Rural 21 (Englische Ausgabe)

Focus 3/2013: Soil – a resource under threa
Over the last few years, the increased rush on farmland has demonstrated just how precious and scarce soil is. However, seldom are public awareness and the need for action so far apart as is the case with “soil”. The authors of this edition of Rural 21 first of all demonstrate the wide range of ecosystem services that the essential and finite resource of soil performs and show the dramatic effects that poor governance of transformation of soils has – in all areas of human life. The second part then takes up sustainable land management practice. Finally in the third part we look at the political level. There con tinues to be a lack of an international and legally binding policy framework for the regulation of soil protection. Why are the inter- national community as well as individual countries so reluctant to reach such an agreement, as called for at the Rio+20 Conference last year? Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 1/2013: Food losses
Roughly one third of the food produced globally for human consumption is lost or wasted – 1.3 billion tons per year. Even if these estimates are subject to numerous uncertainties, one thing is beyond doubt: every kilogramme of food that is produced but not consumed is one too many. For it embodies valuable, wasted resources such as land, water, agricultural inputs and energy, unnecessary CO2 emissions have been released into the atmosphere, farmers have lost not only income but also a valuable part of their nutrition, and consumers pay the increased prices that result. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 4/2012: Responsible investments in the food chain
Since the 2007/2008 world food price crisis at the latest, the international community has tirelessly reiterated the key role played by the agricultural sector and rural areas in efforts to combat hunger and poverty. The many years of neglect of the sector in international cooperation – and in many of the policies adopted by the affected countries themselves – is now to be remedied as quickly as possible. Large sums have been pledged and, in the best case, have been deployed. But will those for whom they are intended, namely the smallholders and rural poor, profit from all this investment? What shape must investments take in order that they really reach the target group? And which – desired and undesired – side effects are to be expected? Our authors have explored all these questions and more. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 3/2012: Organic farming
Is organic agriculture, which does not seek output maximisation, able to feed a growing world population, or will it always remain a fine but small niche? Can smallholders in the South achieve stable incomes by converting to organic production? Or is it possibly even grossly negligent to entice them to join the markets – doubtlessly expanding – for organic food as they may never actually be able to enter them due to the high quality standards and entry costs? While our authors do not have simple answers to these questions, they are very instructive. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 2/2012: Cooperatives
The cooperative model has been sidelined for many years now in development cooperation – for various reasons: On the one hand, cooperatives have been completely overestimated as an instrument and were expected to solve a whole bunch of problems at one stroke. On the other hand, they were long misused for state purposes and therefore regarded with mistrust. The fact that the United Nations has declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives is a good opportunity to take a closer look at this special form of enterprise. In this issue of Rural 21, we wish to give you an idea of the range of manifestations that the cooperative model has taken worldwide and of the role cooperatives can play in overcoming rural poverty. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 1/2012: Fragility – a huge challenge
Fragility is a huge challenge for rural development – and a very multifaceted one. In our journal, we can only address some of the aspects involved. We look forward to your reporting on your experience in this respect or also on other areas of this highly complex topic at www.rural21.com. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 5/2011: Price trends on world agricultural markets
Just three years after the 2007/2008 food price crisis, prices for staple foods and agricultural commodities are on the rise again. There is cause for concern about food security. The authors in this issue of Rural 21 have explored the following questions: What are the reasons for the new price increases? How are affected countries and the international community of states reacting to it? How can future food (price) crises be prevented? Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 4/2011: Sustainable tourism
More than 220 million people – that is seven percent of the world’s working population – make a living in the tourism sector, and every day, around three billion US dollars is earned here. Thus the travel industry is contributing more than ten percent of the global gross national product. Even though a major share of this money remains in the industrialised countries (more than half of all international travels take part in Europe), the branch plays a considerable role in the countries of the South: For every third developing country, tourism is the principal source of foreign exchange; for just under half of the Least Developed Countries, tourism is among the top three sources of export earnings. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 3/2011: Food security initiatives – a quality check
The global food price crisis in 2007/2008 shook the world. The issue of food security and hunger has again acquired top priority, and so has headed the agenda at the G8 and G20 summits for the last three years. Numerous initiatives have been set in motion and the international community has been urged to develop an action plan for global food security. There have been demands for the United Nations to reform its Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and to revive the Committee for Food Security, giving it new, more effective functions. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 2/2011: Responsible use of forests
The forests of our globe play a major role in protecting the climate and the environment. They are both an important natural source of energy and resource for innumerable wood products and home to an immense biodiversity. For decades now, warnings have been issued against uncontrolled logging and its disastrous impacts particularly in the Brazilian Amazon, in south-east Asia and central Africa. How can humankind sustainably exploit the forests and at the same time protect and preserve them? This focus issue of Rural 21 provides some answers. Erfahren Sie mehr