NORTH-SOUTH CENTRE - ETH - North-South Centre North-South ...

topics, which cut across the four topics, namely “Gender”,
“Good governance”, and “Impact generation”.
Food security results from the interactions of four components:
(i) food availability, which includes sustainable
production and processing, (ii) physical and monetary
access to food, (iii) food use, including quality and safety, as
well as the effect on human health and well-being, and
(iv) environmental, economic and political stability. The
food price crisis of 2008 brought food security back on the
political agenda. Research on food security will have to contribute
to solving global challenges such as reducing the
number of currently more than one billion malnourished
people in the world. Increased population growth, urbanisation,
and higher incomes resulting in changing consumption
patterns will accelerate the need to multiply global
agricultural production in a sustainable manner.
Sustainable management of natural resources such as land,
water, biodiversity and soil is one of the central challenges
of developing countries. Ecosystems provide a broad range
of services with high (economic) value to society. Among
others, research is needed on the monetary valuation of
such ecosystem services and their contribution to poverty
alleviation, as well as to the design of policy and economic
incentives for their provision. Rural transformation, economic
development and climate change will continue to have
strong impacts on ecosystems, requiring adequate adaptation
and mitigation measures at the level of technologies
as well as of policies.
Urban and rural transformation is one of the most dynamic
processes in developing countries. By 2050 more than 6 billion
people, two thirds of humanity, will be living in towns
and cities. More than 90% of urban growth is expected to
9
Profile
Strategy 2010–2016
Urban and rural transformation –
Interface of rural and urban lievelihoods, Ethiopia
Technology and infrastructure –
Small-scale water retailers, Mauretania