Combating Desertification and Drought

ENVIRONMENT: Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilisation?

By Lester R. Brown
In early 2008, Saudi Arabia announced that, after being self-sufficient in wheat for over 20 years, the non-replenishable aquifer it had been pumping for irrigation was largely depleted.
Deforestation causes soil degradation: logging in Chiapas, Mexico. Credit: Mauricio Ramos/IPS

ENVIRONMENT: Desertification – a Macroeconomic Problem

By Sebastián Lacunza
Understanding desertification as a macroeconomic problem, with financial, productive, environmental and civil society aspects, is a major concern for Christian Mersmann, the managing director of the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

LATIN AMERICA: Desertification – an Invisible Cancer

By Marcela Valente
"Desertification is the cancer of the earth," Argentine geographer Elena Abraham told IPS. "It is a process of degradation that does not manifest itself in spectacular ways but furtively advances, and by the time it is visible there is nothing to be done, and people have to move away, in search of an alternative."

MALI: Technology Transfer So Slow "We’ll Have to Copy Like China"

By Isolda Agazzi
Cars and motorcycles are stuck because of the heavy rains that have drenched Mali’s capital for the past few days. It is late afternoon and the water, mud and damaged fruit from nearby stalls make the journey for those heading home to celebrate Ramadan even more treacherous.
Francisco Soares Oliveira in his field. His maize and bean crops were lost to this year's unusual floods. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS

BRAZIL: When the Arid Northeast Turns Green

By Mario Osava
The rain - usually much desired because it is so scarce - has come in excess this year, destroying many crops. But in this farming district in far north-eastern Brazil, the impact of the heavy rainfall was less marked than in the past, thanks to the diversification of crops and productive activities.
Eucalyptus plantation, the first phase in the controversial paper pulp industry. Credit: Photo Stock

BRAZIL: Courts – the Battleground for Fight Against Paper Mills

By Clarinha Glock
The battle against the wood pulp ndustry has intensified in the Brazilian courts, especially in those states where eucalyptus plantations have expanded the most: Bahia and Espírito Santo in the east and Rio Grande do Sul in the south.
Luc Gnacadja Credit:

Q&A: 'If You Feed the Land, It Will Feed You Back'

By IPS Correspondents
Luc Gnacadja, who took over as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) last October, is a man with a mission - a mission that goes beyond explaining that his job is not to battle deserts.

ENVIRONMENT-CAMEROON: Operation Green Sahel Resumes

By Tamfu Hanson
"I have come to plant trees - that is why I have left my jacket and tie in Yaoundé" declared Cameroon's Minister of Forest and Wildlife, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, as he launched the tree planting at a small village near the town of Kousseri, in the north of the country. In four minutes, the minister and his staff planted a hundred trees as a bulwark against rapidly encroaching desert.

ENVIRONMENT-BURKINA FASO: Winning People Over to Fight Deforestation

By IPS Correspondents
In the West African nation of Burkina Faso, millions of trees are planted every year to reverse desertification. However the growing socio-economic needs of local populations pose a constant threat to these efforts.

AUSTRALIA: Food At Risk From Bee Pest

By Stephen de Tarczynski
Australia’s food security is under threat from a tiny parasite with the potential to devastate the nation’s bee and pollination industries.
Shigeyuki Hiroki Credit:

G8 SUMMIT: Japan To Champion Africa's Cause

By IPS Correspondents
The state of the world economy will as usual top the agenda of the G8 summit of major western industrial nations. But Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who will chair the high-level gathering, is keen to devote equal attention to climate change and the development of Africa.
A "hanging toilet", in Korogocho, where water supplies are inadequate for the demands of residents. Credit: APHRC

DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Water Studies – But Where Are the Water Supplies?

By IPS Correspondents
The road leading to the informal settlement of Korogocho is narrow and winding. Here, in Nairobi's third largest slum, up to 150,000 people are crammed into an area of just over one square kilometre, their shanties made of cardboard, wood or metal.

ENVIRONMENT: Not Enough Done to Protect Biodiversity

By Julio Godoy
The UN conference on biodiversity opened in the former German capital Bonn this week in the face of new evidence that many countries, particularly the industrialised ones, are not complying with their declared goal of "substantially reducing the loss of biological diversity."

CLIMATE CHANGE: Displacements Set To Increase

By IPS Correspondents
Climate change is likely to lead to an increase in conflicts and forced migrations of poor people in the south, a new report warns. Developing countries can reduce this impact by adopting preventative measures now, while international law and human rights principles need to be updated.
Woldegiorgis Girma Credit: Bernd Dreesmann

ETHIOPIA: A Leader Who Is Living History

By IPS Correspondents
Ethiopia is better known for recurring droughts and famines, a protracted civil conflict, and a border war with Eritrea. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, and a large percentage of the population lives in absolute poverty.

ENVIRONMENT-NICARAGUA: Indigenous Groups Sound Forest Fire Alarm

By José Adán Silva
Indigenous community leaders have sent a letter to the Nicaraguan authorities requesting protection against the risk of a potentially huge forest fire that would endanger about 60,000 families.

DEVELOPMENT: Unexpected Benefits of Lesotho Highlands Water Project

By IPS Correspondents
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) was conceived and built primarily to supplement the water supply of the industrial hub of South Africa. The additional water has however, provided an important benefit beyond the original aims of the project - it is reducing the salinity of the Vaal Dam reservoir.

SWAZILAND: Income Rating Hobbles Aid Effort

By James Hall
Amanda Dube is literally ‘dirt poor’. Fierce bush fires ravaged Swaziland for months in 2007, and repeatedly swept over the hilly area of Mliba where she lives. Fires burned the trees and vegetation on the small sloping plot where the widowed mother of three attempts to scratch out a maize crop.

CHALLENGES 2007-2008: Peacekeepers for Darfur an Ongoing Source of Conflict

By IPS Correspondents
The hope for a lasting peace in Darfur is pinned on the deployment of 26,000 peacekeeping troops to the troubled region. However, squabbling between the many rebel factions, the Sudanese government and the international community still threatens to derail the process.

ENVIRONMENT-CUBA: Restoring Lost Balance in Nature

By Patricia Grogg
Efforts to restore degraded island ecosystems are already producing results in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara, where scientists from different disciplines have been fomenting environmentally-friendly practices since the beginning of this decade.

DEVELOPMENT-SWAZILAND: Water – "Just a Matter of Delivery"?

By James Hall
The main religious ceremony of the Swazi people is the "Incwala" or ‘Festival of the First Fruits’, held in late December. Dressed in traditional attire, tens of thousands of Swazi men and women dance and chant prayers to their ancestors. They seek good rains that will ensure abundant crops.
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