CLIMATE CHANGE: Farmers and forecasts

BINGERVILLE/DAKAR, 2 April 2012 (IRIN Global) - Unpredictable rainfall in parts of Côte d’Ivoire cost some farmers over half of their harvest in 2011 producers told IRIN, but, armed with more knowledge about how to get weather reports and interpret them, they might still have been able to boost their output, say agricultural specialists. full report

CLIMATE CHANGE: Coping versus adapting

JOHANNESBURG, 2 April 2012 (IRIN Global) - People often use “coping” and “adapting” interchangeably in the context of disaster response - an issue the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) seeks to address in its new report. full report

ISRAEL: Water being used to coerce Bedouin villagers, says NGO

UMM AL-HIERAN, NEGEV DESERT, 29 March 2012 (IRIN Middle East) - Salim Abu al-Qi’an’s family live in Israel’s Negev desert in the “unrecognized” Bedouin village of Umm al-Hieran, 9km from the nearest source of clean water. full report

SOMALIA: Border town in a fix over water

HARGEISA, 27 March 2012 (IRIN Africa) - Water scarcity in Tog-Wajale, a town straddling the border between northwest Somalia's self-declared republic of Somaliland and Ethiopia, is threatening the health and livelihoods of locals who cannot afford to buy it. full report

CLIMATE CHANGE: A three-degree warmer world by 2050?

JOHANNESBURG, 27 March 2012 (IRIN Global) - The apocalyptic vision presented on cinema screens of a world devoid of food (Hunger Games) or with too much water (Waterworld) as a result of climate change, is not as far-fetched as some may think. full report

AID POLICY: Will pressure make Chinese aid more transparent?

LONDON, 26 March 2012 (IRIN Global) - Critics have long characterized China as a secretive donor in economically poor but resource-rich countries, funding infrastructure construction in an unspoken bid for business deals and access to natural wealth and land. While China disburses aid with a scant paper trail, analysts say strong-arming its government to boost transparency - and aid efficacy - may hurt countries in need. full report

KENYA: The changing face of pastoralism

NAROK, 26 March 2012 (IRIN Africa) - Along a small seasonal stream in Ewaso Nyiro village in Narok, southwestern Kenya, Leleseina Nkoitoi sells vegetables from a stall whose bright colours contrast with the parched landscape. full report

DRC: Landmines hurting farmers’ livelihoods

KABALO, 26 March 2012 (IRIN Africa) - Landmines planted about a decade ago in parts of Kabalo territory in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) southeastern Katanga Province are adversely affecting farming livelihoods, and an important World Food Programme (WFP) project. full report

NIGER: Drought does not mean death of pastoralism

DIFFA REGION, 22 March 2012 (IRIN Africa) - Having spent a fruitless day in search of pasture in the searing heat, about 20 worried and exhausted Fulani pastoralists from Niger near the southeastern edge of the Sahara lie under the stars and mull their future. The next rains and green pastures are still another four months away - or maybe not, mused one of them - “only Allah knows”. full report