In developing countries droughts have significant impacts on rainfed agriculture and remaining rainforests are under continuous threat caused by a strong and increasing world demand for livestock feed and biofuels. Adaptation strategies that cope with droughts and mitigation strategies that maintain the world’s carbon sink in rainforests are needed to reduce current and future vulnerability of climate change.
This study analyses sustainable development in two case-study areas - the Office du Niger region in Mali, which faces recurrent droughts and therefore reduced rice production in the near future, and the Mato Grosso (MT) state in Brazil, which experiences strong deforestation for soy bean production.
The question remains how to put climate issues on the agenda for countries with no money for measures. In Mali in particular, the preoccupation with tackling short-term problems leaves no room for thinking about these matters.
Rapport 2009-060 Climate change in Mali and Brazil; Towards an evaluation method of climate change and land use policies