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Feeding Unrest: A Closer Look at the Relationship Between Food Prices and Sociopolitical Conflict
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From the Roman poet Juvenal’s observations about bread and circuses to Marie Antoinette’s proclamation, “let them eat cake!” the link between food and political stability is well established in pop culture. In academic and policy circles, however, it’s a source of considerable debate.
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New Portal for Himalayan Region Aims to Provide Better Environmental Data
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“There was drought so we had to share the little water brought a long distance from irrigation canals to the field. This delay in rice planting is resulting in a late harvest,” explains Ratna Darai, 47, a farmer in Daraipadhera, Nepal, during an interview with The Third Pole reporter Ramesh Bhushal. An erratic monsoon means an uncertain harvest in a nation where agricultural production is not on pace with population growth. Water insecurity is a major driver of conflict and uncertainly in the world’s most populous continent.
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Necessary Partners: The Sahel Shows Why Development and Resilience Efforts Can’t Forget Men
›One-third of boys in the developing world don’t face the risk of marriage and pregnancy before age 18. There are no laws preventing men from owning land or property. Men don’t bear the brunt of increasingly frequent and severe disasters. And men don’t hold fewer than 25 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide.
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Can We Forecast Where Water Conflicts Are Likely to Occur?
›Many of the world’s freshwater systems reach across national boundaries, and growing demands combined with supply constraints may lead to increased potential for international water conflicts. If that’s the case, which international river basins are most at risk of conflict or, conversely, which are most prone to cooperation? What are the factors that increase or decrease conflict risk?
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New Network Links Madagascar’s Environment and Health Sectors
›As the international community seeks to articulate a collective vision for sustainable development following the Millennium Development Goals, a vibrant new network has emerged in Madagascar to advance integrated population, health and environment (PHE) initiatives across this island nation.
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High Poverty: Medicinal Plants Offer Way Forward for Nepal’s Mountain Communities
›In a tiny village called Chepuwa in the Sankhuwasabha district of Nepal, high in the Himalayas and almost four days’ trek from the nearest road, Mikmar Bhote has been growing and selling medicinal and aromatic plants for five years.
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Hydro-Diplomacy Can Build Peace Over Shared Waters, But Needs More Support
›From Ukraine and the Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia, the world is engulfed in a series of significant international crises. But despite such urgent issues, it would be a grave mistake to forget about the structural foreign policy challenges – such as access to water – that could become the crises of the future.
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Opportunity Costs: Evidence Suggests Variability, Not Scarcity, Primary Driver of Water Conflict
›Nearly 1 billion people lack reliable access to clean drinking water today. A report by the Water Resources Group projects that by 2030 annual global freshwater needs will reach 6.9 trillion cubic meters – 64 percent more than the existing accessible, reliable, and sustainable supply. This forecast, while alarming, likely understates the magnitude of tomorrow’s water challenge, as it does not account for the impacts of climate change.
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