Both ENDS
What would the world look like if men and women around the world would have the same opportunities in life? What would politics look like if half of the world's leaders would be female? What would development look like if men and women would have equal access to and control over the natural resources they depend upon?
From land regeneration to improving soil health – trees play a crucial role in almost all our ecosystems. Agroforestry makes use of these benefits by combining agriculture and forestry. Agroforestry, and the reforestation and conservation efforts that are part of it, improves biodiversity and climate resilience, as well as the livelihoods of the farming communities involved.
The Netherlands does not reach target for responsible soy
The Dutch Soy Coalition (consisting of eight development and environmental organisations*) finds that in 2013 only a quarter of the 2.4 million tons of soy used in the Netherlands is responsibly produced. The social or environmental impacts of the production of the other three quarters of Dutch soy imports are not at all clear or accounted for. The target set by the Netherlands is to purchase 100 percent responsible soy by 2015. This will be almost impossible to achieve at this point.
An order, issued by a Brazilian court against the construction of the Belo Monte dam, has been overruled by a higher court. The dam will have disastrous effects on the environment and the population in the area. Moreover, it is questionable whether the supposed benefits will outweigh the high costs and the damage done.
In 2005, a palm oil company approached the villagers of Kiungkang in West-Kalimantan, Indonesia, with offers to convert their farms to oil palm smallholdings. Many farmers agreed to the proposal because of the high monthly incomes promised by the company that they could earn from the oil palms. Unfortunately, the palm oil dream turned out to be an illusion.
