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Earlier this month, the UN open working group on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) proposed a framework to replace the millennium development goals (MDGs), which expire in 2015. The SDGs are meant to guide global action on health, poverty, hunger, climate and other development challenges. The key component of the SDGs, as its name indicates, […]

Secure land rights are essential for improving the livelihoods of the poor and, more broadly, for economic development. In many emerging economies however, land remains a largely unprotected asset, one that lacks documented tenure and property rights. By Iris Krebber, Senior Land Policy Lead, DFID and Chair, Global Donor Group on Land, originally published on […]

Editor’s Note: Dr. Daju Resosudarmo of the Center for International Forestry Research will speak on “Forests in Sustainable Development” in the UN General Assembly on 4 February starting at 9 a.m. EST (4 p.m. GMT); her presentation will be shown live online at webtv.un.org. The Open Working Group’s website will post supporting materials after the meeting; […]

As climate variability increases, regions are becoming more vulnerable to its negative impacts. The agricultural sector will be hit hardest by climate change, not only suffering from direct influences but also from multiplier effects. In order to adapt, farmers need to know how weather will change in their area – requiring data that goes beyond […]

A new land-use study focuses on the agricultural and environmental impacts of fertilizer use in Africa. For the first time, researchers look at the problem at a continental scale. Farmers in Africa increasingly turn towards the cheaper, nitrogen-based products – with negative consequences for yields and environmental costs felt beyond the agricultural sector. The study […]

Agriculture is the sector that is hit hardest by climate change – and developing countries will be most vulnerable to these shocks. Three new papers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week look at climate consequences for major crops, the availability of fresh water and what climate change means for […]