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As the world’s population grows, the demand for food and fuel also keeps rising. Agroforestry systems, in which naturally fertilising nitrogen-fixing wood crops are planted alongside food crops, offer opportunities to boost fuel and food supplies simultaneously. This study aims to estimate the potential for sustainable bioenergy production in Africa through such systems, based on the…

The objective of the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is to provide Governments, the private sector, and civil society with scientifically credible and independent up-to-date assessments of available knowledge to make informed decisions at the local, regional and international levels. Global Assessment Report on biodiversity and…

In fact, the Sahel is a vast, diverse belt across the continent, as much as 1,000 km wide and stretching more than 5,000 km from Sudan to Senegal. It is a region rich in natural resources, extensive agricultural land, a generous mineral endowment and substantial water resources. It boasts of an ancient history and a strong culture, with a high degree of continuity and an overlap in local…

There is a wall appearing across the African continent, dividing north and south. But this wall isn’t to keep migrants out, or to keep smuggled goods in check. It is holding back sand. The scheme is helping to contribute to a far more ambitious project known as the Great Green Wall. It is attempting to grow an 8,000km (4,970 miles) barrier across the entire width of Africa to hold back the spread…

The theme of this year’s International Youth Day, “transforming education,” reminds us how important it is for all boys and girls to have access to education. In Africa, young women are over 1.5 times less likely than young men to be formally employed or undergoing education or training. Unequal access to educational opportunities, early marriage rates among young women, and responsibilities for…

Feeding a rapidly expanding population without depleting the Earth’s finite resources, is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. These four entrepreneurs - who have all been selected as the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers for 2019 - have a vision to transform the way we farm in order to help feed the world. Mini-farms in underground parking lots In an…