Sahelian countries face acute hunger crisis

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Economy ◽  
Acute Malnutrition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Crisis Prevention ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
The Cost

Subject Food shortages and insecurity in the Sahel. Significance The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned in May that 1.6 million children are in danger of acute malnutrition and 5.0 million people are in need of food assistance in the Sahel and parts of West Africa. Drought and conflict have left 7.1 million people in the Sahel in need of food aid, the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA) warned in April. Pastoral societies are severely affected. The range of food shortages and socio-economic crises in the Sahel reflects the region’s vulnerability to annual drought and long-term climate change, as well as challenges posed by insecurity. Impacts France will emphasise counter-terrorism even though the cost of fighting terrorism undermines the Sahel’s capacity to avert food crises. The region will remain vulnerable to annual droughts. Long-term climate change will threaten the sustainability of the rural economy upon which the majority of the population still depend.

scholarly journals Shared socioeconomic pathways for climate change research in Finland: co-developing extended SSP narratives for agriculture

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heikki S. Lehtonen ◽  
Jyrki Aakkula ◽  
Stefan Fronzek ◽  
Janne Helin ◽  
Mikael Hildén ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
National Level ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Change Scenario ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Climate Change Research ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
Farm Subsidies

AbstractShared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), developed at global scale, comprise narrative descriptions and quantifications of future world developments that are intended for climate change scenario analysis. However, their extension to national and regional scales can be challenging. Here, we present SSP narratives co-developed with stakeholders for the agriculture and food sector in Finland. These are derived from intensive discussions at a workshop attended by approximately 39 participants offering a range of sectoral perspectives. Using general background descriptions of the SSPs for Europe, facilitated discussions were held in parallel for each of four SSPs reflecting very different contexts for the development of the sector up to 2050 and beyond. Discussions focused on five themes from the perspectives of consumers, producers and policy-makers, included a joint final session and allowed for post-workshop feedback. Results reflect careful sector-based, national-level interpretations of the global SSPs from which we have constructed consensus narratives. Our results also show important critical remarks and minority viewpoints. Interesting features of the Finnish narratives compared to the global SSP narratives include greater emphasis on environmental quality; significant land abandonment in SSPs with reduced livestock production and increased plant-based diets; continued need for some farm subsidies across all SSPs and opportunities for diversifying domestic production under scenarios of restricted trade. Our results can contribute to the development of more detailed national long-term scenarios for food and agriculture that are both relevant for local stakeholders and researchers as well as being consistent with global scenarios being applied internationally.

Positive behavioural support for children and adolescents with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges: an initial exploration of service use and costs

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 169-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Iemmi ◽  
Martin Knapp ◽  
Caroline Reid ◽  
Catherine Sholl ◽  
Monique Ferdinand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Service Use ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Behavioural Support ◽  
Delphi Exercise ◽  
The Cost

Purpose Positive behavioural support has been considered as a valuable alternative to residential care for children and adolescents with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges. While recent evidence suggests it has a positive impact on behaviour and carer ability to cope, there is little evidence of its economic costs or benefits. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the cost of providing positive behavioural support to ten children and adolescents with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges living in the community in Ealing, West London. Comparison was also made with the cost estimate of possible alternative support packages for children and adolescents with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges in the UK, as obtained through a Delphi exercise. Findings Total cost of services per child was £1,454 per week for young people supported short-term, and £1,402 supported long-term. Children and adolescents were making use of a range of social care, education and health services. Over the full sample, half of the total cost was accounted for by education services. The Delphi exercise estimated the weekly cost of residential-based care as more expensive than the cost of community-based care for children and adolescents with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges. At the end of the ITSBS, all ten children and adolescents initially at risk of imminent residential placement were living in the community with less service-intensive and less expensive support. This suggests that avoiding residential-based care could reduce costs in the long term. Originality/value Positive behavioural support has potential to support people with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges in the community, leading to potential cost advantages. However, this is a small study and more robust research is needed.

scholarly journals Cultivate, assess, advocate, implement, and sustain

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Mannheimer ◽  
Conor Cote
Keyword(s):  
Cost Savings ◽  
Digital Preservation ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Shared Knowledge ◽  
Collective Knowledge ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Ongoing Support

Purpose For libraries with limited resources, digital preservation can seem like a daunting responsibility. Forming partnerships can help build collective knowledge and maximize combined resources to achieve digital preservation goals. This paper aims to provide guidance to help libraries with limited resources achieve digital preservation goals by forming partnerships to build collective knowledge and maximize combined resources. Design/methodology/approach In 2015, librarians from four Montana institutions formed the Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG), a collaboration to increase digital preservation efforts statewide. The group’s immediate goals were to promote digital preservation best-practices at each individual institution, and to learn about and support each other’s work. The group’s long-term goal was to implement a shared digital preservation service that would fill gaps in existing digital preservation efforts. Findings Beyond the cost savings gained by sharing a digital preservation service, the members of DPWG benefitted from shared knowledge and expertise gained during the partnership. The group also functioned as a sounding board as each institution built its digital preservation program, and it became a system of support when challenges arose. Practical/implications This paper proposes a five-point plan for creating digital preservation partnerships: cultivate a foundation of knowledge and identify a shared vision; assess the current digital preservation landscape at each institution; advocate for the value of digital preservation activities; implement shared digital preservation services; and sustain group activities and establish structures for ongoing support. Originality/value The activities of DPWG provide a model for institutions seeking to collaborate to meet digital preservation challenges. This paper shows that by implementing a structured plan, institutions can build and sustain digital preservation partnerships, thus positioning themselves to achieve digital preservation success.

scholarly journals Rainy springs linked to poor nestling growth in a declining avian aerial insectivore ( Tachycineta bicolor )

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1898) ◽  
pp. 20190018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia R. Cox ◽  
Raleigh J. Robertson ◽  
Ádám Z. Lendvai ◽  
Kennedy Everitt ◽  
Frances Bonier
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Food Abundance ◽  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Flying Insects ◽  
Food Shortages

As species shift their ranges and phenology to cope with climate change, many are left without a ready supply of their preferred food source during critical life stages. Food shortages are often assumed to be driven by reduced total food abundance, but here we propose that climate change may cause short-term food shortages for foraging specialists without affecting overall food availability. We frame this hypothesis around the special case of birds that forage on flying insects for whom effects mediated by their shared food resource have been proposed to cause avian aerial insectivores' decline worldwide. Flying insects are inactive during cold, wet or windy conditions, effectively reducing food availability to zero even if insect abundance remains otherwise unchanged. Using long-term monitoring data from a declining population of tree swallows ( Tachycineta bicolor ), we show that nestlings’ body mass declined substantially from 1977 to 2017. In 2017, nestlings had lower body mass if it rained during the preceding 3 days, though females increased provisioning rates, potentially in an attempt to compensate. Adult body mass, particularly that of the males, has also declined over the long-term study. Mean rainfall during the nestling period has increased by 9.3 ± 0.3 mm decade −1 , potentially explaining declining nestling body mass and population declines. Therefore, we suggest that reduced food availability, distinct from food abundance, may be an important and previously overlooked consequence of climate change, which could be affecting populations of species that specialize on foraging on flying insects.

scholarly journals Multifractal analysis of atmospheric carbon emissions and OECD industrial production index

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-430
Author(s):  
Sezer Kahyaoglu Bozkus ◽  
Hakan Kahyaoglu ◽  
Atahirou Mahamane Mahamane Lawali
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Industrial Production ◽  
Environmental Cost ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Production Index ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this study aims to analyze the dynamic behavior of the relationship between atmospheric carbon emissions and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) industrial production index (IPI) in the short and long term by applying multifractal techniques. Design/methodology/approach Multifractal de-trended cross-correlation technique is used for this analysis based on the relevant literature. In addition, it is the most widely used approach to estimate multifractality because it generates robust empirical results against non-stationarities in the time series. Findings It is revealed that industrial production causes long and short term environmental costs. The OECD IPI and atmospheric carbon emissions were found to have a strong correlation between the time domain. However, this relationship does not mostly take into account the frequency-based correlations with the tail effects caused by shocks that are effective on the economy. In this study, the long-term dependence of the relationship between the OECD IPI and atmospheric carbon emissions differs from the correlation obtained by linear methods, as the analysis is based on the frequency. The major finding is that the Hurst coefficient is in the range 0.40-0.75 indicating. Research limitations/implications In this study, the local singular behavior of the time-series is analyzed to test for the multifractality characteristics of the series. In this context, the scaling exponents and the singularity spectrum are obtained to determine the origins of this multifractality. The multifractal time series are defined as the set of points with a given singularity exponent a where this exponent a is illustrated as a fractal with fractal dimension f(α). Therefore, the multifractality term indicates the existence of fluctuations, which are non-uniform and more importantly, their relative frequencies are also scale-dependent. Practical implications The results provide information based on the fluctuation in IPI, which determines the main conjuncture of the economy. An optimal strategy for shaping the consequences of climate change resulting from industrial production activities will not only need to be quite comprehensive and global in scale but also policies will need to be applicable to the national and local conditions of the given nation and adaptable to the needs of the country. Social implications The results provide information for the analysis of the environmental cost of climate change depending on the magnitude of the impact on the total supply. In addition to environmental problems, climate change leads to economic problems, and hence, policy instruments are introduced to fight against the adverse effects of it. Originality/value This study may be of practical and technical importance in regional climate change forecasting, extreme carbon emission regulations and industrial production resource management in the world economy. Hence, the major contribution of this study is to introduce an approach to sustainability for the analysis of the environmental cost of growth in the supply side economy.

scholarly journals Tree Cover Estimation in Global Drylands from Space Using Deep Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilio Guirado ◽  
Domingo Alcaraz-Segura ◽  
Javier Cabello ◽  
Sergio Puertas-Ruíz ◽  
Francisco Herrera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Classification Model ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
System Modelling ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Visual Interpretation ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
The Cost

Accurate tree cover mapping is of paramount importance in many fields, from biodiversity conservation to carbon stock estimation, ecohydrology, erosion control, or Earth system modelling. Despite this importance, there is still uncertainty about global forest cover, particularly in drylands. Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted a costly global assessment of dryland forest cover through the visual interpretation of orthoimages using the Collect Earth software, involving hundreds of operators from around the world. Our study proposes a new automatic method for estimating tree cover using artificial intelligence and free orthoimages. Our results show that our tree cover classification model, based on convolutional neural networks (CNN), is 23% more accurate than the manual visual interpretation used by FAO, reaching up to 79% overall accuracy. The smallest differences between the two methods occurred in the driest regions, but disagreement increased with the percentage of tree cover. The application of CNNs could be used to improve and reduce the cost of tree cover maps from the local to the global scale, with broad implications for research and management.

Tourism and climate change in Mauritius: assessing the adaptation and mitigation plans and prospects

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roopanand Mahadew ◽  
Krishnee Adnarain Appadoo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Good Faith ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Normative Framework ◽  
Adaptation And Mitigation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which Mauritius has structured its adaptation to and mitigation of the climate change and its effects on the tourism industry based on the UNEP framework on tourism and climate change. Design/methodology/approach The UNEP framework is used as a guideline based on which an assessment of the various policies, laws or regulations existent in Mauritius is carried out. Findings The paper highlights the significant lacunas that exist in Mauritius with regard to this subject matter with measures taken in good faith but not structured and oriented enough to meet long-term goals. Originality/value This paper adds to the meagre literature that exists in Mauritius on the legal or normative framework that exists in Mauritius concerning climate change and the tourism industry.

Food and Agriculture Organization

1952 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-632
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Assistance Programme ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
Locust Control

The Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization held its fifteenth session in Rome from June 9 to 14, 1952 under the chairmanship of Josu6 de Castro (Brazil); Sir Ralph Enfield (United Kingdom) and Dr. G. B. H. Barton (Canada) were elected vice chairmen of the session. Focusing its attention on questions discussed at the Sixth Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the council reviewed progress reports on the reform of agrarian structures, the Expanded Technical Assistance Programme, commodity problems, locust control and plans for increasing food and agricultural production; studied the problem of food shortages and famine; and considered matters of procedure, administration and finance.

US corporate tax reform would risk highway fund

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
Fuel Efficiency ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Corporate Tax Reform ◽  
The Cost

Significance On July 15, the House of Representatives passed a short-term funding measure, against the wishes of many in the Senate. US infrastructure is facing a fiscal crunch. Taxes on gasoline have traditionally supported highway appropriations. However, eroding purchasing power and greater fuel efficiency means that about 30% of highway funding must be found from other sources, difficult in the current Congress. The present round of appropriations expires on July 31. Impacts A corporate tax might provide a long-term resolution, but the pursuit of it would come at the cost of seeking more modest solutions. These would provide stability for a year or two, necessary for projects of long duration. If corporate tax reform is not completed before the end of 2015, it will probably not get done in a presidential election year. If Congress were to rely on the prospect of these taxes for the HTF, it might find itself in a similar position in a few months.

Better risk pricing can unlock billions in investment

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Direct Investment ◽  
Cost Of Capital ◽  
Political Risk ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Risk Pricing ◽  
The Cost

Subject Pricing political risk. Significance The mis-measurement of political risk is resulting in the cost of capital being valued 2-4 percentage points higher than it should be in assessments ahead of cross-border investment decisions. Research suggests that in 2016 this could have increased net foreign direct investment (FDI) to non-advanced countries by more than 10%. Impacts Political risk measurement is set for a renaissance, with interest from practitioners and end-users likely to proliferate. Frontier markets that are on the edge of inclusion in 'emerging' portfolio allocations could see an uptick in investment inflows. Returns to long-term capital managers, from insurers to pension funds, will rise as cost-of-capital calculations grow in sophistication.

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