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2. Climate Change and Human Rights: The Case of the Ethiopian Famine
- Author:
- Melissa Rary
- Publication Date:
- 04-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
- Abstract:
- With effects of climate change becoming more prominent, it is important to examine what climate change will mean in terms of human rights and the impact on the most vulnerable populations. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasizes “increasing frequency of extreme weather events and natural disasters, rising sea-levels, floods, heat waves, droughts, desertification, water shortages, and the spread of tropical and vector-borne diseases” as a few of the many adverse effects resulting from climate change. Moreover, these issues threaten the enjoyment of the most basic rights including right to life, water, food, sanitation, among many others. Ethiopia, a country with over 80% of its population living in multidimensional poverty, is no beginner when it comes to dealing with famines. The Ethiopian Civil war began with a coup d’etat in 1973, which was largely a result of unrest after Emperor Haile Selassie refused to respond to the 1972 famine. In 1984, Ethiopia suffered a worse, more publicized famine, which is said to have killed over a million people. International initiatives were able to secure international aid, but political instability into 1991 led to lower rates of development as compared to its other Sub-Saharan neighbors. In the midst violence, a large sector of the Ethiopian population was lost, and the Ethiopian economy collapsed as a result of the government’s resistance to welcome international aid in rebel-controlled areas. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was established in 1991 and was followed by a shift in Ethiopia’s resistance to international aid, ultimately jumpstarting the upwards trend of development.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Human Rights, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Ethiopia
3. What Works for Women: Proven approaches for empowering women smallholders and achieving food security
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- What changes do we need to empower women smallholders and achieve food security? This question has been asked repeatedly over the past several decades, but transformative changes in both public policy and practice have been few and far between. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), closing the „gender gap‟ in agriculture –or increasing women‟s contribution to food production and enterprise by providing equal access to resources and opportunities –could reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 per cent, or by 100 to 150 million people.
- Topic:
- Security, Agriculture, Gender Issues, Food, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
4. Food Crisis in the Horn of Africa: Progress Report, July 2011 - July 2012
- Author:
- Sophie Mack Smith
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The 2011 drought across the Horn of Africa was, in some places, the worst to hit the region for 60 years. It was first predicted about a year beforehand, when sophisticated regional early warning systems began to alert the world to the possibility of drier-than-normal conditions in key pastoral areas of Ethiopia, Somalia and Northern Kenya, linked to the effects of the climatic phenomenon La Niña.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Humanitarian Aid, Food, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- Kenya, Africa, Ethiopia, and Somalia
5. Shale Gas and the EU Internal Gas Market: Beyond the Hype and Hysteria
- Author:
- Jonas Teusch
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- This paper analyses the interplay between shale gas and the EU internal gas market. Drawing on data presented in the 2012 International Energy Agency's report on unconventional gas and additional scenario analyses performed by the Joint Research Centre, the paper is based on the assumption that shale gas will not fundamentally change the EU's dependence on foreign gas supplies. It argues that attention should be shifted away from hyping shale gas to completing the internal gas market. Two main reasons are given for this. First, the internal gas market is needed to enable shale gas development in countries where there is political support for shale gas extraction. And second, a well-functioning internal gas market would, arguably, contribute much more to Europe's security of supply than domestic shale gas exploitation. This has important implications for the shale gas industry. As it is hard to see how subsidies or exemptions from environmental legislation could be justified, shale gas development in Europe will only go ahead if it proves to be both economically and environmentally viable. It is thus up to the energy industry to demonstrate that this is the case.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- Europe
6. Who will feed the World? The production challenge
- Author:
- Lucia Wegner and Gine Zwart
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Against a background of increasing food insecurity, agriculture in developing countries must undergo a significant transformation in order to increase production and respond to climate change. It is estimated that feeding 8.2 billion people – an additional 1.4 billion – in 2030 would require raising overall food production by some 50 per cent between 2005/07 and 2030. Feeding a larger urban population in a context of increasing scarcity of land and water, while also adopting more sustainable production methods, is a daunting challenge. In Africa, where it is predicted that population levels will double during the same period, the challenge will be even more acute.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, Poverty, Science and Technology, Food, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- Africa
7. Never an Empty Bowl: Sustaining Food Security in Asia
- Author:
- Dan Glickman and M.S. Swaminathan
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- Asia's ability to feed itself is of fundamental importance not only to the people living in the region, but also to the world. One of the bright spots over the past half-century has been Asia's capacity to lift many of its citizens out of poverty and ensure that they have plentiful, inexpensive supplies of food, including rice, the region's main staple. But Asia still accounts for about 65% of the world's hungry population, and the historical gains from the Green Revolution are increasingly at risk. Declining trends in agricultural research and rural investment may lead to long-term food supply shortages and increased vulnerability to the famines that used to plague the region.
- Topic:
- Security, Climate Change, Demographics, Poverty, Food, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- Asia
8. Thought for Food: A New Dataset on Innovation for Agricultural Use
- Author:
- Daniel K. N. Johnson and Christopher Ryan Hughes
- Publication Date:
- 06-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Department of Economics and Business, Colorado College
- Abstract:
- Agriculture, like many primary and service sectors, is a frequent recipient of innovation intended for its use, even if those innovations originate in industrial sectors. The challenge has been identifying them from patent data, which are recorded for administrative purposes using the International Patent Classification (IPC) system. We reprogram a well-tested tool, the OECD Technology Concordance (OTC), to identify 16 million patents granted between 1975 and 2006 worldwide which have potential application in agriculture. This paper presents the methodology of that dataset's construction, introduces the data via summaries by nation and industrial sector over time, and suggests some potential avenues for future exploration of empirical issues using these data.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Science and Technology, Food, and Famine
9. Asia's Next Challenge: Securing the Region's Water Future
- Author:
- Tommy Koh (Chairman)
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- The global demand for freshwater is soaring as supply is becoming more uncertain. Today, one out of six people—more than a billion—do not have adequate access to safe water. The United Nations projects that by 2025, half of the countries worldwide will face water stress or outright shortages. By 2050, as many as three out of four people around the globe could be affected by water scarcity.
- Topic:
- Security, Water, Food, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- Israel, Asia, and Australia/Pacific