Sustainable solutions for Chinese communities featured in two of our top posts for May. In the top post, Karen Mancl digs into the soil quality of Chinese farmland. Conservation agriculture mixes ancient farming practices with new technology to reclaim and restore land disturbed by construction and intense industrial farming. Mancl features in our list again with her piece focusing on the potential of sand bioreactors to be an affordable, right-sized alternative to mechanical wastewater treatment plants for rural China villages.

In the second most read post of the month, Sonya Michel and Sarah Barnes explore the potential for migration to address the caregiving gap in developed countries. As populations age, there is a shortage of labor to fill the demand for caregiving jobs. Caregiver visas could provide a win-win step forward for both migrants and receiving communities.

The connections between climate change and conflict are complex and continue to be debated. However, a growing body of research is identifying where climate change is influencing existing conflicts related to ethnic identity and socioeconomic power. Benjamin Dills features recent research on this nexus in our latest Reading Radar.

German think tank adelphi has published an follow-up to the landmark report, A New Climate for Peace, titled Shoring up Stability: Addressing Climate and Fragility Risks in the Lake Chad Region. Contrary to previous analysis, the report finds that Lake Chad is not shrinking over the long-term but is highly variable in its size. This has critical implications for how governments support livelihoods and mitigate conflict in the region.

1. Reclaiming China’s Worn-out Farmland: Don’t Treat Soil Like Dirt by Karen Mancl
2. Without Migrants, Who Will Take Care of You? by Sonya Michel & Sarah Barnes
3. Not Too Big—Not Too Small—Just Right: Sand Bioreactor Wastewater Treatment in Chinese Villages by Karen Mancl
4. Climate and Conflict: Where Environment, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Power Intersect by Benjamin Dills
5. New Report Addresses Climate and Fragility Risks in the Lake Chad Region by Truett Sparkman