scholarly journals Tackling Regional Climate Change Impacts and Food Security Issues: A Critical Analysis across ASEAN, PIF, and SAARC

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Saidul Islam ◽  
Edson Kieu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
National Development ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
Legal Obligation ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Regional Policies

Climate change and food security issues are multi-faceted and transcend across national boundaries. Therefore, this paper begins with the premise that regional organizations are optimally positioned to address climate change and food security issues while actively engaging global partners to slow down or reverse current trajectories. However, the potential of regional organizations to play a central role in mitigating these vital concerns has not been realized. In this paper, we focus on three regional organizations—the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and set out to investigate the multifaceted obstacles that impede regional organizations’ ability to effectively cope with these problems. We qualitatively review the efficacy of policies and examine the connections between politico-economic processes that affect the development, cooperation, and execution of regional policies. In doing so, we review regional policies using five key criteria: (i) planning, (ii) implementation, (iii) cooperation, (iv) legal obligation and (v) international contribution. Our findings suggest that regional organizations face fundamental problems in the implementation of extensive policies due to the lack of cooperation and legal obligation between member nation-states that stems from fundamental prioritization of national development agendas over regional cooperation.

scholarly journals The potential habitat of desert locusts is contracting: predictions under climate change scenarios

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12311
Author(s):  
Jingyun Guan ◽  
Moyan Li ◽  
Xifeng Ju ◽  
Jun Lin ◽  
Jianguo Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Desert Locust ◽  
Maxent Model ◽  
Potential Habitat

Desert locusts are notorious for their widespread distribution and strong destructive power. Their influence extends from the vast arid and semiarid regions of western Africa to northwestern India. Large-scale locust outbreaks can have devastating consequences for food security, and their social impact may be long-lasting. Climate change has increased the uncertainty of desert locust outbreaks, and predicting suitable habitats for this species under climate change scenarios will help humans deal with the potential threat of locust outbreaks. By comprehensively considering climate, soil, and terrain variables, the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model was used to predict the potential habitats of solitary desert locusts in the 2050s and 2070s under the four shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP126, SSP245, SSP370, and SSP585) in the CMIP6 model. The modeling results show that the average area under the curve (AUC) and true skill statistic (TSS) reached 0.908 ± 0.002 and 0.701, respectively, indicating that the MaxEnt model performed extremely well and provided outstanding prediction results. The prediction results indicate that climate change will have an impact on the distribution of the potential habitat of solitary desert locusts. With the increase in radiative forcing overtime, the suitable areas for desert locusts will continue to contract, especially in the 2070s under the SSP585 scenario, and the moderately and highly suitable areas will decrease by 0.88 × 106 km2 and 1.55 × 106 km2, respectively. Although the potentially suitable area for desert locusts is contracting, the future threat posed by the desert locust to agricultural production and food security cannot be underestimated, given the combination of maintained breeding areas, frequent extreme weather events, pressure from population growth, and volatile sociopolitical environments. In conclusion, methods such as monitoring and early warning, financial support, regional cooperation, and scientific prevention and control of desert locust plagues should be further implemented.

Key trade pact will be signed at ASEAN summit

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leisure Travel ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

Significance Talks will be held virtually because of restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. A key focus will be finalisation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free trade agreement (FTA) involving the ten ASEAN members and five of the bloc’s dialogue partners. Impacts Discussion at the summits about non-traditional security issues such as climate change are unlikely to result in substantive outcomes. Countries deemed to be at low risk from COVID-19 may push for a common framework to reboot business and leisure travel. Formal launch of a COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund, announced at June’s ASEAN summit, may spur greater regional cooperation over the pandemic.

Economic liberation and regional cooperation in Southern Africa: SADCC and PTA

1983 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas G. Anglin
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
National Development ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
Eastern And Southern Africa ◽  
Coordination Conference

Two of the most significant regional organizations to emerge in Southern Africa in recent years are the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), with nine members, and the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa (PTA), comprised of fourteen states including five SADCC members. Although their purposes and programs are similar and steadily converging, SADCC and PTA exhibit distinct differences in their origins, memberships, institutional structures, financial patrons, ideologies, and strategies. Although national development remains the ultimate aim of both bodies, reducing external dependency, especially in the case of SADCC on South Africa, and regional cooperation are seen as essential to success. While obvious areas of conflict exist, the two organizations may be able to restrain their rivalry in the interests of their members and possibly of their own survival.

scholarly journals Advancing Food Security through Agroecological Technologies: The Implementation of the Biointensive Method in the Dry Corridor of Nicaragua

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Simon ◽  
Maria Montero ◽  
Óscar Bermudez
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Central America ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Food Assistance ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
Food Assistance Programs ◽  
Assistance Programs

In contrast with international food assistance programs, or with the new green revolution based on the sustainable intensification of agriculture, this work proposes an agroecological technology to overcome food insecurity problems in countries like Nicaragua, most especially in rural areas. In particular, it analyzes the effects of implementing the biointensive method—an agroecological food production initiative that is highly labor-intensive, but requires little land—in various communities of the Dry Corridor in Nicaragua. This project is the result of establishing an international consortium for development cooperation where grassroots communities played a prominent role. The main results are an improvement in local food security and a strengthening of the communities’ capacity to face major challenges arising from poverty and climate change, the effects of which are increasingly noticeable in Central America. The main weakness identified is that the necessary tropicalization of the method has not been sufficiently tested, for a two-year period is too short a time to transform the prevailing rural development dynamics significantly.

scholarly journals Examining the Barriers to Gender Integration in Agriculture, Climate Change, Food Security, and Nutrition Policies: Guatemalan and Honduran Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanny Howland ◽  
Mariola Acosta ◽  
Juliana Muriel ◽  
Jean-Francois Le Coq
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
National Level ◽  
National Development ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
International Level ◽  
Policy Cycle ◽  
Gender Integration ◽  
Policy Translation ◽  
Food Security And Nutrition

Gender mainstreaming is seen, at international level, as critical to achieving national development goals and addressing key global challenges such as climate change and food and nutrition insecurity in the agriculture sector. Our study examined the barriers leading to poor gender mainstreaming and potential solutions in policies applying to gender, agriculture, climate change, food security and nutrition, in both Guatemala and Honduras. We used a case study approach to analyze the barriers to gender integration in these governments' policies. Based on semi-structured interviews and policy document analysis, we conducted a methodology based on policy mix, policy integration and policy translation. Results show that, despite having made multiple international commitments on gender issues and having gender-labeled policy and governmental gender bodies, gender mainstreaming in the policy cycle is lagging. There are multiple barriers of a different nature and at different levels that explain the lack of gender integration in the policy cycle, related and linked to: (1) policy translation from the international level; (2) structural policy barriers at national level; (3) behaviors and corruption; and (4) lack of knowledge and capacity. Solutions to address these barriers have been identified. Our results confirmed the literature findings and also introduce new elements such as the importance of considering the nature of the relationship (purely technical and/or political) between governments and international cooperation actors to evaluate the level of gender integration in policy. Furthermore, we stress that for key informants, there are no (easy) solutions to redress the poor gender integration strategies implemented. Finally, we noted that no solutions were provided relating to structural racism and machismo, religious extremism, power groups, and censorship of civil society.

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