Environmental Peacebuilding Association

International

South Sudan: Peace at Last for South Sudan? That May Depend on the Price of Oil

Oct 16, 2018 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg

A civil war has cast South Sudan into five years of bloody upheaval. The latest peace deal may hinge on something that’s almost as unpredictable:…

India: Bengaluru Is a Window into the Water Wars of the Future

Oct 11, 2018 | Georgina Drew, Amalendu Jyotishi, and Deepika M. G., Quartz

Bengaluru is home to some ten million people. It might also be the next city to experience “day zero”: when it runs out of ground…

Afghanistan/Pakistan: Pak-Afghan Cooperation for Sustainable Usage of River Kabul Stressed

Oct 11, 2018 | The News

Afghan Consul General Professor Mohammad Moeen Marastial has urged the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to sit and discuss water issues between the two countries…

Afghanistan: Afghan Farmers Fleeing Drought Face More Hardship in Camps

Oct 11, 2018 | Agence France-Presse

For only the second time in his life, Afghan farmer Murad Khan Ishaqzai has been forced to leave the home where he was born 80…

Afghanistan: 'Creating Peace through Business’: Rumi Spice Takes Single-Origin Saffron to Wider US Audience

Oct 10, 2018 | Mary Ellen Shoup, FoodNavigator-USA

Known as a pricey and somewhat elusive spice, the delicate ruby red saffron threads can be intimidating to many consumers. Socially conscious Rumi Spice is…

Liberia: Community Forestry Hijacked by Logging Companies, Risk of Future Conflict Heightens

Oct 10, 2018 | FrontPage Africa

A new investigation from Global Witness has revealed how progressive community forestry in Liberia is being undermined by the logging industry, with companies reportedly using…

Iraq: New Iraq Oil Contracts to Call for 85 Percent Local Content

Oct 10, 2018 | MEED

There has been growing popular unrest over the state of the Iraqi economy as the general population sees little of its oil wealth.

Russia: Land Grab? Why the Ingush Are Furious with Chechnya

Oct 10, 2018 | Tony Wesolowsky, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Magas, the capital of the southern Russian region of Ingushetia, has been at the center of fresh controversy in the volatile North Caucasus region of…

Syria: Erratic Weather, Conflict Weigh on Syria’s Agriculture Output

Oct 10, 2018 | Eric Schroeder, World-Grain.com

An extended period of dry weather early in the crop season followed by heavy out-of-season rains have led to poor grain growing conditions in Syria,…

Nigeria: Farmers/Herders Conflict: Group to Set up Integrated Farming Communities in Three States

Oct 10, 2018 | Eagle Online

A Non-Governmental Organization, Synergos Nigeria, has begun a pilot program to integrate farming and pastoralist communities in parts of Kaduna, Benue and Kogi States.
Victoria…

Afghanistan: Industrialists Say Struggling with Power, Land Shortages

Oct 10, 2018 | Pajhwok Afghan News

The Afghanistan Industrialist Association (AIA) on Monday said 420 new factories were set up in capital Kabul during the last eight years, but the plants…

Iran: Iran Is New Transit Point for Somali Charcoal in Illicit Trade Taxed by Militants: UN Report

Oct 9, 2018 | Michelle Nichols, Reuters

Criminal networks are using Iran as a transit point for illicit Somali charcoal exports that earn Islamist militants al Shabaab millions of dollars annually in…

DRC: AVZ Minerals’ Scoping Study Reveals US$1.6 Billion Net Present Value for Lithium Project in DRC

Oct 9, 2018 | Proactive Investors

AVZ managing director Nigel Ferguson said the Manono Lithium Project is now the largest undeveloped hard rock lithium project globally in terms of grade, mine…

Colombia: Land, Oil, Mining, Drug Crops: Colombian Amazon Tough for Small Farmers

Oct 9, 2018 | Barbara J. Fraser, Catholic News Service

Companies that once avoided Colombia’s Amazonian region because of the hazards of war are now jockeying to profit from timber, oil, minerals and palm oil…

Syria: Erratic Weather and Prolonged Conflict Take Toll on Syria’s Agricultural Output

Oct 9, 2018 | Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

Extreme weather conditions during Syria's seventh year of conflict has caused domestic cereal production to decline sharply, two UN agencies announced today. The conflict in…

Myanmar: Vice President Says Country Needs National Land Law

Oct 8, 2018 | Pyae Thet Phyo, Myanmar Times

Second Vice President U Henry Van Thio said parliament needs to enact a National Land Law that can deal with the challenges facing the country…

Afghanistan: Afghanistan Water Shortage Displaces Thousands in Badghis [Video]

Oct 8, 2018 | Al Jazeera

More than three million people are suffering from a devastating drought in Afghanistan. There’s been no rain for months and crops have all failed, forcing…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Update: Kurdistan and the Battle Over Oil

Oct 8, 2018 | New York Times

In an election that did not capture the attention of most of the world, residents of the semiautonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq voted in a…

Conflict Minerals: UN Truck Overturns Carrying Sacks of Illegal Minerals

Oct 8, 2018 | Taarifa

The United Nations truck which overturned this morning has been found to be carrying illegal minerals – this has attracted a lot of criticism. Some…

Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Minerals: A Looted Economic Hope for Stability

Oct 5, 2018 | Gul Maqsood Sabit, Diplomat

The insurgency in Afghanistan has gained strength and the government’s influence has shrunk despite significant international efforts since 2001 when the world intervened in Afghanistan.…

Afghanistan: CENTAR Announces Signing of Historic Afghan Gold and Copper Mining Agreements

Oct 5, 2018 | Business Wire

CENTAR Limited, the mining and exploration investment company, and its operating company Afghan Gold and Minerals Company (AGMC), today announced they will sign contracts with…

Nigeria: Environmental Cooperation as a Pathway to Resolve Nigeria’s Deadly Farmer-Herder Conflicts

Oct 4, 2018 | UN Environment

Nigeria’s central Middle Belt region is home to a diverse cultural population of semi-nomadic cattle herders and farming communities. For decades, the region has experienced…

Iraq: Iraq to Cut Winter Crop Area by 55 Percent on Water Shortages

Oct 4, 2018 | Reuters

Iraq’s agriculture ministry said on Thursday it would reduce its 2018-2019 winter crop planting area by 55 percent due to a water shortage. Iraq will…

Afghanistan: “If the Water Finishes, We Will Leave”: Drought Is Forcing Hundreds of Thousands of Afghans from Their Homes [Photos]

Oct 4, 2018 | Stefanie Glinski

The severe drought has dried up riverbeds and water sources, withered crops, and forced 250,000 people from their homes. Journalist Stefanie Glinski spent a week…