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Saturday, September 19, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Combating Desertification and Drought
ENVIRONMENT: Plans to Halt Desertification in Africa a Work in Progress
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) requires signatories to create national action plans for dealing with this scourge that allow sustainable development - and encompass participation by communities, amongst others.ENVIRONMENT-CAMEROON: Women Face to Face with Desertification
The village of Ngouma has a population of 538 people, 406 of which are women. Most of the men, especially those who can still work the fields, have left in the face of land degradation and even desertification.ENVIRONMENT: Desertification Gains a Foothold in Rwanda
As recently as 2002, 41-year-old Marie Mutezinka was still able to meet the needs of her four children by farming in Gako, in the Bugesera region of south-east Rwanda.JAPAN: Leading Biodiversity Conservation
A call by the United Nations to restore and protect biodiversity in the world through a global convention is seen as being of particular importance to Japan, a leading importer of natural resources.CLIMATE CHANGE: Deforestation Main Challenge for UNEP
The severe degradation of the environment and its impact on climate change are dominating discussions currently underway at the 24th meeting of the governing council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in the Kenyan capital.ENVIRONMENT-CHILE: Wetlands – To Know Them Is to Cherish Them
Increasing society's knowledge about wetlands and improving coordination between the different public services involved in the conservation of these valuable ecosystems are among Chile's main challenges at the moment, according to experts.BRAZIL: Clean Water – Hold the Salt
Thousands of people in Brazil's semi-arid Northeast are slaking their thirst thanks to a technology that is little used in Latin America: the reverse-osmosis membrane, which desalinises and purifies water. A filter designed by Brazilian experts should be ready in two years.CLIMATE CHANGE: Catastrophes Inevitable, Says New Report
The fourth assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will confirm catastrophic predictions on global warming and its effect on nature and weather cycles over coming decades.ECONOMY-ZAMBIA: Maize Production (Almost) a Success Story
Zambia is poised to have a maize surplus this season but it is still unlikely that the food will reach many of the 58 percent of Zambians that are classified as extremely poor.SOUTHERN AFRICA: Rainy Season Brings Mixed Blessings
This year's rainy season has brought some mixed blessings to farmers and aid agencies operating in Southern Africa, which experienced a spell of drought and famine last year.NAMIBIA: Environment Plan Slow to Take Off
The Namibian government has adopted all the right policies to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goal Seven on sustainable environmental practices, but its good intentions have floundered at the implementation stage.ENVIRONMENT: Endless Summer Not As Nice As It Sounds
Warmer, wetter and stormier - the largest ever scientific review of climate change will say there is virtually no doubt that emissions from burning fossil fuels are causing the documented rise in global temperatures.WEST AFRICA: From Desertification, to Migration, to Conflict
It has been three years since Brahima Ouédraogo, a small-scale farmer from Burkina Faso, arrived in a little village in the Tabou region of south-western Côte d'Ivoire with his family, in search of arable land.BENIN: Cotton at the Heart of the Economy – and of Desertification
Cotton production forms a key part of the Beninese economy. However, Armande Zanou-Aivodji - point person for desertification in the Ministry of the Environment - says this production is also leading to soil degradation in the West African country. IPS talked to her about this concern, and the dangers posed by desertification in general.ENVIRONMENT-WEST AFRICA: The Arteries of the Niger River Clogged
The Niger river snakes through nine countries in West Africa before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. It is an epic 4,200 kilometres in length, provides sustenance to millions of people - and has trouble brewing at its source.CHALLENGES 2006-2007: Keeping the Sahara in Check
Two hundred kilometres. A long distance to some, perhaps, but in the context of desertification in Algeria, alarmingly short.BRAZIL: Rainwater Tanks a Weapon Against Drought
The impoverished population of the Brazilian Northeast, one of regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, is preparing for long-term coexistence with drought, through various projects such as the construction of one million tanks to collect rainwater.ENVIRONMENT-AFRICA: The Past a Warning for the Future
A prolonged drought in East Africa in the 1890s not only killed tens of thousands of the native Maasai people, it also reshaped the ecological and political landscape - this according to new research published in the current issue of the 'African Journal of Ecology'.CLIMATE CHANGE: Will Forests Adapt to a Warmer World?
Deforestation remains the greatest current threat to the world's forests, claiming 10 to 15 million hectares of tree-covered areas every year, but climate change may represent a bigger challenge in the long term, scientists say.DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: If You Can’t Escape Climate Change, Adapt to It
A conference on climate change, about to wrap up in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, has heard that adaptation to the effects of shifting weather patterns can play a key role in efforts to address climate change - alongside the bid to lessen greenhouse gas emissions.ENVIRONMENT-AFRICA: Changing Climate, Changing Lives
Marginalised communities attending a United Nations conference on climate change being held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have given accounts of how their lives are being altered for the worse - something they blame on climate change.« 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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