Blog for People, Food and Nature

February 9, 2016

A Big Network in a Small Country – cooperation between research, church and farmers in Burundi

Sara Delaney, Episcopal Relief & Development Leonidas Niyongabo, Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi Community Development Program

Wedged between the hills and valleys of Rwanda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the great Lake Tanganyika, is the small country of Burundi. The density of people in this East African nation is a close second in Africa only to Rwanda, its neighboring country. While its size can be a challenge, it can […] ...
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January 18, 2016

Trendy and sustainable, quinoa and chia research in Egypt

Christine Arlt SEKEM Initiative

Chia and quinoa seem to be predestined for Egypt. Chia and quinoa are dry and salt-tolerant crops. Both of them have a great potential to improve food security in regions that do not have enough water resources. “In march 2015 I visited the SEKEM Initiative Farm for the first time and gained awareness of the huge challenges […] ...
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January 7, 2016

The Cameroon Pilot: Model Forests as a Vehicle of Sustainable Development in Africa

Mariteuw Chimère Diaw African Model Forest Network

Having multiple goals for a Sustainable World means our management plans must generate multiple outcomes. Looking across the multiple Sustainable Development Goals and their targets, it is clear that many of the objectives outlined by the Post-Development Agenda are connected to each other. For example, you cannot effectively eradicate extreme poverty without improving access t ...
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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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December 4, 2015

Grassroots forest management in Xinqi

Sander van de Moortel World Agroforestry Centre

Once crippled by rampant deforestation, this Chinese village organized to reinvigorate the landscape, and raise the quality of life, through sustainable forest management. Entering Xinqi (新岐), a small settlement near the Burmese border in southwestern China, is an experience unlike arriving in any other Chinese village. Surrounded by lush green mountains, the village immedi ...
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December 3, 2015

Transboundary landscape management in the Kailash Sacred Landscape

Corinna Wallrapp Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit

Among the peaks of the Chinese Tibetan Autonomous Region highland lies one of the most venerated sites in the world—Mount Kailash Located in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China, this sacred mountain has held a status of utmost importance for many different religious groups for thousands of years. Every year, a […] ...
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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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November 25, 2015

Power in numbers, Trifinio involves diverse stakeholders for climate-smart planning

Leida Mercado CATIE

The highlands tucked between El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were once heavily degraded. Tri-national cooperation, emphasizing conservation and land restoration, transformed this marginalized region into a platform for multi-stakeholder engagement in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Degraded and marginalized. These words once adequately described the 7,500 km2 are ...
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October 31, 2015

India’s climate tech revolution is starting in its villages

Lisa Palmer

From solar powered irrigation to handheld crop sensors, climate-smart villages are springing up across Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and other states Editors Note: This story was originally published in The Guardian online on October 12th, 2015. It is reposted here with the permission of the author. Camels pulling wooden carts loaded with coconuts plod down the main road amid [&h ...
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