Blog

In March 2019, the Government of Haiti released an official request for proposals as part of a broader plan to support the development of minigrids. Minigrids generally involve small-scale electricity generation and can advance energy transitions in rural areas by enabling a power supply for communities lacking reliable electricity.

• 09/26/2019
• Alexis Powers, Sadie Cox

In a crowded banquet hall in Niamey, a dozen people gather around a large piece of paper, chatting excitedly in Hausa and French. They are a diverse group - farmers from hours outside the capital, radio broadcasters, extension agents, meteorologists, government officials and a smattering of NGO workers.

• 09/25/2019
• Kristin Lambert, Amanda Lewis, Mary Allen

Climate change poses a significant global threat to food security and nutrition, largely through its impacts on agricultural production.

• 09/24/2019
• Agrilinks Team

To mitigate the food security and economic risks of South Asia’s frequent and intense droughts, scientists and policymakers from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) recently joined forces to launch an innovative decision support and agricultural planning system.

• 09/20/2019
• Agrilinks Team

Children, along with women and the elderly, are especially vulnerable during natural disasters, according to the Indonesia National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), which estimates that 60 to 70 percent of disaster victims fall in those demographic categories

• 09/18/2019
• Nyoman Prayoga

This month we are exploring what it means to build local capacity to address climate change. Building local capacity starts with an understanding of the local stakeholders’ needs.

• 09/10/2019
• Isabela Barriga

The Climate Hazards Center (CHC) has been using the CHC Early Estimates for agroclimatological monitoring and forecast-plus-observation rainfall scenarios since late 2018. The CHC Early Estimates are regional maps that show rainfall conditions for multiple accumulation periods, which are useful for agroclimatic monitoring.

• 09/05/2019
• Agrilinks Team

Because of the wide array of threats faced by modern energy systems, power sector resilience is increasingly important. It is critical for policymakers, planners, and system operators to safeguard their power systems from these threats by proactively planning for future needs and investing in resilient power systems.

• 09/03/2019
• Sadie Cox, Isabel McCan

Increasingly, cities are taking control of assessing local risks associated with climate change and implementing adaptation activities to build the resilience of their residents, economy, and infrastructure.

• 08/29/2019
• Owen Scott

Access to and control over production inputs can transform women farmers into active change agents in their communities. Such a transformation is a crucial step towards women's empowerment that research and development organizations must consider.

• 08/27/2019
• Agrilinks Team

Urban microgrids are high on the global development agenda. They are attractive for many reasons, most recently for their relevance to climate change adaptation and mitigation. They have proven resilient to extreme weather events, and, because they create commercial opportunities for low-carbon generation technology, they can reduce greenhouse gases from the urban sector in the long term.

• 08/23/2019
• Michael Ashford, Lisa Pagkalinawan

Energy efficiency programs provide multiple benefits that align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, including economic opportunity, improved health, gender equity, and better environmental and climate-related outcomes. However, energy efficiency remains an underused resource in developing countries, where citizens have limited access to power, utilities often struggle to keep up with demand, and financial capital for improving quality of service is scarce.

• 08/21/2019
• Alexandra Aznar, Alexis Powers

Illness due to dengue virus is estimated to cost the Caribbean over US$ 300 million per year. Layered on top of these costs are increasing concerns around heat stress resulting from the dramatic rise in the number of heatwaves occurring since 1995 in the Eastern Caribbean

• 08/19/2019
• Adrian Trotman, Roché Mahon, Cédric J. Van Meerbeeck

Climate change impacts, such as sea level rise, flooding, and drought, threaten renewable energy generation, particularly hydropower due to the necessary proximity of power stations to water sources. As a result, energy security and the ability of countries to meet their greenhouse gas reduction targets may be compromised.

• 08/14/2019
• Molly Hellmuth

Their summits often soaring to more than 20,000 feet, the great intersecting mountain ranges of Central and South Asia collectively stretch thousands of miles across the continent. Within this vast, often impenetrable, and sparsely inhabited wilderness, snowfields and glaciers store water that has fallen as precipitation and accumulated over the course of years, decades, or in some cases, even centuries.

• 08/06/2019
• Russell Sticklor