Skip Navigation

Agriculture & Environment: Desert science

News

Here is a list of the latest articles

Prosopis_juliflora_Flickr_Victor-Radziun.jpg

Saviour tree turns scourge in Kenya

Kenyan forestry specialists, acting on research by scientists, are trying to control a tree said to threaten up to 27 million hectares of land.

24 November 2009 | EN

desert_scientists_Flickr_woodleywonderworks

Uniting drylands research could halt looming crisis

Scientists have urged the UN's desertification convention to unite research on land degradation and so convince policymakers to take action.

28 September 2009 | EN | ES | FR | 中文

a Eucalyptus tree

Desert greening could slow climate change

Researchers have developed a model for greening the Sahara desert and say the method could help curb climate change.

Source: ScienceNOW

16 September 2009 | EN

arabdesert_flickr_OliverN5.jpg

Arab environment 'under threat'

Arab states are facing many challenges, such as water scarcity and desertification, that will worsen with climate change, says a report.

10 March 2009 | EN

desertification2_Jan Nyssen

Desertification reversed in northern Ethiopia

Researchers have concluded that, with the right policies in place, coaxing a severely degraded region back into recovery is possible.

6 February 2009 | EN

africantrees_flickr_timparkinson.jpg

African 'wall of trees' gets underway

Preparations are rife for Africa's 'Great Green Wall', a measure to prevent desertification, three years after it was first proposed.

7 July 2008 | EN

yak_flickr_ucumari

South Asia News in brief: 1–15 March 2008

A round-up of news from or about South Asia for the period 1–15 March 2008.

20 March 2008 | EN

woman_computer_tanzania_USAID_

Sub-Saharan Africa news in brief: 25 Feb–12 Mar 2008

A round up of news from or about Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 25 February–12 March 2008.

 

13 March 2008 | EN

karoo_flickr_DanieVDM

Climate change 'poses drought risk for Africa'

Sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural and food systems could be affected by drought caused by climate change, say scientists.

21 February 2008 | EN

African farmer

Namibia's poor 'will be hit hard' by climate change

Poor people in Namibia will be greatly affected by the economic impacts of climate change, warns a study.

13 December 2007

fruit trees South Africa

Algeria and China forge scientific partnership

Algeria and China signed an agreement last week to collaborate in agricultural science and desertification.

27 November 2007 | EN | 中文

Soil cracked from drought

Soil degradation issues 'swept aside', say experts

More attention must be paid to the global degradation of land and its impact on climate change and food security, scientists say.

7 September 2007 | EN | 中文

fog, chile

Fog helps crops thrive in Chile

Fog could provide a previously untapped source of water to grow crops in semi-arid regions of Chile.

8 August 2007 | EN | ES

family sitting on the ground

UNEP: climate change behind Darfur conflict

A United Nations Environmental Program report says environmental degradation is driving the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

29 June 2007 | EN

Satellite images of sand dunes

UN: Policymakers must rethink desertification

A new UN report warns of mass migration of displaced dryland communities if policy is not coordinated to tackle desertification.

28 June 2007 | EN | 中文

Drying waterway in Niger

Islamic fund created to secure food in Niger

Islamic states have agreed to donate US$370 million to Niger over the next five years to combat desertification and improve food security.

19 June 2007 | EN

harvesting quinoa bolivia

Local people 'vital to preventing desertification'

Taking into account local people's livelihoods and knowledge can help prevent the desertification of drylands, according to scientists.

14 May 2007 | EN

cow bones in the desert

Forced migration key issue at desert meeting

Environmental migration will be a key topic when international experts discuss desertification in Algeria next week.

15 December 2006 | EN

Agriculture in northern Tunisia

Tunisia signs science cooperation deal with China

New scientific cooperation between Tunisia and China will include knowledge transfer in desertification, nuclear energy and sea technology.

30 October 2006 | EN | 中文

Parabolic mirrors reflect and concentrate solar energy in thermal power plants

Energy from deserts could supply Europe

Solar energy captured in deserts in the Middle East and North Africa could meet the region's electricity needs — and that of Europe.

26 October 2006 | EN

Information Services

Missed the Global Health Forum 2009?

Our blog, by SciDev.Net columnist Priya Shetty, will fill you in, as will our interview with the Global Forum's Gill Samuels


Desert science leaflet

To find out more about ordering hard copies, contact marketing@scidev.net