Jahrgang 2010

Focus 6/2010: Energy and climate change
Energy poverty is always a prime component of poverty in developing countries, as the former head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Prof. Klaus Töpfer, never tires of emphasising. But what form can future energy production take if it is to contribute to poverty reduction but must do so without damaging sensitive ecosystems and accelerating climate change? The contributors to this issue of Rural 21 shed light on such questions. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 5/2010: Rural Development and Global Partnerships
Promoting rural areas and agricultural production have returned to the front stage of international development policy. Following years of neglect, political decision makers have come to accept that without modern agriculture it is impossible to ensure food security or reduce poverty. The articles in this issue focus on new strategies in bilateral and multilateral development policy and the new role of the Global Partnership for Food and Agriculture Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 4/2010: Microinsurance for agriculture
Being very climate-dependent, agricultural producers have to face high risks and can only safeguard themselves against these risks to a very limited extent, especially in developing countries. 
In contrast to the growing offer of microcredits, the markets for microinsurance or insurances for agricultural produce, life insurance and health insurance have hardly developed in rural areas up to now.
What pre-conditions have to be fulfilled to improve the offer of agricultural insurances in developing and newly-industrialising countries? 
Rural 21 has asked experts from development cooperation and the private sector for their opinion. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 3/2010: Rural youth – to stay or not to stay?“
Life in rural areas offers but little prospects for youth and many young adults. Good training and income opportunities are not available. Working in agriculture no longer holds any attraction for most young people. Traditional family and social structures are also a barrier. Many young adults therefore migrate to the cities, where they often join an army of unemployed. How can life in rural areas become more appealing? What income opportunities and living conditions have to be created that are so alluring that young people no longer have to leave their villages? Rural 21 attempts to show some ways out of this dilemma. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 2/2010: Innovations for the poor
Innovations are the driving forces behind economic development, this also applies to the agricultural sector. This issue of Rural 21 focuses on innovations conducive to sustainable development and pro-poor growth. Numerous case studies look at the diversity of sustainable innovations. Erfahren Sie mehr

Focus 1/2010: Land acquisitions – land grabbed?
Foreign direct investment in land, also known as “land grabbing”, has become an explosive topic, especially in poor developing countries. In its first 2010 issue, Rural 21 gives insights into current trends in FDI, the political dimensions, the dangers that land grabbing by foreign investors hold for local food security, but also the opportunities it can bring for rural populations. Reports from countries in Africa and Asia illuminate the paths FDI is taking and the impacts it has, including on land law Erfahren Sie mehr