Food security and poverty: Spotlights on smallholder farmers (UN News Centre / UNEP / IFAD))

Read at :

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38565&Cr=agriculture&Cr1=%3ESee

1. “According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the challenge of feeding more than nine billion people by 2050, along with tackling climate change and maintaining productive land and sufficient water resources require a “more intelligent pathway” for managing the world’s agricultural systems. “

2. Mr. Steiner called for galvanizing support for smallholder farmers, who are an “untapped resource” in addressing food security and today’s environmental challenges.

3. The world’s rural poor and especially farmers of the 500 million smallholdings in developing countries feed one-third of the global population and account for 60 per cent of global agriculture.

4. Smallholder farmers also provide up to 80 per cent of the food consumed in Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa.

5. “Smallholders in developing countries – the majority of them women – manage to feed 2 billion people, despite working on ecologically and climatically precarious land, with difficult or no access to infrastructure and institutional services, and often lacking land tenure rights that farmers in developed countries take for granted,” said Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD.

6. “Right now, we are squandering the potential of rural poor people to contribute to global prosperity. Investing in sustainable smallholder agriculture is a smart way to right this wrong,” he stated.
   

PRAIS, a new monitoring and reporting system (Google / UNEP)

Read at : Google Alert – desertification

http://hqweb.unep.org/climatechange/adaptation/InformationMaterials/News/PressRelease/tabid/6710/Default.aspx?DocumentId=664&ArticleId=6918

Coordinating global action to combat desertification

Bonn/Nairobi, 3 March 2011 – An informative video outlining the PRAIS initiative has been launched. Unique amongst the Rio Convention, PRAIS utilises an interactive online portal to collate information from 194 countries on quantifiable actions towards the UNCCD’s 10 Year Strategy for poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. Desertification, land degradation and drought affect over one and a half billion people in more than 110 countries. This is a third of the world population, 90% of whom are in low income areas. The pathways out of poverty often depend on the resources that are lost: land, water and forests. Nearly a quarter of the Earth became degraded between 1981 and 2003. Every ten years an area the size of France, Germany and Switzerland is lost. Already by 1993, UNEP estimated the annual financial cost at 42 billion dollars every year, equivalent to all official aid to Africa in 2009. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, or UNCCD, works to improve the well-being of the world’s drylands, re-establish and maintain productivity of the land, and mitigate the effects of drought. Achievement of this mission requires evidence for informed decisions on investments in the affected areas. The UNCCD 10-year strategic plan and framework for the implementation of the Convention (2008-2018 spells out specific objectives for achievement, along with a set of impact and performance indicators to measure progress. The PRIAS project is a new monitoring and reporting system, established to build the capacity of UNCCD stakeholders and coordinate data gathering to assess progress. The results from these initial phases are expected to provide the baseline against which progress can be measured.

The population in areas threatened by global warming is actually rising (Towards Recognition)

Read at :

http://www.towardsrecognition.org/2011/04/news-un-embarrassed-by-forecast-on-climate-refugees/

UN Embarrassed by Forecast on Climate Refugees

Posted by Kayly Ober

(Spiegel) April 18, 2011 – It was a dramatic prediction that was widely picked up by the world’s media. In 2005, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations University declared that 50 million people could become environmental refugees by 2010, fleeing the effects of climate change.

But now the UN is distancing itself from the forecast: “It is not a UNEP prediction,” a UNEP spokesman told SPIEGEL ONLINE. The forecast has since been removed from UNEP’s website.

Official statistics show that the population in areas threatened by global warming is actually rising. The expected environmental disasters have yet to materialize.

Local enterprises and sustainable development at the community level (ASNS)

Read at :

http://africasciencenews.org/asns/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2766&Itemid=1

Local Enterprises Matter For Reaching Sustainable Development

Written by Fred Khumalo

Local enterprises working on green initiatives are changing the model on how to deliver sustainable development at the community level, Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director said Friday at a Green Economy symposium organized by the SEED Initiative, which is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The symposium was to recognize 30 global winners of the SEED Awards which looks at ways to accelerate the transition to a Green Economy in the developing world.

The Symposium focused on policies needed to accelerate the transition to a Green Economy and on the environmental and social contribution of community-level entrepreneurs in developing countries.

The SEED Awards recognize inspiring social and environmental entrepreneurs whose businesses can help meet sustainable development challenges, boost local economies and alleviate poverty. By helping entrepreneurs to scale-up their activities, SEED aims to refocus policies towards promoting Green Economic initiatives such as renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, water and waste management, eco-friendly tourism and green construction and transport.

The latest SEED Award winners largely come from Africa, placing particular emphasis on initiatives from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa. Together with Egypt, these are pilot countries in a joint project between SEED and UNEP’s Green Economy Initiative which is funded largely by the European Union.

(continued)

Growing population instead of climate refugees (Google / New American)

Read at : Google Alert – desertification

http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech-mainmenu-30/environment/7156-un-cover-up-of-climate-refugees-scandal-fails

UN Coverup of “Climate Refugees” Scandal Fails

Written by Alex Newman

The United Nations was caught attempting to cover up evidence of its wildly inaccurate prediction that there would be some 50 million so-called “climate refugees” by 2010, embarrassing the international body already under fire for its misleading global-warming advocacy. The UN Environment Program (UNEP) had warned in 2005 that sea-level rises, increased hurricanes, and desertification caused by man-made climate change would lead to massive population disruptions. In a map, the organization highlighted areas that were supposed to be particularly vulnerable, such as the Caribbean.

But it turns out that, not only did those areas fail to produce any “climate refugees,” their populations are actually booming. The first reporter to pick up the story, Gavin Atkins with Asian Correspondent, reviewed some of the most recent censuses and made a mockery of the UN’s alarmist claims.

UNDDD Success Stories India 1 (UNDDD / UNCCD / UNEP)

Read at : SUCCESS STORIES

http://unddd.unccd.int/success-stories.htm

India

Success Story Forest India

A long road to sustainable community forestry

The National Joint Forest Management Project, Haryana Province, India

The foothills of Himalaya in Haryana State are called Siwalik Hills and were once covered by forest. But uncontrolled logging, fires and overgrazing led to erosion and decreased forest productivity. Being an open access resource, inhabitants of the two adjacent villages brought their large cattle herds, goats and sheep to graze inside the forest and cut trees without restriction. The soil sediment eroded by the rain from the now unprotected forest ground built up in the crossing rivers and also settled on the agricultural land, leaving behind infertile land.

The state forestry officials determined that the local communities needed some
incentives to protect the forest and take responsibility for its condition. So, they decided to increase water provision in order to enhance agricultural productivity and improve the household incomes of the villagers. This took the pressure from forest resources because the villagers became less dependent on the forest for their survival.

As a next step, they planned how to involve villagers in the forest’s management.

(continued)

© United Nations Environment Programme
Success Stories – In the struggle against desertification
http://www.unep.org/desertification/successstories/
Material may be used and cited with acknowledgment of source

UNDDD Success Stories – China (UNDDD / UNCCD / UNEP)

Read at : SUCCESS STORIES

http://unddd.unccd.int/success-stories.htm

China

Success Story Settlement China-1

Protecting Human Settlements from Drifting Sand in Cele County, China

The encroachment of deserts on homes, cities and farmland is a challenge faced by most people that reside close to deserts. An example is the Cele County area in the far west region of China, which is characterized by the arid climate of the Taklimakan Desert. People settled here because some of the seasonal rivers provide water to many of the region’s oases, making agriculture possible.

Thus, for the longest time, the people suffered the effects of desertification and
mobile dunes, and the situation has got worse as the human and animal populations have increased. Higher demands for firewood and fodder hastened the desertification process and threatened Cele town, which had moved three times already.

The regional government decided to take action and, in 1983, launched project
‘Experimental Research to Control Drifting Sand of Cele County’, implementing a Comprehensive Protecting System. The system forms a series of biological and physical barriers to the movement of sand dunes.

The first barrier is a channel that is followed by a strip of grass and shrubs, and a narrower line of taller shrubs. Then at the border of the agricultural area comes a zone of tall trees serving as a wind break. The community did most of the work in line with the traditional system of voluntary communal work.
In the end there were additional benefits from the Cele project.

(continued)

© United Nations Environment Programme,
Success Stories – In the struggle against desertification
http://www.unep.org/desertification/successstories/
Material may be used and cited with acknowledgement of source

Collective and Family Woodlands in Tiogo Forest Reserve Improve Incomes and Land (UNDDD / UNCCD / UNEP / UNDP)

Read at : SUCCESS STORIES

http://unddd.unccd.int/success-stories.htm

BURKINA FASO

Success_story_Burkinafaso

For more than 20 years, UNEP has been actively involved in worldwide efforts to combat dryland degradation. The following success story addresses not only the biophysical but also the socio-cultural-economic issues in all its developmental stages, thus ensuring long-term sustainability. It was implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and local communities with funds from SIDA.

Reference
Re-written from, United Nations Environment Programme, Collective and Family Woodlands in Tiogo Forest Reserve, Mossi Plateau in Burkina Faso
Available at: http://www.unep.org/desertification/successstories/3.htm

Mainstreaming gender in the United Nations’ work dealing with desertification (Google / UNCCD/ UNEP / IUCN)

Read at : Google Alert – desertification

http://generoyambiente.org/blog/?p=306

IUCN instrumental in UN strategy on gender and desertification

IUCN recently hosted a key meeting in Bonn, Germany, on mainstreaming gender in the United Nations’ work dealing with desertification

The meeting was held at the request of the United Nations Convention on Combatting Desertification (UNCCD) in Bonn, Germany. It provided preparation for key talks between the three ‘Rio Conventions’ (on biodiversity, climate change and desertification) to be hosted by IUCN’s Gender Office in San Jose, Costa Rica.

“The development of a Convention-wide policy framework on gender is extremely important within the context of the UNCCD, as women in every part of the world face social constraints that reduce their productivity and limit their contributions to agricultural production, economic growth and the well-being of their families, communities and countries,” says Lorena Aguilar, IUCN Senior Global Gender Adviser.  “Many dryland inhabitants depend directly upon a highly variable natural resource base for their livelihoods.  As farmers, animal husbandry, workers and entrepreneurs, women make crucial contributions in agriculture and rural enterprises in drylands.”

Key members of staff from the UNCCD Secretariat attended the workshop, along with representatives from governments, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and civil society. IUCN previously concluded similar forward-looking meetings with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), amongst others.

(continued)

MEA Bulletin – Issue No. 112

IISD RS is pleased to bring you, in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme’s Division of Environmental Law and Conventions (UNEP DELC), the latest issue of MEA Bulletin.

meabulletin112

The 112th issue of MEA Bulletin includes two guest articles:

“Migratory Species and Ecological Networks,” by Borja Heredia, CMS Scientific and Technical Officer; and

“‘Taking The Lead’ to Reduce GHG Emissions: The transformative impact of the rise of China,” by Mukul Sanwal

This issue of MEA Bulletin also includes reports on the fourth session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, a meeting between representatives of the Secretariats of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the World Meteorological Organization, and recent meetings of the Bureaus of the 19th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, among others.

===================

IISD is pleased to announce the launch of Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
A Knowledgebase of International Activities Preparing for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio +20)
http://uncsd.iisd.org/

MEA Bulletin – Issue No. 110 (UNEP / IISD)

Read at : Multilateral Environmental Agreement List <mea-l@lists.iisd.ca>

meabulletin110

IISD RS is pleased to bring you, in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme’s Division of Environmental Law and Conventions (UNEP DELC), the latest issue of MEA Bulletin.

The 110th issue of MEA Bulletin includes reports on the 26th session of the UN Environment Programme’s Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum and the Second Special Session of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST S-2) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, among other reports.

The guest article is titled “Providing Scientific Advice to the UNCCD: Getting Science to Policy on Land Issues.” It was authored by Richard Thomas, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH).

———-

IISD is pleased to announce the launch of Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
A Knowledgebase of International Activities Preparing for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio +20)
http://uncsd.iisd.org/

A plethora of some 500 conventions, which paradoxically has hindered saving the planet (Google / AFP)

Read at : Google Alert – desertification

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iqY9wCQfC7b772XvNrR_4p7GZfkA?docId=CNG.a54a38e5a43cd86b74472550c0653223.aa1

Too many conventions hurting environment: experts

(AFP)

NAIROBI — Growing environmental awareness over the past two decades has resulted in the adoption of a plethora of some 500 conventions, which paradoxically has hindered saving the planet, experts said Thursday.

The 100 or so environment ministers gathered this week in Nairobi under the auspices of the UN environment agency were unanimous in recognising the need for an in-depth reform of a system that has become a victim of its own success.

“Never in the last four to five years has the governing council been as clear in its assessment for the need for reform,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner told AFP Thursday