June 23, 2014
Landscape Capacity Building in Africa: How to Ensure Ownership, Equality and Change
Cora van Oosten
Wageningen UR
Louise Buck
Working from a landscape perspective means to be able to “see the bigger picture.” Besides having technical know-how, one needs to understand spatial processes, work in teams to make landscape decisions, balance the needs of many stakeholders, and be sensitive to local circumstances. Without a doubt, it is difficult to live up to these aspects […] ...
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June 20, 2014
Priorities for Research to Achieve Landscapes for People, Food and Nature in Africa
Christine Negra
Emerging Ag Inc.
In too many parts of Africa, a challenging combination of natural resource and labor constraints and limited access to agricultural inputs and technologies reinforces persistent yield gaps and rural poverty traps. Now more than ever, innovative research on sustainable agriculture is crucial to Africa’s well-being. In 2001-2008, public research and development (R&D) in sub ...
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June 18, 2014
Unlocking the Potential of Integrated Landscape Management for Business in Africa
Lee Gross
EcoAgriculture Partners
With approximately 60% of the world’s remaining arable land, Africa is poised to achieve significant economic growth through agricultural development and other rural land uses. It has been estimated that between 2008-2020, consumer products, natural resources, agriculture and infrastructure in Africa will combine for a potential revenue of $US 2.6 trillion – with agri ...
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June 17, 2014
Insights on the UNCCD’s 2030 Zero Net Land Degradation Target
Ilan Stavi, Dead Sea and Arava Science Center
According to recent estimations, approximately 3.5 billion hectares of land (23% of the globe’s land area) have been experiencing degradation processes of various types and severity. Land degradation – mainly soil erosion, deterioration of the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of soil, and the loss of natural vegetation – is estimated to occur at a [& ...
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June 16, 2014
Landscape Governance in Africa: Navigating Power Imbalances to Foster Cooperation
Constance Neely
World Agroforestry Centre
Raffaela Kozar
Louise Buck
Editor’s note: This July, the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative is hosting a conference to bring together leading minds from African government, research, civil society and the private sector in Nairobi. The goal? To generate an ambitious agenda to enhance and scale effective integrated landscape management in Africa. By sharing the best in […] ...
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June 5, 2014
Climate Change: What's at stake for Smallholder Farmers?
From June 4-15, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change meetings are taking place in Bonn, Germany to address the ongoing climate change crisis. While these negotiations will focus on governments and international treaties, Dr. Celia Harvey of Conservation International reminds us that smallholder farmers are perhaps the most vital stakeholders for addressing climate c ...
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June 5, 2014
Life Isn't Always Easy in the Islands: A Closer Look at World Environment Day
By Eva Fillion, EcoAgriculture Partners You can tell that World Environment Day is taken seriously when it is celebrated for an entire week. This year’s theme, Raise Your Voice, Not The Sea Level, is focused on the adaptations and resilience of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to the effects of climate change. The week-long celebration […] ...
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May 30, 2014
Even A Little Bit Goes a Long Way: The Role of Green Spaces in Resilient Cities
By Eva Fillion, EcoAgriculture Partners I decided to leave the air-conditioned office this afternoon to eat my lunch outside in a nearby park. Even though the air was heavy with humidity and hazy heat, I found the park packed with people on their own lunch breaks. The scene reinforced the fact that many of us […] ...
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May 28, 2014
Dancing Our Way to Effective Integrated Landscape Management
A collaborative endeavor by nature, integrated landscape management depends upon striking a balance between multiple stakeholders and their various strengths and weaknesses in order to achieve the goal of effectively managing a multipurpose landscape. Abby Hart and Camilla Zanzanaini investigate the efficacy of institutionalized integrated landscape management in their post o ...
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May 23, 2014
Moving Away From Win-Wins and Towards Sustainable Solutions in Palm Oil
Kedar Mankad, EcoAgriculture Partners It seems that a week doesn’t pass these days without a new editorial on palm oil. Sometimes they highlight the bad, other times they highlight the good. When speaking of solutions, the dialogue on both sides inexorably leads toward “win-win” solutions, where consumers, the environment and companies all come out on top. […] ...
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