The Stream, March 1: Drought Could Return to the Horn of Africa

Africa
A massive relocation program in Ethiopia is pitting village farmers against the government and land investors racing to secure prized agricultural land and water, PBS Newshour reported.

Drought is likely to return to Somalia and other parts of the Horn of Africa over the next three months, climate scientists have warned, according to IRIN. How can the region avoid the famine from last year?

South Africa could start running out of water 13 years from now, Sowetan LIVE reported, citing the country’s water affairs minister.

Water Technology
Israel will sell $300 million in water technology to China for use in the agriculture sector, Reuters reported. Israel is a world leader in water technology products and has pioneered drip irrigation suited for arid Middle Eastern conditions.

Australia’s New South Wales state has shortlisted three bidders for the $2 billion long-term lease to run a desalination plant in Sydney, according to Reuters. The plant has a maximum capacity of 250 million liters (250,000 cubic meters) a day and will help supply the city of more than 4.5 million people.

Mergers and acquisitions of water companies jumped in 2011, even as venture-capital deals in water technologies dropped, Forbes reported. Do the numbers signal a trend or just a one-time spike?

Climate
A new book examines the basic science of climate change and highlights how market-based approaches could be used to formulate climate policy.

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