Combating Desertification and Drought

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.

ENVIRONMENT-LATAM: Ethical Development to Cool Off the Planet

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva suggested an ethically and politically sustainable development model at a conference in this southeastern Brazilian city that has brought together national and international authorities and experts, business leaders and researchers to discuss solutions to fight climate change in the region.
Children of the Ambororo nomadic tribe in south Darfur carry water in plastic containers for their families. Credit: UN Photo/Tim McKulka

ENVIRONMENT: Scramble for Resources Driving Sudan Conflicts

By IPS Correspondents
A U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) report released here this week emphasises strong linkages between environmental stresses and the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

Q&A: "The Involvement of the Government Is Still Mixed"

By IPS Correspondents
Some cause for optimism, but several reasons for concern...That's the message from Amadou Wassouni as regards efforts to address desertification in Cameroon.

ENVIRONMENT: Parliaments Said to be "Weak" in Fighting Desertification

By IPS Correspondents
Legislatures have been taken to task over their track record in addressing desertification, this at the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP8), currently underway in the Spanish capital, Madrid.

ENVIRONMENT: Warming May Trigger Agricultural Collapse

By IPS Correspondents
India could lose up to 40 percent of its agricultural output because of global warming even as it becomes the world's most populous country, warns a new study.

ENVIRONMENT-COTE D’IVOIRE: Soya By Way of War

By Aly Ouattara
When the failed coup of September 2002 led to a prolonged period of isolation for northern Côte d'Ivoire, farmers in this rebel-held region counted the cost.

ENVIRONMENT: Sands Running Out for UN Desertification Treaty

By Tito Drago
Concrete, firm and effective steps need to be taken by governments at the Eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, inaugurated in Spain’s capital Monday by the prince and princess of Asturias.

HEALTH-GHANA: Boreholes That Proved a Lifeline Have Come at a Cost

By Francis Kokutse
Ask people to list the causes of tooth discolouration and they may mention tobacco chewing, or one too many cups of coffee a day. Pose the question in Ghana's northern Nayorigo village, however, and someone might answer: desertification.
Atuel riverbed dry on La Pampa-Mendoza border Credit: Asociación Alihuen

ARGENTINA: From Wetlands to Desert, But No One Listening Upstream

By Marcela Valente
The western portion of the Argentine province of La Pampa was a veritable oasis 50 years ago, with natural vegetation, thriving crops and abundant livestock. But the arbitrary management of the Atuel river upstream in the neighbouring province of Mendoza has transformed what were once wetlands and fertile farmland into a desert.

BURUNDI: Population Growth and Poor Farming Methods Weigh on the Land

By IPS Correspondents
In Busoni, northern Burundi, the Mbarushimana clan is receiving a hard lesson in the limits of natural resources. Three sons, and other relatives, are trying to survive on land inherited from their father, amidst doubts that the small property is up to the task of supporting them.
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