© Panos |
Voices from the desert: living with desertification
Diramo is 70. She lives in the village of Siminto in Ethiopia where she was born. She grew up as a herder, moving with her family’s animals to find water and food, feeding her children with the milk and meat. But now the abundant grasslands that the cattle fed on are gone and the people are no longer able to migrate in search of pasture. They grow what crops they can but droughts are frequent.
Source:
IFAD
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full story.. |
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| Each year, 12 million hectares of farm land is lost to desertification. This BBC World Debate, “Advancing Sands: Deserts and Migration,” features six internationally renowned panellists who discuss some of the root causes of desertification, its economic and social impact, and to what extent it contributes to conflict and migration. Moderated by BBC World presenter Zeinab Badawi and including a video-taped intervention from IFAD President Lennart Båge.
The panel:
- Ibrahim Thiaw, Acting Director General of the World Conservation Union (IUCN),
- Sunita Narain, Director of the Centre for Science and the Environment ( India ), and
- Martin Sommer, Director Natural Resources and Environment Division, Swiss Development Corporation
- Fatima Jibrell, Executive Director of Horn Relief ( Somalia )
- Rosamund McDougall, member of the Advisory Council of the Optimum Population Trust
- Christian Mersmann, Managing Director, Global Mechanism of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification
Source: IFAD
 Watch
debate: QuickTime | Real Player | Windows Media Player |
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© Panos |
Desert voices
The International Year of Deserts and Desertification, 2006, aims to create an awareness of desertification, which it describes as a “major threat to humanity compounded by both climate change and loss of biological diversity”. But it also celebrates “the unique ecosystem and cultural diversity of deserts worldwide”.
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Don't
desert the deserts is the slogan for this international
year of deserts and desertification as environmental degredation
changes the face of the planet and the lives of thousands...
Source: Vatican Radio
Listen to the interview
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© FAO |
Knowledge
as prevention in the fight against the desert locust
The exchange of information
is a powerful weapon in the fight against locusts; workshops
in 10 West African countries have trained more than 600 agricultural
experts to control the threat of another desert locust invasion,
with a special focus on human health and the protection of the
environment.
Duration:
6' 30''
Location: Mauritania,
Niger
Producer: Boudicca Downes
Source: FAO Videocatalogue
Watch
video |
© Oxfam International |
Living
off the land in Ethiopia: Aberra & Sifrash
“Aberra
Chane from Kunchamedeb village in the northern Ethiopian highlands,
once battled to provide enough food for his family, and often
had to rely on government food aid.”
Source:
Oxfam International
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full story... |
© Oxfam International |
These
were my livestock’s – Pamela’s story
During
this drought the first of the problems was the lack of water;
it finished the livestock. These days the rainy seasons are
dodging the pastoralists; the droughts are not changing into
rains.
Source:
Oxfam International
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full story... |
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© FAO |
Morocco
- The story of Aicha Mahjoub
“My
name is Aicha Mahjoub. I am 34 years old and live in the
community of Tissaf, close to an oasis in the desert of Eastern
Morocco”.
Source:
FAO Telefood
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full story... |
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© FAO
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In
Honduras – A diesel pump brings welcome water
“The problem here is
drought. For the last three or four years we haven't been able
to harvest any maize because we don't have water”.
Source:
FAO Telefood
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full story... |
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© FAO |
In
Senegal – Pedal pumps and reservoirs help a garden grow
“As elsewhere on the
dry continent of Africa, getting what water there is available
to the field can make the difference between a reasonable crop
and no crop at all”.
Source:
FAO Telefood
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full story... |
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© FAO
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Telefood
project pumps water in dry season in Cambodia
The wet season rice
crop can easily be jeopardized by erratic rainfall during the
dry spells of July and August, when rice is at tillering stage
and crop water requirements are high.
Source:
FAO Telefood
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full story... |
© DFID |
Ethiopia
– Healing the earth
Land degradation is
one of the most serious problems facing Ethiopia today.
Source:
Farming Solutions
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full story... |
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© WFP
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Kenya
drought
Watch a video report
on the drought in Kenya courtesy of BBC News, plus an interview
about the crisis with WFP spokesperson Peter Smerdon.
Source: World
Food Programme Video News Releases
Watch
video 3'37" 2.75MB
Watch
video 1'25" 2.77MB |
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© World Bank
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The
dryland predicament: natural capital, global forces
“Beside their poor endowment
in natural resources, drylands bear the brunt of disabling economic,
political, social, and cultural structures that shape the world
today”.
Source:
World Bank
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full story... |
| Friendships
bloom in the desert
Bedouin entrepreneurs
prosper on the harsh northwest coast of Egypt.
Source: ICARDA
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full story... |
| Mali
– The women’s cooperative of ‘Moni Ire Jean d’Arc
Earnings
from these activities empowers these women to purchase food
and medicine for their children, reinvest in their businesses,
and contribute to household incomes.
Source:
Enterpriseworks
Read
full story... |
| Niger
– The pepper growers of Golom, improved manual irrigation
A
landscape that previously looked liked craters on the moon,
with huge open pits surrounded by small gardens, has now been
transformed into field after field of sweet peppers.
Source:
Enterpriseworks
Read
full story... |
| Farm
innovations create food security
"The
Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia suffers from severe soil
erosion and land degradation. It is also subject to the vagaries
of Ethiopia's rain, which is often inadequate or, many years,
fails altogether. At best, many small farmers get only one harvest
a year".
Source:
USAID
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full story... |
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Statement by President Lennart Båge
- Sixth Session of the Conference of Parties of UNCCD
Source: IFAD
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full story... |
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