SciDev.Net

Preparations are rife for Africa's 'Great Green Wall', a measure to prevent desertification, three years after it was first proposed.

A round-up of news from or about South Asia for the period 1–15 March 2008.

A round up of news from or about Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 25 February–12 March 2008.

 

Sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural and food systems could be affected by drought caused by climate change, say scientists.

Poor people in Namibia will be greatly affected by the economic impacts of climate change, warns a study.

Algeria and China signed an agreement last week to collaborate in agricultural science and desertification.

More attention must be paid to the global degradation of land and its impact on climate change and food security, scientists say.

Fog could provide a previously untapped source of water to grow crops in semi-arid regions of Chile.

A United Nations Environmental Program report says environmental degradation is driving the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

A new UN report warns of mass migration of displaced dryland communities if policy is not coordinated to tackle desertification.

Islamic states have agreed to donate US$370 million to Niger over the next five years to combat desertification and improve food security.

Taking into account local people's livelihoods and knowledge can help prevent the desertification of drylands, according to scientists.

Environmental migration will be a key topic when international experts discuss desertification in Algeria next week.

New scientific cooperation between Tunisia and China will include knowledge transfer in desertification, nuclear energy and sea technology.

Solar energy captured in deserts in the Middle East and North Africa could meet the region's electricity needs — and that of Europe.

Researchers at a symposium in Niger last week gave evidence that it is possible to make degraded land productive again.

An African summit has called for measures to help farmers get the fertilisers needed to replenish soil nutrients; activists say chemicals are not the solution.

The Community of Sahel–Saharan States last week agreed to set up commissions to promote research on desertification, water and agriculture.

A UN agency warns that life will get hotter, drier and harder in deserts, but that good management could bring economic and social benefits.

A UN agency warns that life will get hotter, drier and harder in deserts, but that good management could bring economic and social benefits.