December 2008: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has released a discussion paper entitled “Climate Variability and Maize Yield in South Africa: Results from GME and MELE Methods.” The paper investigates the impact of climate variability on maize yield in the Limpopo Basin of South Africa using the Generalized Maximum Entropy (GME) estimator and Maximum Entropy Leuven Estimator (MELE).
December 2008: The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), a research center of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), published an overview of achievements, research needs and outlook for sweet sorghum as resource for pro-poor biofuel development. The article, published in ICRISAT's newsletter on the State of the Art on Semi-arid Agriculture (SASA), describes the work of ICRISAT's BioPower Initiative on the use of sweet sorghum for food, fodder and as feedstock for ethanol production in different countries.
December 2008: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a center of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), published a discussion paper entitled “Anatomy of a Crisis: The Causes and Consequences of Surging Food Prices,” which provides a comprehensive review of causes and consequences of recent increases in international food prices.
13 January 2009: The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), a research center of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), will produce a detailed digital soil map of 42 sub-Saharan countries. The project, named the African Soil Information Service (AfSIS), will provide information necessary to overcome soil depletion and improve crop production through better soil management.
January 2009: The C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, which previously met in London in 2005 and in New York in 2007, has announced that it will meet in Seoul from 18-21 May 2009, for its third Summit.
January 2009: The 2009 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum will take place from 28 January 2009-1 February 2009, in Davos, Switzerland, under the theme “Shaping the Post-Crisis World.”
January 2009: The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit will take place from 4-7 February 2009, in New Delhi, India, and will focus on the theme “Towards Copenhagen: An Equitable and Ethical Approach.” The meeting will seek to find equitable and ethical approaches to arrive at a global consensus on climate change beyond 2012 and will gather heads of state and government, ministers and dignitaries from around the world.
December 2008: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has published a discussion paper entitled: “Global Carbon Markets: Are There Opportunities for Sub-Saharan Africa?” The paper investigates the constraints that prevent Sub-Saharan countries from fully participating in global carbon markets and suggests policies for better integration.
We can be certain about one thing related to the future. The pressure on water resources will continue to increase. This is a fundamental challenge as water resources, unlike fossil fuels, are an irreplaceable natural resource for human survival. In light of climate change, and dwindling fossil fuel resources, the quest to find alternative sustainable energy sources will escalate. Eventually we will succeed, no doubt, but on the way the fundamental role of water will become even more evident, also in relation to energy security. And it is not only about hydropower – water is fundamental for cooling purposes, to grow bioenergy crops, and for storing and transporting energy.
December 2008: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), one of the 16 international research centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, has published a report entitled “The Impact of Climate Change and Adaptation on Food Production in Low-Income Countries: Evidence from the Nile Basin, Ethiopia.”
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