News
Today was the main Nature+ Food day at the IUCN Congress. There was clearly a lot on people's minds as they headed to their various morning sessions. In summary it came out of discussions that there was a need for the conservation community to engage more directly with agriculture because it is the most significant driver of environmental change.
Today the main part of the conference got up and running, the theme was Nature+ Climate. In the main auditorium high level dialogues were running throughout the day whilst smaller sessions between 1-6hrs were held in the surrounding conference area. SIANI was present at two of these sessions and you can read my session notes below.
The IUCN World Conservation Congress is the world’s largest and most important conservation event. Held every four years, it aims to improve how we manage our natural environment for human, social and economic development. In 2012 it is being held on the island of Jeju, Republic of Korea.
Boys learning new ideas of masculinity around campfires in rural Africa and “sisterhoods” formed to provide a common voice to women are starting to change attitudes about African women farmers, say the authors of a forthcoming book about gender and agriculture.
Swedish sewerage sludge treatment policy has a one-sided focus on phosphorous recycling. But nitrogen, potassium and sulfur are more important in both economic and environmental regards, says SIANI-associated researchers in a recent debate article in Dagens Nyheter.
On the 28th of August, the research project Future Agriculture will be lunching the new report "A contribution to the discussion on: Critical research issues for future sub-Saharan African agriculture". The launch event, held at SLU in Ultuna (Uppsala), will present and discuss for different scenarios for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Following last year's theme on food prices and fluctuations, this year's World Food Day will present a theme focusing more on institutional structures in agriculture, specifically on farmer's cooperatives. The offical theme title is "Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world".
The 2012 World Water Week will be held under the theme ‘Water and Food Security’ during 26th – 31st August 2012 in Stockholm. The 21st century farming challenge to feed 9 billion by 2050 will need to address following questions; How much food will be needed?, How and where it will be grown?
The Tällberg Forum 14-17 June in Tällberg brought together political leaders and thought-leaders from around the world to join the conversation, posing the question “How on Earth can we live together?