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 …
Research published in Nature last week finds that “hydraulically diverse” forests are particularly resilient in the face of drought, which could help inform strategies for restoring forests after they’ve been degraded by wildfires or logging. Hydraulic traits are essentially the mechanisms by which a tree moves water through itself, which …
A farmer from Burkina Faso who popularized an ancient farming technique to reverse desertification is among the winners of Sweden's "alternative Nobel prize", announced on Monday. Yacouba Sawadogo shared this year's award with three Saudi human rights activists and an Australian agronomist. The 3 million Swedish crown ($341,800) prize honours …
Despite receiving more than normal rainfall in the March to May season, which boosted food production, some parts of Kenya are still facing food crisis. Up to 700,000 Kenyans are currently facing acute food insecurity and in need of humanitarian assistance, a new report showed on Saturday. A majority of …
A team conducts surveys in one of 175 enumeration areas in Kenya. The research team, led by the University of Utah, spoke directly with Kenyans affected by the changing environment to understand how drought and migration influences violent conflict. Credit: Andrew Linke As droughts worsen across the globe, more people …
Farm prices in South Africa have plunged by a third since the ruling party decided to seek a change to the Constitution to make it easier to expropriate land without compensation. This as commodity prices fell due to bumper harvests following a drought. The average price of agricultural land sold …
The City of Cape Town has made the move to relax current water restrictions from Level 6B to Level 5 from October 1, Deputy Mayor Ian Neilson announced. After suffering from the worst drought in recent history, Cape Town's dams are nearing 70% of storage capacity – a significant improvement …
This emerged from a seminar on the iceberg project convened by the Water Research Commission in Cape Town on Monday, as part of its dialogue series on alternative water supplies. Dr Shafick Adams, an executive manager at the Water Research Commission, said SA had to diversify its water supply mix …
Australia lowered its wheat forecast by nearly 13 percent on Tuesday as a crippling drought across the country’s east coast has cut output from the world’s fourth-largest exporter to a 10-year low. Wheat production during the 2018/19 season will total 19.1 million tonnes, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource …
Cotton is a major cash crop of global significance. It has a peculiar and inherent growth pattern with coinciding physiological growth stages. This study is based upon modelling and simulation for Hisar region. Stage-wise water stress has been quantified for three Bt-cotton cultivars with three sowing dates under both irrigated …
Cotton is a major cash crop of global significance. It has a peculiar and inherent growth pattern with coinciding physiological growth stages. This study is based upon modelling and simulation for Hisar region. Stage-wise water stress has been quantified for three Bt-cotton cultivars with three sowing dates under both irrigated …
The deteriorating air quality is not just an environmental issue but also impacts the health of citizens, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said Thursday, asserting that droughts and floods should be taken as a "forewarning of future". Saying that the government's focus remains the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), he said …
Windhoek- The SADC Directorate of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources has revealed that the number of food insecure population in the region for 2018/2019 will be higher, compared to the 2017/18 period. Currently, the number of food insecure people in the region is 29 million people, representing 14% of the …
Gaborone — Government will use a total of P856 million in different measures adopted to mitigate the effects of arable drought recently declared for the year 2018/19 by President Mokgweetsi Masisi. According to a press release from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the relief and special assistance …
Southern African Development Community farmers have been advised not to sell their food stocks harvested last season as the region expects an extended dry spell this coming rainy season. SADC director for food, agriculture and natural resources, Domingos Gove, made these remarks on Saturday during a media briefing on the …
Afghanistan, where a lack of snow and rain in recent months has badly hit the harvest, sparking warnings of severe food shortages After his wheat crop failed and wells dried up, Ghulam Abbas sold his animals and joined thousands of other farmers migrating to cities as Afghanistan's worst drought in …
Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp said on Thursday it would disburse A$100 million ($74.2 million) in cheap loans to farmers as a record dry spell hits parts of the nation, while the country’s lenders fight to regain public trust amidst an ongoing misconduct inquiry. The drought in Australia’s east, one of …
Gaborone — President Mokgweetsi Masisi has declared 2017/18 an arable agriculture drought year following the findings of the Botswana Vulnerability Assessment Committee (BVAC). The disclosure was made by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi during a press briefing on drought and vulnerability yesterday. Dr Venson-Moitoi …
Wildfires, drought and extreme heat have been the talk of the town and country across Europe this summer. Attention has now turned to Portugal and Spain, where temperatures at the weekend reached more than 46℃ in some parts of both countries – close to the all-time European record of 48℃, …
The driest start to a year in five decades and a dimming outlook for better-than-average rainfall in coming months have prompted the Berejiklian government to declare all of NSW to be in drought. The spreading and intensifying dry spell also prompted federal Labor to weigh in, pledging to create a …
The National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (Nasfam) says it intends to reach out to 50,000 smallholders with a weather-based index insurance (WBI) to protecting farmers from crop losses due to bad weather. WBI is one of the components under a project called Scaling Up Climate Resilient Solutions (SCRS) for …
