April 21, 2016
Harnessing the power of crop wild relatives for pulse improvement
Nik Tyack
CWR Diversity
Pulses, annual leguminous crops that include lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas, have nutritious value as a low-fat source of protein and fiber. They help to increase soil fertility by virtue of their nitrogen-fixing properties, and generally have a lower water footprint compared to most other protein sources. As valuable as current pulse varieties are, however, […] ...
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April 18, 2016
Women in agriculture and food security programming: Promoting more meaningful change
Bryan Crawford-Garrett
Oxu Solutions
Women make up approximately half of the world’s farmers, but there is massive inequity between male and female farmers—especially in the developing world. These inequities are most pronounced in terms of women lacking equal access to and control over productive resources. To address this ‘gender gap’ in agriculture, there are numerous NGOs, multilateral agencies, and [& ...
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April 13, 2016
Assessing cost effectiveness of restoration outcomes
Harold Levrel
Agro ParisTech University
Pierre Scemama
Context-based valuations of ecosystem services offer decision makers practical information on how to face specific environmental issues. Following major international initiatives such as the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity Initiative (TEEB) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity (IPBE ...
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March 2, 2016
Drawing the line on the landscape approach and climate-smart landscapes
Koen Kusters
Tropenbos International
There is no consensus about the practical implications of the concepts “climate-smart landscapes” and the “landscape approach.” Global challenges of poverty, food security, environmental degradation, and climate change are in the limelight. Recent high-level conferences—the Global Landscapes Forum, the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, the United Nations ...
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January 28, 2016
Digital tablets: palliative care for survey ailments
Alex Smajgl
Mekong Regional Futures Institute
John Ward
There are a number of common pains and ailments experienced by practitioners conducting livelihood surveys, particularly in remote communities. Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on the Thrive Blog. It is cross-posted here with permission. Unplanned delays in questionnaire design and piloting, variations in interviewing techniques and enumerator behaviours, re ...
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December 22, 2015
Six individual competencies for working with multi-stakeholder partnerships
Jim Woodhill
Herman Brouwer
Wageningen UR, Centre for Development Innovation
Minu Hemmati
Good multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) don’t just happen. As discussed in our previous blog, multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) need to be carefully designed and facilitated. People working with MSPs in landscapes are brokering, convening, and moderating communication, meetings, and joint action – all of which can be part of MSP facilitation. Some come to this role ...
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December 16, 2015
Seven principles for effective and healthy multi-stakeholder partnerships
Jim Woodhill
Herman Brouwer
Wageningen UR, Centre for Development Innovation
Minu Hemmati
Today, there is no policy maker, business representative, or civil society director who will come to a sustainability conference without calling for more stakeholder engagement. There is also growing consensus among academics that any solution towards sustainable development requires partnerships. Likewise, landscape academics point out that landscape approaches are likely to ...
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December 11, 2015
Securing Dignity, Sustaining Nature, Part 2
Gaurav Madan
Rights and Resources Initiative
While receiving community titles has kindled a cautious feeling of security among villagers, the politics surrounding protected areas continues to be precarious. Editor’s Note: Read the first part of this series, ‘Securing Dignity, Sustaining Nature’, here It is estimated that communities live in more than two-thirds of India’s protected areas. Since their l ...
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December 10, 2015
Securing Dignity, Sustaining Nature, Part 1
Gaurav Madan
Rights and Resources Initiative
In the Simlipal Tiger Reserve in India, everyday life and culture are deeply intertwined with the surrounding environment, which is reflected in local knowledge of the area’s vegetation and biodiversity. My several-hour journey into the heart of the Simlipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha began in Jashipur, a small but bustling town on the edge of […] ...
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November 27, 2015
Balancing multiple SDG-related outcomes of riparian buffers in the Volta Basin
Sylvia Wood
Bioversity International
Sarah Jones
In the Volta Basin of West Africa, rivers represent the life-blood of cultivation in the semi-arid north and are the key to hydropower generation in the south. Today, agricultural runoff, land use change and construction of major hydroelectric dams in the Volta Basin are degrading these life-supporting rivers. Mapping opportunities for conservation and Sustainable Develop ...
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