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142. Land grab or development opportunity? International farmland deals in Africa
- Author:
- Lorenzo Cotula
- Publication Date:
- 06-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Over the past 12 months, large-scale acquisitions of farmland in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and Southeast Asia have made headlines in a flurry of media reports across the world. Lands that only a short time ago seemed of little outside interest are now being sought by international investors to the tune of hundreds of thousands of hectares.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Latin America
143. Crossing Borders, Changing Landscapes: Land-Use Dynamics in the Golden Triangle
- Author:
- Jefferson Fox
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Over the last half-century, public policy has affected land-use practices across the borders linking China, Thailand, and Laos. Political and economic reforms have facilitated labor mobility and a shift in agricultural practices away from staple grains and toward a diverse array of cash crops, rubber being one of the foremost. China has promoted the conversion of forests to rubber agroforestry in southern Yunnan--profitable for farmers, but a concern in terms of biodiversity and long-term viability. In Thailand, the response is at the other end of the spectrum as the government's concerns about land-use practices and watershed management have led to policies that dramatically constrain land-use practices and limit tenure rights. In Laos the future is not yet clear. Government policies provide weak support for both private land ownership and protected areas. In a global environment where national policy has such a dramatic effect on land use and land cover, the factors behind land-use change merit close examination.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, Migration, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, Thailand, and Southeast Asia
144. Forest Communities and REDD Climate Initiatives
- Author:
- Mark Poffenberger and Kathryn Smith-Hanssen
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Loss of the world's forests contributes an estimated 17 percent to all global greenhouse gas emissions, creating both a major challenge and an opportunity for international climate change agreements. In response, global policymakers have proposed that new carbon agreements include rewards for reducing forest-based emissions, an initiative known as REDD–Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. By creating financial incentives to reduce forest-sourced greenhouse gases, REDD projects could generate funding from developed countries to reduce deforestation in developing countries. In addition, some climate change specialists believe that REDD projects could benefit forest-dependent communities, whose participation is key to controlling the local forces that drive deforestation. Some communities are already learning about the new REDD carbon projects. As one villager from Cambodia explains, "We are going to sell our air to the people who are polluting in the city."
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Cambodia
145. Are the Farmers Always Right? Rethinking Assumptions Guiding Agricultural and Environmental Research in Southeast Asia
- Author:
- A. Terry Rambo
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Southeast Asia faces enormous challenges in managing its agricultural and environmental resources, from global warming to biodiversity loss. But chances for effectively addressing these issues may be hampered by the wide acceptance of four basic assumptions that guide the way we think about problems of managing agriculture and the environment. These assumptions form an interlinked system of thought that privileges the traditional and local over the modern and cosmopolitan. When taken to an extreme they lead to the view that traditional farmers are always right and that modern science is the cause, rather than a possible cure, of the serious environmental problems associated with agricultural development in Southeast Asia. Although when first proposed these assumptions were a radical alternative to the conventional thinking, in recent years they have themselves become the new conventional wisdom.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Southeast Asia
146. Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Australia's role in supporting the transition
- Author:
- Joel Negin and Jolyon Ford
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- Zimbabwe's long night is by no means over. Nearly a year after the violent and disputed March 2008 elections, and months after the September signing of a 'Global Political Agreement' with the ruling ZANU-PF party, the main faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) agreed in February to take part in a coalition government in which its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, became Prime Minister. The state apparatus in Zimbabwe is currently shared uneasily by reformers and reactionaries with each of the MDC and ZANU-PF having half of the cabinet seats. Hardline ZANU-PF elements remain in government and control the security services, and a quiet but intense power struggle continues.
- Topic:
- Security, Agriculture, Development, Foreign Aid, and Food
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Australia, and Zimbabwe
147. What Happened to the Seasons? Changing seasonality may be one of the major impacts of climate change
- Author:
- Steve Jennings and John Magrath
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The timing of rain, and intra-seasonal rainfall patterns are critical to smallholder farmers in developing countries. Seasonality influences farmers' decisions about when to cultivate and sow and harvest. It ultimately contributes to the success or failure of their crops. Worryingly, therefore, farmers are reporting that both the timing of rainy seasons and the pattern of rains within seasons are changing. These perceptions of change are striking in that they are geographically widespread and because the changes are described in remarkably consistent terms. In this paper, we relate the perceptions of farmers from several regions(East Asia, South Asia, Southern and East Africa, and Latin America) of how seasons are changing, and in some cases, how once distinct seasons appear to be disappearing altogether, and the impacts that these changes are having. We then go on to ask two critical questions. Firstly, do meteorological observations support farmers' perceptions of changing seasonality? Secondly, to what extent are these changes consistent with predictions from climate models? We conclude that changing seasonality may be one of the major impacts of climate change faced by smallholder farmers in developing countries over the next few decades. Indeed, this may already be the case. Yet it is relatively unexplored in the literature. We also suggest some of the key adaptation responses that might help farmers cope with these changes.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- Africa, East Asia, and Latin America
148. Harnessing Agriculture for Development
- Author:
- Arabella Fraser
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Harnessing Agriculture for Development is the result of a process of research and consultation conducted within Oxfam International from the end of 2007 to mid 2008, before the full impact of the current financial crisis was felt across the developing world. It is being published at a time when we face a particularly uncertain and unstable future, with heightened perceptions of risk, but when we also have a unique opportunity to generate the kinds of policy change required to achieve a new global balance.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, and Food
149. Bridging the Divide: The reform of global food security governance
- Author:
- Chris Leather
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Another World Food Summit is being held in Rome to discuss world food security, in the midst of a chronic global food crisis in which one billion (one in six) people go to bed hungry every day of their shortened lives. During the two-and-a-half days of the Summit, more than 60,000 people, 70 per cent of them children, will die of hunger-related causes.
- Topic:
- Security, Agriculture, Food, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Rome
150. Resilience: Working with vulnerable farmers towards climate change adaptation and food security
- Author:
- Jules Siedenburg, Kimberly Pfeifer, and Kelly Hauser
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Worldwide, 1.7 billion small-scale farmers and pastoralists are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. They live on marginal rural lands characterised by conditions such as low rainfall, sloping terrain, fragile soils, and poor market access, primarily in Africa and Asia. Such farmers are vulnerable because their farms depend directly on rainfall and temperature, yet they often have little savings and few alternative options if their crops fail or livestock die.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, and Food
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Asia
151. Land titling and tenure security in the context of inequality
- Author:
- Rikke Broegaard
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The stated goal of land titling and administration projects supported worldwide by development agencies like the World Bank is to strengthen property rights for the poor. Formal property rights, it is argued, lead to increased tenure security, which in turn encourages property rights holders to invest. Hence, strengthening property rights for the poor contributes to facilitate pro-poor economic growth and a more equitable development. However, the link between formal land titles and tenure security is assumed rather than based on empirical evidence. This DIIS-brief reviews this and other key assumptions underlying land titling and administration interventions. Findings from research that explores rural landowners' own perceptions of the factors that constitute tenure security highlight the importance of formal titles for perceived tenure security, but only in combination with other resources. Therefore, to single out formal titles as being equal to or the most important element in tenure security does not correspond with people's perceptions. Thus, promoting land titling as the policy intervention to strengthen tenure security does not appear to be a feasible strategy for addressing the highly complex problem of insecure land tenure for the rural poor. On the contrary, emerging evidence suggests that land titling tends to make land more readily available to a larger and more resourceful circle of potential buyers. Thus, rather than facilitating pro-poor and equitable development, land titling projects may clear the road for large-scale concentrations of land that gradually exclude the rural poor.
- Topic:
- Security, Agriculture, Government, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- Europe
152. Thinking About the Future of Food: The Chatham House Food Supply Scenarios
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- Demand for food is increasing because the global population is rising and major developing economies are expanding. Global supply capacity, meanwhile, is struggling to keep up with changing requirements. Four global food supply scenarios have been developed by the Chatham House Food Supply Project to consider the challenges created and their impact on the EU/UK: 'Just a Blip': what if the present high price of food proves to be a brief spike with a return to cheap food at some point soon? 'Food Inflation': what if food prices remain high for a decade or more? 'Into a New Era': what if today's food system has reached its limits and must change? 'Food in Crisis': what if a major world food crisis develops? Across the world the responses to change will be conditioned by uncertainties surrounding the availability of sufficient energy, water, land and skills. EU/UK stakeholders need to start planning now to develop new food supply systems that are up to the task.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Population
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom and Europe
153. An EU-Korea Free Trade Area: Playing Catch-Up or Taking the Lead?
- Author:
- Jim Rollo
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- Both Korea and the EU are pursuing free trade areas (FTAs) aggressively as part of their trade policy strategies. Korea is much further down the road. There are strong incentives on both sides to conclude an agreement. However, specific issues and EU's desire to do at least as well as, and preferably better than, the Korea–US FTA may delay or even preclude success. Korea and the EU are not principal suppliers to each other, so while an agreement is predicted to be economically favourable to both sides, the effects are not expected to be very large. Korea has the higher barriers and is expected to make the bigger economic gains. There are sensitive sectors on both sides, notably automobiles for the EU and services and processed foods for Korea. Both sides have important agricultural constituencies to protect. Korea's key role in the East Asian production system suggests that rules of origin could be an area of particular difficulty in the negotiation.
- Topic:
- Agriculture and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, East Asia, Asia, and South Korea
154. Rising Food Prices: Drivers and Implications for Development
- Author:
- Alex Evans
- Publication Date:
- 04-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- Global food prices have risen 83 per cent over the last three years. The increases have been driven by high income growth in emerging economies (probably the single most significant factor), use of crops for biofuels, the relative inelasticity of supply, historically low stock levels and some speculative investment. More recently, national concerns over inflation and prices have led some countries to reduce exports and others to try to build up stocks – creating a feedback loop that feeds on itself to drive prices up still further. In the medium to longer term, 'scarcity trends' – climate change, the cost of energy inputs, scarcity of land and water – could limit the supply-side response. In the immediate term, the priority is to increase both the volume and the quality of humanitarian assistance available to poor people, including by moving away from in-kind food aid and towards cash transfers or voucher systems – although it is important to be clear that there are outstanding questions about how these social protection systems will work, and they should not be seen as a panacea. The issue of compensatory financing may also arise for some countries facing balanceof- payments difficulties. In the longer term, the key challenge is to increase the supply of food: the World Bank estimates that demand for food will rise by 50 per cent by 2030, as a result of rising affluence and growing world population. Achieving this challenge will require something close to a revolution, and a massive investment in agriculture in developing countries. If supply fails to keep pace with rising demand, then the question of 'fair shares' is likely to emerge as a significant global issue. Already, the effect of a burgeoning global middle class switching to diets with more meat and dairy products – both relatively inefficient in terms of grain use – has been to reduce the affordability of staple foods for poorer consumers.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, Environment, International Trade and Finance, World Bank, and Population
155. Rethinking Food Security in Humanitarian Response
- Author:
- Daniel Maxwell, Patrick Webb, Jennifer Coates, and James Wirth
- Publication Date:
- 04-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- This paper serves as a background document to help frame discussion at the Food Security Forum in Rome, April 2008. It focuses on policy and institutional reform issues centered on the links between chronic and transitory crises. The first part of the paper provides an overview of trends and future challenges. The second considers effectiveness of the “humanitarian system” in addressing food insecurity and whether the current institutional set-up is fit for service. The third part examines links between “chronic” and “transitory” food insecurity, and whether current approaches to prevention and response appropriately bridge these two forms of vulnerability. A concluding section highlights key issues, raising questions on gaps in the humanitarian system's analytical capacity, its programmatic practices, and on food security policy more broadly.
- Topic:
- Security, Agriculture, Humanitarian Aid, and International Cooperation
156. The Time is Now: How world leaders should respond to the food price crisis
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Global food prices are up 83 per cent compared with three years ago. The resulting food price crisis constitutes an unprecedented threat to the livelihoods and well-being of millions of rural and urban households who are net food buyers. Around the world, Oxfam International and many of its partners have seen soaring prices force people to eat less food or less nutritious food and drive poor households to cut back on health care, education, and other necessities. Women and children's nutritional levels are particularly vulnerable, as women often put men's consumption before their own.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, and International Trade and Finance
157. Credibility crunch - Food, poverty, and climate change: an agenda for rich-country leaders
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The year 2008 is halfway to the deadline for reaching the Millennium Development Goals. Despite some progress, they will not be achieved if current trends continue. Aid promises are predicted to be missed by $30bn, at a potential cost of 5 million lives. Starting with the G8 meeting in Japan, rich countries must use a series of high-profile summits in 2008 to make sure the Goals are met, and to tackle both climate change and the current food crisis. Economic woes must not be used as excuses: rich countries' credibility is on the line.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Japan
158. Another Inconvenient Truth: How biofuel policies are deepening poverty and accelerating climate change
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The current biofuel policies of rich countries are neither a solution to the climate crisis nor the oil crisis, and instead are contributing to a third: the food crisis. In poor countries, biofuels may offer some genuine development opportunities, but the potential economic, social, and environmental costs are severe, and decision makers should proceed with caution.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Oil
159. Square pegs in round holes: How the Farm Bill squanders chances for a pro-development trade deal
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- When trade ministers from 35 countries gather in Geneva at the World Trade Organization [WTO] for what is being billed yet again as a last-ditch attempt to forge a Doha trade deal, they will be forced to meet an unwelcome guest: the 2008 US Farm Bill. With a host of newly bolstered subsidies that will hurt farmers in developing countries, as well as higher farm payment rates, squeezing the new Farm Bill into the 'boxes' defined under existing WTO obligations will be a remarkable trick. That speaks poorly about the willingness of the US to accept new disciplines on agricultural subsidies, and demonstrates that the US Congress is unwilling - thus far - to take the necessary steps for a new trade agreement that would prioritize development.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, International Organization, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and World Trade Organization
- Political Geography:
- Geneva and United States
160. Survival of the fittest: Pastoralism and climate change in East Africa
- Publication Date:
- 08-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Climate change is having a destructive impact on many groups around the world. Pastoralists in East Africa have been adapting to climate variability for millennia and their adaptability ought to enable them to cope with this growing challenge. This paper explains the policies required to enable sustainable and productive pastoralist communities to cope with the impact of climate change and generate sustainable livelihoods.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Africa and East Africa