Ever-increasing carbon emissions and their impact on the earth’s climate are at the top of the international environmental agenda. What are the optimal ways to reduce these emissions? While government officials are pursuing a variety of options, biofuels have captured the imagination of policymakers worldwide, with proponents supporting a range of fuel sources—from corn to sugarcane to algae. But as the demand for biofuels grows larger, what will be the impact on the world’s poor? IFPRI has begun research on how to both meet the growing demand for agricultural products and the subsequent increased need for energy through an environmentally sustainable, pro-poor approach. Increased demand for corn—both for ethanol and as feed for livestock—is driving up prices and threatening food security in the developing world. Additionally, land degradation and water scarcity will increase as more biofuel crops are planted. What type of approach offers the best chance for satisfying the world’s appetite for energy without depleting environmental quality or the socioeconomic conditions of the world's poor and hungry?

 

For more information on IFPRI’s bioenergy research, visit http://www.ifpri.org/themes/bioenergy/bioenergy.asp. For more general information on IFPRI’s work on the environment, visit http://www.ifpri.org/divs/eptd.htm
To find out more about what you can do to help the environment on Blog Action Day (October 15), visit http://blogactionday.org/

 

 by Joachim von Braun, Ashok Gulati, and Shenggen Fan


What can the world learn from the process of economic reform in China and India? Does the sequencing of reforms matter? What lessons do the experiences of in these countries offer for other developing countries and countries in economic transition? What could China and India learn from their own as well as each other’s experiences?

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Genetically modified crops are often framed as the products of multinational corporations, but in poorer nations it is public research that is vibrant and attempting their development. Joel I Cohen analyzes the current state of research, key trends, regulation, genetic resources and institutional roles in developing genetically modified (GM) crops. The first of its kind, this work is meant to help scientists, policy makers and regulators understand their respective country’s public GM crop research agenda, identify polices and regulatory needs for specific GM events and provide a transparent picture of national research and regulation for stakeholders. Nature Biotechnology Volume 23 Number 1 January 2005.

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by Joachim von Braun, M. S. Swaminathan, and Mark W. Rosegrant


In 2000, the member states of the United Nations committed themselves to creating a "more peaceful, prosperous and just world," to "free[ing] our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty," to making "the right to development a reality for everyone," and to ridding "the entire human race from want."

Are these just more well-meaning words?

Perhaps this time they will make a difference, because the joint declaration also set out eight goals—the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)--and each goal has specific, measurable targets that should be met by 2015. These goals aim to make definite improvements in the lives of the world’s poor people, judged, in most cases, against their situation in 1990. The need for accomplishing these goals is immense. Today, 1.1 billion people live on less than one US dollar per day (the internationally recognized poverty threshold)--430 million in South Asia, 325 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, 260 million in East Asia and the Pacific, and 55 million in Latin America. Too many children live lives characterized by hunger and illness, and all too often succumb to early death. Moreover, another 1.6 billion people live on between one and two dollars per day, often sliding temporarily below the one dollar per day threshold. To enable all these people to live in dignity, the eight goals to achieve by 2015 are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

These goals are all indispensable and they require complex, coordinated action. But with such an enormous yet essential mandate at hand, how best can we proceed to 2015?

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Joachim von Braun is the director general of IFPRI.
M. S. Swaminathan is the chairman of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, the co-coordinator of the Millennium Project's Task Force on Hunger, and president of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
Mark W. Rosegrant is the director of IFPRI's Environment and Production Technology Division.