Suchergebnisse

The current relationship between Syria and the West cripples any real prospect for reconstruction. Western sanctions on reconstruction as a political tool aimed at the regime, have wide-ranging negative impacts on the civilian population – while having little hope of political success. For agriculture the repercussions of sanctions on reconstruction are severe, affecting refugee returns, livelihood recovery, food security and stabilization. This article examines the priority dilemma of sanctions on agricultural reconstruction, and argues that they are counterproductive, particularly given that the war is now larger and more problematic than what a reformed government's relationship with civil society could resolve.

The number of displaced people in Sudan as a result of conflict and famine over two decades of war has been estimated to be in the millions. The lengthy period of time during which many local populations have been dislocated and the consequent disruption of food-producing activities pose complicated problems in both near-term food security and the longer-term rehabilitation of the country's traditional agricultural sector. Recovery of households and production systems after years of conflict and famine for the displaced will involve more than simply a return to home areas. Resource use and access arrangements will emerge contested and reconfigured as claimants with perceived rights based on various past customary and state tenure regimes seek to exercise these rights in a changed human and biophysical landscape. This article will examine some of the land tenure issues likely to become important as large populations of Sudan's internally displaced seek to reengage in agricultural production systems with which they are familiar. In the more populous agriculturally endowed locations where the recovery of many households and numerous production systems will initially be focused, establishing or reestablishing a mutually agreed-upon tenure system (or set of systems) and modes of resource use and access that are widely seen as equitable, secure, inclusive, and legitimate at the national level will, while complicated, be important to agricultural production and food security.

Environmental change in general, and climatic change in particular, are likely to impact significantly upon resources such as water and soils, transforming present day landscapes and their ecological characteristics. As a consequence, disruptions of socio-economic activities in sensitive regions of the globe can be expected in coming decades. Agriculture is at particular risk, especially in areas where prolonged droughts, sea level rise, enhanced natural hazards, or extreme meteorological events such as floods or mudslides threaten marginal existence. Disruptions and risks may have large effects on population migration. Conversely, large-scale movements of people, goods or capital may also disrupt local environments and further contribute to social problems. This volume provides an ample overview of state-of-the-art understanding of the multi-dimensional phenomenon of migration, in the characterisation of migration drivers, in environmental and agro-economic case studies and modelling issues as well as socio-political analyses