It seems obvious: if it’s called the Dry Zone it must be dry. Right? Located in a central plain, sandwiched by highlands to the east and west, the Dry Zone of Myanmar is the driest part of the country. But is lack of water really the problem?
Science on the Pulse: what is the best way to navigate through the mountain of publications that emerged from 2014 to find the gems that should absolutely be on your reading list? For those looking to brush up on their knowledge on ecosystem services and resilience, we're sharing the top ten reads as identified by a polling of the ESR Working Group.
What do you do with a landscape when it has been overwhelmed by a tsunami? When the coastline is altered beyond recognition, the paddy fields filled with salt, the trees flattened, the villages washed away and the population decimated?
It looks like the triple bottom line might be gaining headway in the development sector. Despite the long-standing schism between Wall Street investors and environmental or social activists, the two sides are starting to find common ground at the increasingly popular landscape intersection.
Agriculture transforms the landscape in this region, and Gulmira’s orchard shows how local fruit tree diversity can also provide her family with a reliable source of income.
I am a journalist. I flit in and out of places. But I have spoken to enough people at the receiving end of aid to know that what they crave is engagement, time, consistency and above all people who listen and act on what they are told. Not much aid work these days looks like that.
When I first arrived at the CPWF, I was quite surprised at how low in esteem “communication” was perceived within CGIAR and CPWF (unfortunately it still is). This was not communication for development, as the prevailing opinion was that communications was concerned only with public relations.
The WLE Focal Region Writeshop process was distinctive in that it turned the focus on identifying research outcomes as the basis for designing research. In each writeshop we challenged researchers to think beyond traditional research approaches. Instead of starting with a research output at they assumed would be useful in the region, we reversed the process.
As our global population concentrates itself in cities, urban areas are becoming increasingly vulnerable from a food security standpoint. Some cities are already sitting on a knife’s edge with regard to food security, with comparatively small stockpiles of locally available food reserves in the event food shipments arriving by road, air, or sea are disrupted unexpectedly.
Widespread consensus exists that the use of research is very important for achieving development goals. But what’s the best strategy for ensuring that research results make it beyond the journal article and into the real world?
I remember the cyclone in 1970s, this was before the polders were built. Thousands died in that storm. I am 100% sure that polders would have saved them.
Unprecedented challenges at a planetary scale may sound daunting. Luckily there are people around the globe working to face these challenges, and on November 17th their tools and ideas will be available and open to anyone with an internet connection as a free MOOC – massive open online course.
