December 9, 2014
A Gabion Named Marcelino: A Story of Cross-Border Land Restoration
Tom Barry
Center for International Policy
Several kilometers south of the U.S.-Mexico border is a gabion dam commemorating Marcelino Alfaro. A decade ago Alfaro didn’t know what a gabion was. But on the January morning in 2014 that Alfaro suffered a fatal heart attack, the seventy-something leader of the Ejido 18 de Agosto was inspecting the gabions (rock-filled baskets formed by […] ...
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December 8, 2014
How can we manage ecosystem services for development outcomes? The case of the Cañete River Basin
Marcela Quintero
International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Sarah Jones
Earlier this month, the CGIAR research program on Water, Land and Ecosystems published an Ecosystem Service and Resilience (ESR) Framework presenting an approach for using ecosystem service and resilience concepts to create multi-functional landscapes that sustain production, livelihoods, and human well-being. What does this mean for communities living in rural landscapes? The ...
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December 5, 2014
Can large-scale landscape restoration initiatives fulfill their promises: a resounding “YES” from northern Ethiopia
Lulseged Tamene
International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Frank Van Steenbergen
Kifle Woldearegay
The arid to semi-arid environments of Ethiopia, particularly the Tigray region in northern part of the country, is a typical example which demonstrates that large-scale interventions can fulfill their promises in enhancing food security, ensuring environmental sustainability and creating landscapes resilient to climate and weather variability. Before the years 1994/1995, land ...
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December 3, 2014
Agriculture Can’t Fulfil its Commitment to Nutrition Without Much More Broadly Based Innovation
Michael Loevinsohn
Institute of Development Studies
One might be forgiven for thinking that agriculture—the ultimate source of our food—is at the centre of nutrition. Certainly, that’s how many who make their living in agriculture, understand it. That adequate, quality food underpins health, which makes it possible to produce or purchase adequate, quality food is as clear as the day is long. […] ...
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December 1, 2014
Transforming Lands, Transforming Lives: Hope for Millions Living on the Edge of Mighty Rivers in Bangladesh
AZM Nazmul Islam Chowdhury
Practical Action Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the mighty rivers of the Ganges and Brahmaputra are both vital and threatening to nearby inhabitants. Monsoon rains cause the rivers to swell, often flooding villages and fields. However, during the other months, drought leaves crops, livestock and communities praying for water. Land is scarce, population density is high and poverty and food […] ...
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