According to an international team of scientists, the potential of planting trees for mitigating climate change has been dramatically overestimated. They warn that planting trees in the wrong place can actually destroy...more

A new algorithm has roughly doubled the previous warning time before an "El Niño" event. According to it, the probability of "El Niño" coming in 2020 is around 80 per cent.more

A global coalition of scientists warn that “untold human suffering” is unavoidable without deep and lasting shifts in human activities that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and other factors related to climate change.more

Late rains, extended dry periods, two major cyclones and economic challenges have worsened food insecurity across Southern Africa. UN food agencies urge more support for Southern Africa’s hungry people to avert a major hunger...more

Russia wants to strengthen its trading relationships with African countries. The first Russia-Africa summit in October 2019 was a further step taken by Russia to gain more influence on the African continent. more

Economists discussed challenges that the MENA countries are facing given the impacts of global warming and how they intend to tackle them at the Knowledge for Sustainable Development conference in Germany last October.more

Nearly one billion of the world’s 1.2 billion youth aged 15 to 24 years live in developing countries, almost half of them in rural areas. What international development cooperation has to do to create employment opportunities for...more

Around 20 per cent of the world's agricultural areas yields less than it did 20 years ago. The disruption of biological pest control and pollination occurring in monotonous agricultural landscapes leads to significant yield...more

The number of Ebola survivors is rising steadily thanks to innovative treatment methods. An effective vaccine can also mitigate further spread. more

The progress made in the global fight against hunger is severely endangered. In countries that are already affected by hunger and poverty climate change is worsening the nutrition situation. This is the conclusion to be drawn...more

Fusarium wilt disease threatens banana production. A new emergency project as well as a new banana variety aim to fight the fungal plant disease.more

SDG 14 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development seeks to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.” However, experts agree that the upcoming 2020 deadline for meeting...more

Irrigation holds a potential to improve nutrition, although factors such as water pollution have to be considered. New insights were presented at ZEF by IFPRI’s Claudia Ringler in early October.more

For ten days, the participants in COP14 of the UNCCD discussed a wide range of topics and finally established them in 36 formal decisions. These included decisions on the role of women and the significance of land rights...more

A new open-access web platform provides an overview on antimicrobial resistance in animals worldwide. Drugs used in animal farming are rapidly losing their efficacy, researchers warn. Antimicrobial resistance is rising in...more