The Week With IPS 11/27

2015/11/27	Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter
	Uganda, Tanzania Need Gender Sensitive Climate Change Policies Wambi Michael Climate Change needs to be at the top of the country’s agenda, according to a project examining Uganda’s policies. It says the country hasn’t paid enough attention to climate change in national development and agriculture plans and this needs to be turned around before it’s too late. The ... MORE > >
	Did Argentina’s Elections Mark Start of Shift to the Right in South America? Mario Osava Different degrees of economic problems are a common denominator in South American countries where governments that identify as leftist may start to fall, in a shift that began in Argentina and could continue among its neighbours to the north. “It is not possible yet to say whether this is the ... MORE > >
	Hunger Heralds Climate Change’s Arrival in Botswana Baboki Kayawe A perfect storm of lower rainfall and a growing population beckons for Botswana. But others find climate change is already in the fields and paddocks. “As climate change ushers in more stress on the water sector, it is increasingly a concern that losses in rangeland productivity will result in food ... MORE > >
	Searching for Nutrition in South Africa’s Food Maze Munyaradzi Makoni Every Tuesday, there is something unusually exciting at no 7 Cwango Crescent, The Business Place, in Philippi, near Cape Town.  Here, ​ dozens of chemically free green vegetable crate loads are visible. So are the unlabelled rows of empty packets. It’s the packing day. Trucks criss-cross ... MORE > >
	Analysis: Are Young People the Answer to Africa's Food Security? Busani Bafana Are you young, energetic, creative, ambitious and need a job? Africa's agriculture sector needs you! This is a potential sales pitch to Africa's “youth dividend” to make a living from agriculture, considered a less attractive sector for a career but the mainstay of a number of economies on the ... MORE > >
	Sinking into Paradise: Climate Change Worsening Coastal Erosion in Trinidad Rajiv Jalim As unusually heavy rainfall battered Trinidad's east coast a year ago, a lagoon here was overwhelmed, flooding a major access road to the island’s south-eastern communities. As the flood waters poured over Manzanilla beach, they washed sand away, caved in sections of road and collapsed a seawall at ... MORE > >
	Cubans Seeking the American Dream, Stranded in Costa Rica Diego Arguedas Ortiz Thousands of Cubans heading for the United States have been stranded at the Costa Rican-Nicaraguan border since mid-November, waiting for the authorities in Managua to authorise their passage north.Just over 2,500 Cubans are waiting in northern Costa Rica, the majority in temporary shelters opened ... MORE > >
	OPINION: Keep Family Farms in Business with Youth Agripreneurs Nteranya Sanginga Finding a way to allow youth to contribute their natural and ample energies to productive causes is increasingly the touchstone issue that will determine future prosperity. It is a tragic irony that today’s youth, despite being the most educated generation ever, struggle to be ... MORE > >
	Against the Odds, Caribbean Doubles Down for 1.5 Degree Deal in Paris Zadie Neufville Negotiators from the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are intent on striking a deal to keep the global temperature rise at 1.5 degrees of pre-industrial levels, but many fear that a 10-year-old agreement to buy cheap petroleum from Venezuela puts their discussions in jeopardy. Across ... MORE > >
	Asia Wants Paris Climate Talks to Tackle Historic Emissions and Make Some Real Change Amantha Perera On a late Friday afternoon as choking smog descended on the Indian Capital, Francois Richier, the French ambassador to India , took some hard questions from scores of journalists about the upcoming climate change talks in Paris this month. The journalists were discussing the run up to global ... MORE > >
	Aflatoxins: Poisoning Health and Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa Busani Bafana Aflatoxin contamination is a growing threat to trade, food and health security in sub-Saharan Africa, where smallholder farmers are challenged by food production and now climate change, researchers said. Aflatoxins are toxic and cancer causing poisons produced by certain green mould fungus ... MORE > >
	Private Nature Reserves in Latin America Seek a Bigger Role Fabíola Ortiz Private voluntary nature reserves in Latin America should be seen as allies in policies on the environment, climate change mitigation and the preservation of biological diversity in rainforests, say experts. “Private reserves in Latin America are not included in conservation policies; they ... MORE > >
	Bewildering Biodiversity – A Success Story of Food Security for Indigenous Peoples in India Malini Shankar The 2013 National Food Security Act of the Government of India seeks, according to its preamble, to “provide for food and nutritional security by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people”. Despite rapid economic growth and gains in reducing poverty, ... MORE > >