Children shouldn’t have to starve to death (The Globe and Mail)

Read at :

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/world-failed-to-heed-early-warning-system-on-famine/article2305753/

World failed to heed early warning system on famine

Children shouldn’t have to starve to death to galvanize the international community into action. And yet that is what happened in the Horn of Africa last summer.

Sophisticated early warning systems forecast a drought and hunger crisis in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia as far back as the summer of 2010; but donors, governments, the United Nations and even relief agencies failed to respond until people began to die.

In the months before the famine, the world was understandably preoccupied with the global recession, the Arab Spring uprisings and other crises. However, the early warning system, which analyzes weather, agriculture, livestock, markets and nutrition, produced reliable information that should not have been ignored.

The wait-and-see approach resulted in the unnecessary deaths of 100,000 people – many of them Somali women and children. In all, more than 13 million people have been affected. Tens of millions of extra dollars had to be spent to bring in food and water.

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The world’s donor nations now face another crisis (Google / The Globe and Mail)

Read at : Google Alert – images of the Africa Drought

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/worldview/will-west-africas-drought-be-a-repeat-disaster/article2317080/

Will West Africa’s drought be a repeat disaster?

geoffrey york

Johannesburg— Globe and Mail Update

After thousands died needlessly because of the slow response to the Somalia famine last year, the world’s donor nations now face another crisis: a drought in West Africa where up to 500,000 could die if no help arrives.

Failed harvests and lack of rain are affecting millions of people in the Sahel region of eight countries in West Africa. The crisis is made worse by rising food prices and the exodus of 200,000 migrant workers from Libya and Ivory Coast after the wars there.

Now the question is whether the world’s wealthy nations will respond in time – or whether they will repeat the disaster of the Somalia famine, when early warnings were ignored for nearly a year before aid was finally sent.

The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, says it needs $100-million this year to save the lives of 500,000 children in the Sahel. It wants to provide food to a million people in the region, and so far it only has the resources to feed half of them.

“We’re buying food as quickly as we can,” said David Gressly, the regional director of UNICEF in West Africa.

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Significantly worsening hunger levels throughout the Sahel (Christian Aid)

Read at : Google Alert – images of the Africa Drought

http://www.christianaid.org.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/january-2012/christian-aid-responds-worsening-sahel-hunger-crisis.aspx

Christian Aid responds to worsening Sahel hunger crisis

With seven million people across five West African countries facing the spectre of famine within months, Christian Aid is stepping up its early response plans to assist those living in the stricken Sahel region.

Niger, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania all suffer from chronic malnutrition crises but the prospect of a full-blown emergency has prompted the governments of all five countries to declare states of emergency and call for international assistance.

‘The Sahel is once again facing a humanitarian crisis and, unusually this time, several governments in the region have called for international assistance and are developing emergency response plans. Now the responsibility is on the international community to scale up fast enough to avoid major suffering since these governments cannot tackle this on their own,” says Cristina Ruiz, Christian Aid’s Africa humanitarian programmes manager.

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The coming crisis in the Sahel (Google / People+Planet)

Read at : Google Alert – images of the Africa Drought

http://www.peopleandplanet.net/?lid=30205&topic=27&section=33

COMMENTARY: World must wake up to the coming crisis in the Sahel

Posted: 23 January 2012

Author: Malcolm Potts

If forecasters could draw isobars outlining human suffering, then the high pressure zone of human pain would surely be in the failed, and failing states, along the Sahel, and across to Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan, says Professor Malcolm Potts. This powerful Commentary is a wake-up call for new strategies to avert an environmentally-induced human catastrophe.

Along the edge of the Sahara desert, rapid population growth, global warming, poor governance and a hideous mistreatment of women are combining in a perfect storm which could lead to unprecedented levels of environmental stress, starvation, escalating conflict and massive waves of migration.

The potential for human misery is colossal. The need to act is pressing. The scale of problems in the Sahel goes beyond the usual response to a potential humanitarian disaster. New international strategies need to be built about food security, family planning, gender equity and governance that have major geopolitical implications for the rest of the twenty-first century.

Our brains weren’t evolved to deal with millions, let alone billions. We are easily numbed by numbers. Huge but slowly moving catastrophes may be the most difficult of all to bring to public attention, but these mega-catastrophes, taking decades to fully build, are ultimately the most important.

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Nearly half Niger’s population does not have enough to eat (IRIN)

Read at :

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94713

NIGER: Thousands of villages hit by severe food shortages

NIAMEY, 24 January 2012 (IRIN) – Nearly half Niger’s population does not have enough to eat and the government says it is facing a grain shortfall of 692,501 tons, following another severe drought across the Sahel.

The government says it needs 3.8 million tons of cereals to feed six million people spread across 6,981 villages, equating to 49.4 percent of the affected zones.

In a survey conducted in November 2011, the government’s Early Warning System projected the 2011-2012 “winter” gross cereal production for millet, sorghum, rice, wheat and fonio (one of West Africa’s most ancient cereals) at 3.8 million tons – 27 percent down on 2010-2011. Grain production last season was about 5.3 million tons.

The Early Warning System, which monitors and forecasts food security needs, has identified three major areas as reporting deficits: Tillabéry in the west; Agadez in the north; and Diffa in the east; with respective shortfalls of 164,146 tons, 123,576 tons, and 68,115 tons.

Boukanda, a village with a population of 1,000 about 50km west of the capital Niamey, is typical of many food insecure villages which have been largely abandoned by their younger residents.

“The able-bodied and young people of the village preferred to leave for big cities or abroad. They have little to do here,” Adamou Talba, the marabout (religions teacher) of Boukanda, said.

Only a few “wealthier” families pound sorghum instead of millet, the main staple of the village. These people still have small supplies but they will not last long.

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Desertification in Diyala (Iraq) – (Google / Dinar Rumor)

Read at : Google Alert – desertification

http://www.dinarrumor.com/showthread.php?33121-Vast-agricultural-areas-affected-by-desertification-in-Diyala

Vast agricultural areas affected by desertification in Diyala

Diyala, January 20 (AKnews) – The Department of Agriculture Diyala, on Friday, said more than 200 thousand acres of agricultural land and orchards were affected by desertification and global warming, calling circles and sectors of the state to support efforts to provide a vegetation cover in a series of Hamrin Mountains north of the province.

The director of agriculture Diyala Majid Khalil told the Kurdish news agency (Rn) that “about 80 thousand acres of agricultural areas within the province of Diyala were destroyed completely, while the damaged areas estimated 120 000 acres in part a result of desertification and global warming caused by the drought and water shortages, along with non-implementation of agricultural plans during the period from 2006 to 2008 due to sectarian violence. “

Khelil said that “his department needs 50 billion Iraqi dinars for the implementation of the afforestation of a series of Hamrin Mountains, which includes the afforestation million acres at the rate of 100 trees per acre,” noting that “the work does not commence in the project so far, the lack of financial allocations by, and should the province of Diyala allocation and approval of the budget within the budget in 2012. “

And approved the Diyala province, a project to plant for the afforestation million acres in a series of Hamrin Mountains to curb desertification and global warming witnessed in the province due to water shortages and drought on the project is implemented within 7 years, but the project did not begin it until now because of the circumstances and consequences witnessed by the province recently.

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Two key technologies of concentrated solar power and the Seawater Greenhouse (Google / Architecture Source)

Read at : Google Alert – desertification

http://designbuildsource.com.au/sustainable-desert-irrigation

Sustainable Desert Irrigation

Australia’s climate is changing. The first decade of the new century saw much of the country, and Victoria in particular, hit hard by drought whilst other states were hit equally hard by floods.

Whether this is down to climate change created by humans, or nature’s way of restoring a balance, our weather patterns are changing.

Melbourne is now off water restrictions with the Thompson Dam finally above 50% capacity, which for a while seemed like a feat that would never happen.

In light of these changes, it is increasingly difficult to know how to produce effective green spaces, especially when they are becoming so very intertwined in our architectural planning. Vertical forests, green roofs, sky gardens and urban farming have all become such incredible sustainable architectural features, it does beg the question of just how we are able optimise plant growth in such erratic climes?

The answer is irrigation.

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Sand control in China (Google / CRI)

Read at : Google Alert – desertification

http://english.cri.cn/6909/2012/01/27/2724s677994.htm

Progress Made in Sand Control on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Xinhua      Web Editor: Yihang

China stepped up efforts last year to control desert sprawl and preserve ecology on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, where the country’s major rivers originate.

Last year, nearly 10,000 hectares of trees were planted in Sanjiangyuan, the source of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers, China’s three major rivers, Qinghai’s forestry bureau said in a press release Friday.

Meanwhile, another 1,900 hectares of sand fixation projects were launched in the region to curb desertification and preserve the ecology of the plateau, it said.

Sand control is a major challenge in the Sanjiangyuan region, particularly at the source of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers in the Qaidam and Gonghe basins and around Qinghai Lake.

Sand control specialists have used new technologies to fix sand dunes, plant trees and grass, and try water-saving irrigation methods to restore vegetation on the plateau.

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Modern day locust outbreaks (Science Daily)

Read at :

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120126152127.htm

Overgrazed Grasslands Tied to Locust Outbreaks

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2012) — While residents of the United States and much of Europe think of locust plagues as biblical references, locust swarms still have devastating effects on agriculture today, especially in developing countries in Asia and Africa. In a study to be released in the journal Science on Jan. 27, scientists from Arizona State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences show that insect nutrition and agricultural land management practices may partially explain modern day locust outbreaks.

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How to promote investments that genuinely support local people? (IIED)

Read at : Land Degradation Announcement List <land-l@lists.iisd.ca>

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is proud to announce its latest Briefing Paper:

New IIED Briefing Paper

Farms and funds: investment funds in the global land rush
Abbi Buxton, Mark Campanale, Lorenzo Cotula

Investment funds show a growing interest in farmland and agriculture. They are buying up land and agribusinesses in developing countries with the expectation of high long-term returns linked to rising land prices, growing populations and increasing demand for food. While the media has reported extensively on the involvement of these funds in the global land rush, the mechanics remain little understood by the broader public. What is the interest and what is driving it? Who are the players and what processes do their investment decisions go through? What are the impacts in recipient countries? And what action can be taken to promote investments that genuinely support local people?

Kate Wilson
Publications & Marketing Manager
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