Bioenergy crops need to be chosen carefully
Indonesia is gearing up to grow a large proportion of its energy in the form of trees and other crops. However, it isn’t as simple as sticking a tree in the ground and driving off in the fuel...
Agroforestry World Blog
Indonesia set to expand use of bioenergy
The need for clearer policies, more trees and other plants for biomass and fuel, and use of organic waste from agriculture were some of the topics discussed at an international clean-energy forum for Indonesia that quickened the agenda...
Recognizing women in science
To commemorate the United Nation’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February (#womeninscience), the work of women scientists across the CGIAR network is being showcased. A set of profiles about women scientists in the...
Interactive essay explores how science and innovation in agriculture is changing lives
A new interactive essay demonstrates how investments in science and innovation can not only meet food security needs but also contribute to broader interlinked goals, such as natural resource management, improved nutrition and resilient rural livelihoods. Celebrating Science...
Success in thirsty Sumba a challenge for researchers
Dryland tropical agroforestry is a little-researched area that is likely to be increasingly in demand as climate patterns change. Researchers on the island of Sumba in Indonesia are working hard and fast to meet the challenges. Sumba’s...
Highly resilient secondary tropical forests rapidly sequester carbon
At the Climate Conference in Paris (CoP 21), all attention was focused on how humanity can reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, especially Carbon Dioxide, that are driving climate change, either by reducing emissions at source or by...
Power in balance: encouraging news about gender from Southern Sulawesi
Researchers in Sulawesi, Indonesia are sounding a rare note of optimism in the usually dreary accounting of gender relations: women’s situations aren’t so bad in communities they studied in southern Sulawesi. According to the researchers, although men...
Indonesia’s Kajang indigenous community achieves land rights
The Kajang indigenous people of Bulukumba, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia have finally overcome the long impasse over recognition of their customary land. After several years of meetings, consultations and regulatory proceedings, the council plenary meeting of the...
Mapping Malawian farmers’ vulnerability to the impacts of climate shocks
Unprecedented floods experienced in Malawi in early 2015 left a trail of destruction in the central and southern parts of the country. Higher frequency of related incidents together with episodes of drought threaten agriculture-dependent livelihoods and the economy...
Threat or opportunity? Transforming the wood energy sector
At the Global Landscapes Forum, held in Paris in December alongside the UNFCCC COP 21 climate talks, a panel of experts discussed innovative plans to utilize sustainable wood energy as option for restoration. When talking about the utilization...
Of Trees and Banks
by Catherine Ky-Dembele and Ake Mamo In the drylands of Mali, adoption of tree based food banks is creating big impressions in farmers’ lives. When we think of food security, it is specters of food shortage and bags...
Coffee-based agroforestry: a new way to increase farmers’ income in Hulu Lambuya Forest in Southeast Sulawesi
Farmers in Indonesia are learning how to grow coffee to improve their livelihoods and ensure their household needs. By Hendra Gunawan and Endri Martini A few years ago, a mixed orchard based on coffee trees was hard to...
A burning issue: woodfuel, public health, land degradation and conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa
Wood energy fuelling the future Wood is a key source of energy that has been used for millennia for cooking, boiling water, lighting and heating. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 90% of the population relies on woodfuel, i.e....
Local knowledge for restoration in a rubber-dominated landscape in SW China
How local communities in SW China are contributing to the design of a restoration program for rubber-dominated landscapes By Francis Commercon The most interesting study sites for a student of conservation biology are often those places where environmental...