Reports and Documents

Achieving food security is of utter importance in any nation. However, food insecurity still exists in many developing countries, with Asia home to almost 65% of the world’s undernourished. This calls for urgent action. Studies that examine differences in food security performance among Asian countries are sparse.

The Caribbean region’s Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face considerable threats from climate change, and considerable costs to cope with and adapt to climate impacts that exceed their financial capacity.

Reducing fossil fuel supply is necessary to meet the Paris Agreement goal to keep warming “well below 2°C”. Yet, the Paris Agreement is silent on the topic of fossil fuels.

Smallholder farmers in coastal Kenya are already significantly affected by climate change, particularly in semi-arid and dryland areas. They have developed a number of innovations to enhance resilience and productivity, eg. crop diversification using resilient local varieties, new planting techniques and wild tree domestication.

This issue paper briefly presents the case for agro-industrialization as Africa’s viable path to sustainable economic growth.

This report focuses on efforts to reach the 100% renewable energy standard by 22 of the leading greenhouse gas emitting countries. Unfortunately, with only one exception, France, most of these countries have still to make such a commitment.

The report observes that in today's broadband society, digital skills are key. The ability to operate a smartphone, navigate the internet, engage in online environments, and organize and safeguard digital information are essential 'literacies', skills and competencies needed by all people.

This 10th South Africa Economic Update offers a review of the country’s recent economic and social developments and outlook in the context of global economic prospects. It focuses on the role of innovation in fostering economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction in an environment in which more South Africans are getting poorer.

Ghana has accepted the CAADP commitment to dedicate 10 percent of government spending to the agricultural sector. In a 2014 paper, Benin argues that Ghana falls short of that goal, and in a 2016 paper, Younger shows that despite the current fiscal crisis, there is fiscal space to meet the commitment.

Current commitments under the Paris Agreement are not sufficient to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels; the UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2015 showed that a mitigation gap of 14 GtCO2e exists for 2030. Against this background international climate initiatives can play an important role for reducing global emissions.