Water, along with food and energy, forms a critical part of the ‘development process’ and redefines the understanding of sustainability as a basis for policy-response and long term planning. Around the globe, climate change has posed a serious threat to environmental sustainability as well as human existence with constant rise in global temperature thus influencing natural resources present in different geographic regions. In India, still only 42% of the is under assured irrigation with remaining area being cultivated under the rainfed conditions. Uncertainties in rainfall, increased frequency of floods and droughts and rising demand in other sectors of the economy such as industries and domestic use have further increased the stress on already scarce water resources.
Even as clamour for farm loan waiver grows to afford temporary relief to farmers amid volatility in commodity prices and poor returns from farm produce, the state is facing a problem of increased fragmentation of agricultural land. Smaller plots not just bring down agricultural productivity, but also affects farmers’ economies adversely. According to the latest Agricultural Census of 2010-11, in Maharashtra — which is one of the fastest urbanising states — a total of 1.371 crore land holdings spread over 2 crore hectares of land have come down by 0.12 per cent to 1.369 crore.
Social Entrepreneurship for inclusive growth.
Having been desperately poor during most of his young life, Amitabha Sadangi intimately knows the struggles that the world’s lowest-income families experience on a daily basis. He also knows, from experience, what they are capable of accomplishing.
International Development Enterprises-India (IDEI), which Sadangi founded in 2001, makes and sells low-cost irrigation tools that has helps marginalised farmers increase their crop yield, cultivate during the dry season and lift themselves out of poverty. Till date, the organization has helped one million farming households, spread over 17 states, increase their annual income!
The knowledge of street-smart folk who live in the mountains, combined with research, can work together to develop effective responses to climate change and its impact on ecosystems and livelihoods, experts say.
There is potential to mobilise traditional knowledge to provide place-based evidence on climate change and its impact on ecosystems and livelihoods, said researchers Nawraj Pradhan and Abhimanyu Pandey of the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
Similarly, local knowledge and research could work together to develop effective responses that sustain biological and cultural diversity for adaptation in future.
Great ideas are a dime a dozen. The question is: How do you get 'em to stick?
That's the theme of this year's Tech Awards. The annual program, hosted by The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif., shines a spotlight on startups that use technology to make lives better in poor countries.
But this year, the judging committee — which includes professors from Stanford, Berkeley and Santa Clara University — did something a little different. They looked back at 15 years of winners to find the projects and companies that had not only survived but thrived.
In celebrating the 16th annual Tech Awards, The Tech Museum of Innovation and Applied Materials took a look back at the previous 15 years, choosing to celebrate six laureates of years past at the Nov. 17 gala at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center here.
Among the laureates honored — again — were organizations with strong ties to India, including International Development Enterprises -India and D-Rev.
Some dismiss carbon-offsetting as a way of buying a clear conscience. These Indian farmers disagree. James
Hopkirk sees how Western 'guilt money' transformed their lives.
In the remote village of Bannapur, in northern India, Ram Dyal shows me the tiny patch of farmland from which he scrapes a living. This arid plot, less than an acre, must produce enough vegetables to feed his wife and four children, and, hopefully, something to sell on market day.