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Kenya: Small farmers take the stage to sway climate justice debate
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on April 17th, 2013
AlertNet: In northern Kenya's impoverished and drought-prone Turkana region, a group called Kenya Climate Justice Women Champions is encouraging local women to grow hardy, nutritious crops like amaranth, sorghum and cassava, to improve their own health and that of their children. The vitamins and minerals from these foods means mothers are less likely to die in childbirth and can better breastfeed their babies. The micronutrients help kids avoid growing up stunted and give them the energy to attend school....
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Malawi: Want a Real Expert on Climate Change? Ask Those Worst-Hit
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on April 10th, 2013
AlertNet: Back in 2010, farmers in northern Malawi were advised to stop growing local maize varieties and switch to faster-maturing hybrids, to protect them from a shortening rainy season. Now, less than three years later, the government is urging them to start planting indigenous varieties again, alongside the newer ones, because researchers have found the local maize more resilient to weather extremes. Such stories hint at the difficulty of adapting to changing conditions that can be very hard to predict....
People want new development goals to promote growth for all – UN
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on March 21st, 2013
AlertNet: The new development agenda to follow on from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expire in 2015, should focus on how countries can achieve growth that includes everyone, going beyond poverty eradication and international aid, according to an early snapshot of consultations with people around the world.
The United Nations launched what it calls a "global conversation" in August last year, and more than 200,000 people from across the world have contributed to a process that will run until...
Preparing for drought cheaper than waiting for it – UN agencies
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on March 13th, 2013
AlertNet: U.N. agencies are calling on governments at a high-level meeting this week to start reacting more quickly to warnings of drought and put in place national policies to prepare for longer and worse droughts.
"In the next decade to come, drought will continue escalating in severity, in occurrence and in duration," Luc Gnacadja, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), told AlertNet from the conference in Geneva. "Preparedness and risk management cost-wise are...
Floods hit 250,000 Mozambicans, cyclone threatens Madagascar
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on January 30th, 2013
AlertNet: Severe flooding in southern Mozambique has affected a quarter of a million people, while heavy rains are pounding the north of the country and a tropical cyclone threatens the island of Madagascar, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
Floods that started around 10 days ago have killed at least 48 people in the south of Mozambique, and 146,000 people are still being housed in temporary shelters in the Limpopo Basin, the United Nations said in an update. Government officials put the death toll...
Millions still need aid in Pakistan’s “forgotten” crises
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on January 22nd, 2013
AlertNet: Millions of Pakistanis still need humanitarian assistance due to three consecutive years of monsoon flooding, persistent insecurity and government restrictions on aid workers, which are worsening poverty and hunger across the country.
The latest data shows that nearly 60 percent of the population of around 190 million are food insecure, meaning they do not eat enough nutritious food each day to lead a healthy, active life, according to the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP).
They include flood-hit...
Watershed protection schemes growing, China takes lead – report
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on January 17th, 2013
AlertNet: The number of initiatives that offer compensation for protecting and restoring water-rich ecosystems around the world doubled from 2008 to 2011, with annual investment rising to more than $8 billion, a report said on Thursday.
It counted at least 205 programmes in 2011 that paid individuals and communities in cash or in-kind to revive or preserve water-friendly landscape features, including wetlands, streams and forests that capture, filter and store freshwater.
These schemes generated $8.17...
Qatar’s first climate change march urges Arab states to act
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on December 1st, 2012
AlertNet: Several hundred climate activists, including members of a fledgling Arab youth movement, waved banners and called for Arab governments to take the lead in tackling climate change on Saturday, in Qatar's first-ever environmental march.
Following a 1.3 km route along the Doha waterfront, near rows of towering buildings, they urged politicians attending the U.N. climate talks in Qatar to make commitments to reduce emissions from fossil fuels, use more renewable energy, and provide fresh funds to...
Pacific islanders face major losses from climate change
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on November 30th, 2012
AlertNet: The livelihoods of some 10 million people in Pacific island communities are increasingly vulnerable to climate change, which poses "unprecedented challenges" to the region's economies and environment, a U.N.-backed report said on Friday.
Incomes - in many cases already low - are at risk from sea-level rise, tropical cyclones, floods and drought, as well as pressures linked to over-fishing and coastal development, said the report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Pacific...
Rainfall shifts pushing rural poor to migrate – study
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on November 29th, 2012
AlertNet: Migration driven by changing rainfall patterns is on the rise in poor rural communities, as farming families struggle to grow enough food amid worsening droughts and floods. And unless they are helped to cope, governments may face large-scale movements of destitute people in the future, new research says.
To prevent this, the study by CARE International and the U.N. University recommends adjusting agriculture to new climate conditions and to finding alternative ways for rural communities to make...