neighbours claimed our trees were drawing too much water from the ground. We cut them down. Our harvests fell. My mother closed her stall at the local market. That is when my father and I moved from the midlands to the Ruvu Mferejini river valley.”
Climate Change, A Goat Farmer’s Gain
Bongekile Ndimande’s family lost more 30 head of cattle to a ravaging drought last season, but a herd of goats survived and is now her bank on four legs.
Peace Fails to Bring Prosperity in Eastern Sri Lanka
It is a Tuesday afternoon and only a handful of devotees have flocked to the Meera Grand Mosque in Katankuddi, about 300 kms east of the capital Colombo.
Funding Lags to Combat Land Degradation
Land degradation already affects millions of people, bringing biodiversity loss, reduced availability of clean water, food insecurity and greater vulnerability to the harsh impacts of climate change.
Kenya Greens Drylands to Combat Land Degradation
Faced with growing degradation that is swallowing large swathes of land in arid and semiarid areas, Kenya is heavily investing in rehabilitation efforts to stave off the threat of desertification.
Q&A: Land Degradation Could Force 135 Million to Migrate in Next 30 Years
One of the critical challenges facing the world today is that emerging migration patterns are increasingly rooted in the depletion of natural resources.
Hit by Extreme Weather, South Asia Balances Growth and Food Security
Sri Lanka is literally baking these days.
The Beating Pulse of Food Security in Africa
Elizabeth Mpofu is a fighter. She is one of a select group of farmers who equate food security with the war against hunger and shun poor agricultural practices which destroy the environment and impoverish farmers, especially women.
Canals Save Cambodian Farmers in Times of Drought
In Kampong Speu province, when the wet weather doesn't come, as in other parts of Cambodia, it can affect whether food goes on the dinner table.
Drought Deals Harsh Blow to Cameroon’s Cocoa Farmers
Tanchenow Daniel fears he will lose more than half a tonne of his cocoa yield during the next harvest at the end of this month.
Asia, Looking Beyond the Green Revolution
More than 2.2 billion people in Asia rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, but the Asian Development Bank warns that stagnant and declining yields of major crops such as rice and wheat can be ultimately linked to declining investments in agriculture. Public investments in agriculture in India, for instance, have been roughly the same since 2004.
Nurturing African Agriculture
While agriculture could be the driving force to lift millions of Africans out of poverty and alleviate hunger, its full potential remains untapped. For example, only between five and seven percent of the continent’s cultivated land is irrigated, leaving farmers vulnerable to climate shocks like the devastating El Nino-driven drought in southern Africa. That's why international agencies like the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are forging key partnerships to enhance agricultural production, sustainable natural resource management and increased market access. 
The Time is Ripe to Act against Drought
Let us start with some good news. Sort of. The strongest El Niño in 35 years is coming to an end. [1]
Arable Lands Lost at Unprecedented Rate: 33,000 Hectares… a Day!
Humankind is a witness every single day to a new, unprecedented challenge. One of them is the very fact that the world's arable lands are being lost at 30 to 35 times the historical rate. Each year, 12 million hectares are lost. That means 33,000 hectares a day!« Previous Page — Next Page »
Today, some two billion people depend on ecosystems in dryland areas, with 90 percent of them living in developing countries. But the pace of arable land degradation is accelerating – now estimated at 35 times the historical rate -- impacting biodiversity, availability of clean water and food security, as well as exposing vulnerable communities to the harsh impacts of climate change. As the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) works to improve the living conditions of people in the drylands. IPS looks at local solutions being implemented around the world, from restoring soil productivity and mitigating the effects of drought, to projects that empower communities to manage their dryland resources more effectively.
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