June 2011
Vacancy: Post-doctoral fellow, Climate change, agriculture and food security, Palmira, Colombia
Deadline: 29 July 2011. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture - CIAT, is seeking a qualified Post-doctoral Social Scientist for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), to conduct comparative analysis of the effect of social, gender and generational differences on adaptive learning of small-scale producers, traders, processors and retailers in response to climate change-induced environmental stress. In addition, the candidate is expected to support CIAT’s social and gender analysis related to all other Institutional programs and initiatives. The position will be based in CIAT Headquarters (Palmira, Colombia). Read more »
Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Risk and Limit Disaster Damage
Washington, USA (21 JUNE 2011) - Forecasts can play an invaluable role when used properly in helping humanitarian agencies and governments plan for and prevent disasters, according to a new report launched today at the American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington D.C.
Climate and weather disasters, from the massive floods in Pakistan, Australia and Colombia, to the devastating drought in Niger, have claimed thousands of lives and caused billions of dollars in damages in the last year. According to statistics from the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, these types of disasters have risen significantly in the last few decades. Scientists expect changes in climate will make extreme events more frequent and intense in the future. Read more »
Vacancy: Senior Scientific Officer for the CCAFS West Africa Regional Program
Due: 15 July 2011. CCAFS, based at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) seeks to employ a Senior Scientific Officer for its West Africa Regional Program within its Scientific and Managerial Group (SMG), based at ICRISAT in Mali, Bamako. The position is for an initial period of two years with the possibility of extension, contingent upon individual performance and available funding. The Scientific Officer will be a member of the ICRISAT team and under direct supervision of the CCAFS Regional Program Leader. Read more »
Call for Proposals: Farms of the Future Project
Due: 15 July 2011. This call is open to all types of organizations, or individuals, and strong preference is given to research groups with proven track record in sociology or antrophology and rural development. The objective of this project is to work with the analogue tool that CCAFS has developed (read more CCAFS Climate Analogues). This project will address the following working hypothesis: by identifying and connecting analogue sites, research can: 1) enable farmers to better envision how their site-specific agricultural future might look, and 2) permit targeted on-the-ground testing of cropping systems'/technologies' climate resilience. In sum, the project hopes to learn the potential for the climate analogues tool/methodology to improve farmers' adaptive capacities and preparedness for eventual transformation adaptation. CCAFS will provide the validated climate analogue tool and help identify the specific locations to be studied. Read more »
REDD+ Strategies Lack Plan for Agriculture Even as Countries Cite Farm Expansion as Main Cause of Forest Loss
BONN, GERMANY (8 JUNE 2011)—The majority of countries participating in a major global effort to reduce greenhouse emissions caused by forest destruction cite agriculture as the main cause of deforestation, but very few provide details on how they would address the link between agriculture and forestry, according to a new analysis by experts probing the effect of climate change on food security.
Moreover, many of these countries are pursuing food, cash crop and biofuel production policies that could intensify agriculture-related pressures on forest lands, offering further evidence of the disconnect between farm policy and climate policy within the “REDD+” process. (REDD stands for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation). Read more »
New publications on REDD+ and Agriculture
Today, the CGIAR Climate program releases four new publications that uncover the links between Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and agriculture. With agriculture a primary driver of deforestation in the tropics, the reports investigate how countries can achieve mitigation objectives as well as food security outcomes. Read more »
Vacancy: ILRI Programme Management Officer
Deadline: 17 June 2011. International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Programme Management Officer to work within the Sustainable Livestock Futures Group and the CGIAR Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Programme (CCAFS). This position is based at ILRI's Nairobi Campus and is open to Kenyan nationals only. Read more »
Vacancy: Program Assistant CCAFS
Deadline: 17 June 2011. Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) seeks to recruit a Program Assistant for its regional office in East Africa. The CCAFS East Africa Regional office is hosted at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The position is open to Kenyan nationals only. Read more »
Study Reveals Future “Hotspots” of Risk for Hundreds of Millions Whose Food Problems are on a Collision Course with Climate Change
Note: This press release was edited on 7 July 2011 after the authors spotted an error in their calculations. Changes are shown with strikethrough and in bold; a full discussion of the issue and new calculations are available at this link.
Scientists Warn Disaster Looms for Parts of Africa and All of India if Chronic Food Insecurity Converges with Crop-wilting Weather; Latin America also Vulnerable
COPENHAGEN (3 JUNE 2011)—A new study has matched future climate change “hotspots” with regions already suffering chronic food problems to identify highly-vulnerable populations, chiefly in Africa and South Asia, but potentially in China and Latin America as well, where in fewer than 40 years, the prospect of shorter, hotter or drier growing seasons could imperil hundreds of millions of already-impoverished people. Read more »
CCAFS Coordinating Unit - University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Rolighedsvej 21, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark, phone +45 35331046; Email ccafs [at] cgiar [dot] org, EAN 5790000279012
Lead Center - International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)