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In 2018 it was found that the Sahara, the biggest desert in the world after Antarctica and the Arctic, had increased in size by 10 per cent over the last century. This expansion is due to a combination of man-made climate change and natural climate cycles, with most of the change happening along the northern and southern edges of the desert. Desertification is a major problem around…

The Avaclim project aims to create the necessary conditions for the deployment of agroecology in arid areas. To achieve this, CARI, the NGO that is carrying out the project, and its partners are giving themselves three years, from 2020 to 2022. Practitioners, farmers and scientists are studying agroecological initiatives in seven countries: Burkina Faso, Senegal, Morocco, Ethiopia, South Africa,…

Most economists see structural transformation as one of the main routes to Africa’s sustainable development. What it means is changing the share of agriculture, manufacturing and services in an economy. It is a central aim of the African Union’s Agenda 2063. With this aim in mind, economists and policymakers need to know what determines structural transformation. They have flagged factors…

One of the most striking images of the coronavirus pandemic is the contrast between farmers dumping milk, smashing eggs, and plowing vegetables back into the soil and consumers facing empty store shelves and long lines at food distribution centers. How is it possible to have over-abundance on one hand and scarcity on the other? This article argues it is vital to correct pervasive…

Comment: John Morrison of the Institute for Human Rights and Business hopes that as the world picks up the pieces after Covid-19 there will be a fundamental change to the relationship between workers and companies The 2019 incarnation of the coronavirus has ravaged many lives and the worse is still to come, particularly in the least developed or war-torn economies, where health…

Updated goals and targets have been published by the Convention on Biological Diversity, but campaigners are concerned they do not go far enough. Campaigners following UN negotiations towards a global deal to protect nature are concerned that updated proposals contain the same flaws as the failed Aichi biodiversity targets they seek to replace. The negotiations, under the UN…