December 9, 2014
A Gabion Named Marcelino: A Story of Cross-Border Land Restoration
Tom BarryCenter 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…
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December 8, 2014
How can we manage ecosystem services for development outcomes? The case of the Cañete River Basin
Sarah JonesBioversity InternationalMarcela QuinteroInternational Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
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 doe…
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December 5, 2014
Can large-scale landscape restoration initiatives fulfill their promises: a resounding “YES” from northern Ethiopia
Kifle WoldearegayMekelle UniversityFrank Van SteenbergenMeta MetaLulseged TameneInternational Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
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 climat…
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December 3, 2014
Agriculture Can’t Fulfil its Commitment to Nutrition Without Much More Broadly Based Innovation
Michael LoevinsohnInstitute 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 …
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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 ChowdhuryPractical 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, populatio…
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November 26, 2014
Analog Forestry: Creating Productive Landscapes by Imitating Forest Structure
Adam Kabir DickinsonInternational Analog Forestry Network
As we look toward the 2014 Global Landscapes Forum, one of the key challenges we are faced with is to find a way for agricultural landscapes to contribute to ecosystem integrity and safeguard biodiversity. If one were asked to come up with a defining question or challenge for contemporary landscape restoration, it migh…
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