As climate change intensifies, it is imperative for policymakers to address the escalating loss and damage it inflicts on vulnerable communities in developing countries. In India's Maharashtra state, these impacts are forcing rural families into life-altering decisions and migrations to work in sugarcane fields, where exploitative practices by contractors, including …
NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Tens of thousands of children across southern Africa are being pushed out of school and into early marriage or child labor because of drought and hunger caused by the El Nino weather pattern, charities said on Wednesday. Southern Africa has been hard hit over the …
Some 18 million people from seven southern Africa countries require emergency food aid, according to the latest report by World Food Programme. The food security crisis in the region has been attributed to El Nino weather patterns which triggered unexpected droughts and prolonged dry spells last year. Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, …
Searing temperatures caused by climate change may cost global economies more than $2 trillion by 2030, restricting working hours in some of the poorest parts of the world, according to United Nations research. As many as 43 countries, especially those in Asia, including China, Indonesia, and Malaysia, will experience declines …
An Australian government commissioned report on Tuesday rejected drought insurance for farmers as uneconomical, dashing landowner hopes of a change in government policy which could help boost output to meet Asia's fast-growing food market. Australia is one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, beef and sugar, despite farmers regularly …
International research led by The Australian National University (ANU) has found how plants, such as rice and wheat, sense and respond to extreme drought stress, in a breakthrough that could lead to the development of next-generation drought-proof crops. Lead researcher Dr Kai Xun Chan from the ANU Research School of …
In April 2016, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, alerted governments gathered in Geneva that they collectively faced “an alarming funding gap of over $2.2 billion” to respond to El Niño food crisis. As the same donor officials prepare to attend the high level event on El Niño …
Question raised in Lok Sabha on Compensation to Farmers for Crop Loss, 19/07/2016. The status of funds released from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) during the last three years and current year to States for natural calamities including droughts and floods is at Annexure.
Global warming will cost the world economy more than £1.5 trillion a year in lost productivity by 2030 as it becomes too hot to work in many jobs, according to a major new report. In just 14 years' time in India, where some jobs are already shared by two people …
The overall goal of this paper is to apply the climate change and social learning monitoring and evaluation (M&E;) framework of the CGIAR’s Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Policies and Institutions Flagship program to a climate change innovation platform. The Strategic Pilot project on Adaptation …
Scientists believe that the meteorite impact blamed for the extinction of most life on Earth at the time, may have actually kicked off a literal "Dark Age" that became the ultimate factor. Massive amounts of soot ejected from rocks following an asteroid impact caused global cooling and drought that may …
Pune: Torrential rain over some areas in the last few days has helped soothe the parched state, but experts advise that this will not end the spate of droughts. Those in the know point out that lack of rainfall does not necessarily lead to a crippling shortage of water, but …
The devastating impacts of the 2015–16 El Niño will be felt well into 2017. This crisis was predicted, yet overall, the response has been too little too late. The looming La Niña event may further hit communities that are already deeply vulnerable. To end this cycle of failure, there is …
Agricultural index insurance offers the promise of an affordable and sustainable insurance product for farmers that can help reduce their vulnerability to aggregate agricultural shocks such as large-scale drought or flooding. However, index insurance provides claim payments based on a trigger that is only imperfectly correlated with losses. This implies …
In recent years, typhoons have struck the Philippines and Vanuatu; earthquakes have rocked Haiti, Pakistan, and Nepal; floods have swept through Pakistan and Mozambique; droughts have hit Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia; and more. All led to loss of life and loss of livelihoods, and recovery will take years. One of …
Bhopal: From bone dry to flooded - all the districts of Madhya Pradesh which were either experiencing drought or facing seriously deficient rainfall are now flooded. Take the example of Damoh in the Bundelkhand region of MP, about 300 km from Bhopal. It faced three successive droughts, its inhabitants had …
The Southern African economic bloc said it would appeal for $2.7 billion from the international community to help more than 23 million people in "urgent need" because of a blistering drought. Ian Khama, chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), who is also president of Botswana, will "this month …
Grass plants, such as maize, dramatically alter their root structure in order to preserve water in the soil column during droughts, say researchers Grass species of crops adopt an "austerity" strategy and limits the development of its root system during times of drought, a study has revealed. The results offer …
The United Nations' food agency said on Thursday it needed $730 million over the next 12 months for relief in seven southern African countries hit hard by a blistering drought and faced a $610 million shortfall. The World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement the seven countries were Malawi, …
Stanford, CA-- With a growing world population and a changing climate, understanding how agriculturally important plants respond to drought is crucial. New work from a team led by Carnegie's José Dinneny discovers a strategy employed by grasses in drought conditions that could potentially be harnessed to improve crop productivity. It …
China will launch its first geoscientific satellite by 2020 for forecasting hydrological events, including floods and droughts. China announced its plans for the Water Cycle Observation Mission (WCOM) satellite at the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGRSS) 2016 which kicked off in Beijing yesterday.
