http://uk.oneworld.net/article/archive/1925 en_GB_uk OneWorld UK - UK/English/Topics/Development/Land Carbon Trading Blasted by Indigenous Groups http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/160386/1/1925 UNITED NATIONS, May 5 (OneWorld) - The United Nations is facing scathing criticism from the world's indigenous communities for its attempts to promote carbon trading as a tool to address climate change concerns. Coping at land’s end http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/160308/1/1925 Environmental activist Sunita Narain offers a glimpse of what the future holds for coastal towns and villages as sea waters rise at a high rate. Climate change, rising salinity in waters and intense winds are eroding and depressing land at the same time in the Sunderbans, leaving people with no ways to survival. Two villages in eastern India gobbled up by sea http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/160270/1/1925 Villages in Orissa on the eastern coast of India are sinking into the sea. In last four months many families have been forced to flee as rising waters have submerged their homes and farmlands. Despite assurances from government, the displaced families are yet to be resettled. Death of a poet-farmer http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/160062/1/1925 Shreekrishna Kalamb, a poet-farmer in Vidarbha region of western India, ended his life on March 24. His death and those of 250 others, who have committed suicide since January, are symbolic of an agrarian crisis that the country is reeling under for past many years. Women’s right to land and housing http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/160006/1/1925 Women’s contribution to the economy and society remains largely unrecognised, underpaid and unpaid in most cases. The need for women to secure land and property is even more critical now, writes Dr Vibhuti Patel of SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, India. Food Crisis Set to Get Worse - Experts http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/159936/1/1925 NEW YORK, Apr 19 (OneWorld) - The current food crisis causing hunger and starvation for millions of people across the world is not going to end as long as those who dominate the international grain markets remain unwilling to change their behavior, according to experts specializing in international trade and environmental economics. Tremendous potential for agriculture in Afghanistan http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/159907/1/1925 With its fertile land and abundant rivers, a long-term investment in agricultural infrastructure from donors can make Afghanistan self-sufficient in food, says a UN official. Up to 70% of Afghans are suffering from acute food insecurity due to poverty, drought and years of conflict. Congo Villagers Use Satellites to Save Forests http://uk.oneworld.net/article/view/159555/1/1925 Hundreds of Cogolese villagers - mostly hunter-gatherers or subsistence farmers - will use high-tech GPS (Global Positioning System) devices to produce digital maps to prove their existence to the government and to loggers. Protracted struggle forces ADB to pull out of Phulbari http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/159553/1/1925 Asian Development Bank withdrawing from controversial Phulbari coal mining project in Bangladesh is being seen as a major victory for human rights movement. Drawing inspiration from this success, national and international civil society groups are now urging other financial institutions to pull the rug from under the British mining company. Proud landowners http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/159414/1/1925 Thanks to the support of the DMK federation of Dalit land rights and Action Aid, the women of Kattiupaiyur, Tamil Nadu, India have reclaimed what once belonged to the oppressed community. Eight years of struggle have made them proud owners of land that they now dream of passing on to their daughters. UN says biofuels hurting Asia's poorest http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/159233/1/1925 Biofuels are increasingly coming under the scanner for the dangers that they pose for food supplies. No doubt that the biofuel sector has enormous potential to lower oil prices but there is also a need to set the priorities right in order to maintain a balance between food and energy securities. Local Control Saves Forests - Report http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/159182/1/1925 NEW YORK, Mar 27 (OneWorld) - There will likely be fewer wildfires and more trees for future generations if loggers abide by a set of international rules on forest management, says a new study by independent environmentalists. ‘Indian budget will not raise farm incomes’ http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/159121/1/1925 The government’s loan waivers for farmers are more of a populist stunt in the election year and less of seeking solutions to the current agrarian crisis, says journalist P.Sainath. The waivers fail to address moneylender debts and limit beneficiaries by a pre-determined two-hectare mark. Tale of two villages http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/159052/1/1925 Two villages in Maharashtra in western India tell of two different tales of survival. While one village is lush green with abundant water and yielding fields, the other in Vidarbha’s cotton belt has rising debts, shrinking incomes and desperate homes. River island dwellers in Bangladesh face multiple problems http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/158979/1/1925 Known as chars in local dialect, these river islands in Bangladesh are home to over 600,000 poor inhabitants, and are prone to acute erosion, flooding and period submersions. Sanitation and access to clean drinking water is particularly calamitous here, say health experts.