All publications and documents

The incipient global bioenergy boom is giving rise to vigorous and strongly polarized debate. Different underlying aims, such as reducing dependence on imported oil and gas or using biofuels to reduce the CO2 emissions of road traffic, predominate in different quarters and shape the political agenda. Supporters of bioenergy argue that, at a time of sharply increasing demand for…

Born into the Zaghawa tribe in the Sudanese desert, Halima Bashir received a good education away from her rural surroundings (thanks to her doting, politically astute father) and at twenty-four became her village’s first formal doctor. Yet not even Bashir’s degree could protect her from the encroaching conflict that would consume her homeland. Janjaweed Arab militias savagely assaulted the…

Drylands are a sizeable part of the world's potentially arable land. They vary from the hyper-arid regions of the classic deserts of Africa and Asia to the more common semi-arid and sub-humid areas that support extensive agricultural systems dependent on rainfall or irrigation. Following their successful and innovative work The Economics of Dryland Management the editors have assembled twenty…

In recent decades agricultural commodity surpluses in the developed world have contributed to a mantra of 'land surplus' in which set-aside, extensification, alternative land uses and 'wilding' have been key terms in debates over land. Quite suddenly all this has changed as a consequence of rapidly shifting commodity markets. Prices for cereals, oil seeds and other globally traded commodities…

Africa is a vast mosaic of diverse and contrasting landscapes, plant and animal species, and human populations leading very different and unique lifestyles. However, when we look at the entire continent we tend to be struck by one significant characteristic: much of it is dry. The wettest areas are located around the forest belts of West and Central Africa and a few highland areas. Outside those…

The paper analyzes a sample of existing or in-formulation policy frameworks governing access and security of tenure over major natural assets such as land, forests and wildlife. The fundamental question that runs through the analysis in the paper concerns the extent to which security of resource tenure can mediate the achievement of the MDGs. The overall objective is to apply existing knowledge…