Blog for People, Food and Nature

Instituting landholder protections is critical in order to generate growth and security for the African people.  Two presenters emphasized this point during an event on the emerging land issues in Africa hosted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).  While Professor Thomas Jayne and Karen Boudreaux focused on different aspects of the African agricultural [&he ...

Rio+20 has passed, but that doesn’t mean that agriculture and sustainable development are off the table. We are continuing to showcase some of the work in prep for Rio+20, relevant to landscapes for people, food and nature. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) released a policy brief this month highlighting the increasing need to […] ...

In coordination with the Rio+20 conference that took place in Brazil last week, Fairfood International, a professional non-profit organization striving to be  a catalyst for change towards a sustainable and a fair food system, just released a set of documents titled “The Food Future We Want”.  The documents follows the structure of  “The Future We […] ...

Every two years the Equator Initiative partnership awards the prestigious Equator Prize to outstanding local and indigenous community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.  The Equator Initiative is dedicated to celebrating successful local initiatives at the poverty-biodiversity nexus, creating opportunities for sharing  ...

The Partnership Forum at Rio+20 consists of a series of events designed to highlight and promote some of the best partnerships currently contributing to the implementation of sustainable development. The Forum culminates this Friday, June 22, with a session for “forward-looking reflection” and “visionary perspectives” on the future of partnerships and ho ...

In an event yesterday, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) released the report Avoiding Future Famines: Strengthening the Ecological Foundation of Food Security through Sustainable Food Systems. Launched at Rio+20, the report challenges the business as usual methods for growing food, and argues for a more integrated and holistic approach in transitioning to a Gree ...

Yesterday, the Rome-based United Nations agencies – Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – along with the CGIAR’s Bioversity International held an event on ‘Aiming for a Food Secure Future.’ This event served to engage stakeholders in a dialogue on steps ...

Yesterday marked the fourth Agriculture and Rural Development Day, and the first outside of a UNFCCC meeting. From the very beginning, it had a slightly different flavor: landscapes featured prominently on the agenda. Rachel Kyte, World Bank Vice President of Sustainable Development, kicked off the day arguing that “we can’t achieve food security, we can’t [&h ...

With Rio+20 UNCSD taking place this week, the issues of development and sustainability continue to garner attention. The Landscapes Blog has been highlighting relevant reports, which discuss various approaches to economic growth and poverty alleviation, while addressing multiple environmental concerns.  The Africa Human Development Report, published by the UNDP, discusses the ...

Increasing food production, boosting rural incomes, improving human health, and restoring degraded land, rivers and habitats – these are critical needs that must be addressed in the upcoming Rio+20 UNCSD. The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative has released a new report presenting an innovative approach involving building alliances between groups competing for l ...