This book provides an extensive examination of the major conflicts in the extremely volatile region of sub-Saharan Africa and their ramifications throughout the continent and beyond. Conflict has been a critical factor in the making of contemporary Africa, and its study is key to understanding the continent's tortuous history. Hot Spot: Sub-Saharan Africa analyzes the area's major, post-independence conflicts intense enough to threaten national, regional, or international security. This work defines conflict broadly to encompass political instability and state failure, ethno-religious tensions, government and political corruption, economic mismanagement and poverty, cult violence, and youth gangsterism. Thematically organized chapters examine the origins and development of explosive hot spots—including Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, and Democratic Republic of Congo—in West Africa, Nigeria, Southern Africa, the Horn of Africa and Central Africa, and the Great Lakes region. The book also explores outside factors that have impacted African conflicts, such as superpower Cold War manipulation and foreign influence and intervention.

This report provides a unique, sector-specific synthesis of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted by countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It summarizes the substantial contributions already put forward by countries, opportunities for further action, and the gaps, barriers, and needs that will need to be addressed if the agriculture and land-use sectors in sub-Saharan Africa are to raise mitigation and adaptation ambitions. The findings of this report will help FAO Members to reflect on their progress in advancing toward NDC implementation of their agriculture and land-use priorities, as well as illustrate potential areas for enhancing mitigation and adaptation ambition in future NDCs. The analysis also helps to clarify the links between the NDCs from the region and the 2030 Agenda and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). Finally, the report serves as a guide to FAO, and other organizations in the region, to design targeted, evidenced-based support programmes that support Member Countries to fill current implementation gaps and scale up climate action in the agriculture and land-use sectors.

Food and nutrition security is a major concern for Saudi Arabia and the surrounding regions due to the range of challenges they face. These challenges include limited agricultural resources, low self-sufficiency in key food staples, climate change, and high levels of food loss and waste. This book aims to evaluate and analyze the current situation and future prospects of food and nutrition security in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, it seeks to analyze and assess the roles and functions of various institutions related to food security, providing a deeper understanding of the complex problems associated with it. Furthermore, this book aligns with Kingdom Vision 2030, which includes a set of strategies and programs focused on agriculture, food, and water security. It also aligns with the institutional identity of King Faisal University's "Food Security and Environmental Sustainability". The book consists of four volumes. Volume 2 is entitled "Macroeconomic Policy Implications on Food and Nutrition Security". It covers various areas, including food price, loss and waste, processing, finance, trade, investment, quality and safety, consumption patterns, climate change, early warning systems, nutrition institutions, oil revenue, and the significance of date palm and Hassawi rice, genetically modified food, and edible insects in ensuring food and nutritional security. This book is highly significant for professionals, researchers, policymakers, and entrepreneurs involved in food and nutrition security in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and various national and international organizations. It offers a comprehensive analysis of the obstacles and possibilities in ensuring food and nutrition security, as well as presenting practical approaches to address these issues. Additionally, graduate students studying in fields related to food and nutrition security will benefit from this book.

As China and the U.S. increasingly compete for power in key areas of U.S. influence, great power conflict looms. Yet few studies have looked to the Middle East and Africa, regions of major political, economic, and military importance for both China and the U.S., to theorize how China competes in a changing world system. China's Rise in the Global South examines China's behavior as a rising power in two key Global South regions, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Dawn C. Murphy, drawing on extensive fieldwork and hundreds of interviews, compares and analyzes thirty years of China's interactions with these regions across a range of functional areas: political, economic, foreign aid, and military. From the Belt and Road initiative to the founding of new cooperation forums and special envoys, China's Rise in the Global South offers an in-depth look at China's foreign policy approach to the countries it considers its partners in South-South cooperation. Intervening in the emerging debate between liberals and realists about China's future as a great power, Murphy contends that China is constructing an alternate international order to interact with these regions, and this book provides policymakers and scholars of international relations with the tools to analyze it.

With contributions from world-renowned scholars, this book tackles recent universal subject matter and ties it to key contemporary issues, including globalisation and sustainability, that are related to international migration and its impacts.

The Complex Interplay between Power, Politics, and African Agency: The Philosophy of Toyin Falola by Serges Djoyou Kamga examines the impact of colonialism by using Toyin Falola’s philosophy as a framework. It delves into the evolution of African political culture under colonial rule. This book offers a unique perspective on the intricate dynamics of African society, providing a deeper understanding of how power and politics have shaped African culture. Kamga emphasizes the complex interplay between these elements and highlights the significance of African voices in determining their own destiny. Using Falola’s works, this book analyzes and critiques the influence of Europe and establishes the ongoing unequal relationship between ex-colonized African countries and their imperialist colonizers. This book is highly recommended for scholars of African studies, political science, and anyone interested in African history and culture.

Biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate due to anthropogenic activities around the world. This book is the second volume in the new series Biodiversity Hotspots of the World, which highlights the 36 hotspot regions of the world, regions that have been designated as reaping maximum benefit from preservation efforts. This series is our humble attempt to document these hotspots as a conservation and preservation measure. The concise volumes in this series focus on the most interesting and important properties of these hotspots, covering physiography and climatology; vegetation and forest types; amphibian and reptile biodiversity; genetic diversity of crops, plants, fishes, butterflies, insects, birds, mammals, angiosperms, and gymnosperms; and much more. And of course, the unique threats and conservation efforts for the areas are addressed as well. The Himalayan Mountains are the highest mountain range in the world and include Mount Everest as well as eight other highest peaks of the world. While it is difficult to document the biodiversity of this inhospitable terrain, we do know that out of the 9,000 different species of plants recorded in the area, 3,500 plants are endemic to the Eastern Himalaya region. Anthropogenic activities including deforestation, fragmentation of habitats, pollution, high population, climate change, and poaching of wildlife pose serious threats to the biodiversity of the region. The highlands have exceptionally rich biodiversity, high endemism, and over 160 globally threatened species, including the densest population of Bengal tigers and the three largest herbivores on the continent: the Asian elephant, greater one-horned rhinoceros, and wild water buffalo. The region boasts the world’s richest counts of alpine flora within its temperate broad-leaved forests, with a total of 10,000 species of plants. This volume, Biodiversity Hotspot of the Himalayas, as well as the other volumes in this series, will be essential resources for researchers and practitioners in the fields of conservation biology, ecology, and evolution as the series concisely records the existing biodiversity of these hotspots of the world.

Biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate due to anthropogenic activities around the world. This book is the first volume in the new series Biodiversity Hotspots of the World, which highlights the 36 hotspot regions of the world, regions that were designated as reaping maximum benefit from preservation efforts. This series is our humble attempt to document these hotspots as a conservation and preservation measure. This first volume in the series focuses on the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, construed as forming a community of species because of their shared biogeographical history. The volume explores the diversity and conservation efforts of the extraordinarily rich species found here, including plants, many of which are found nowhere else in the world; forests, which face tremendous population pressure and have been dramatically impacted by demands for timber and agricultural land; as well as the hotspot’s diverse mammals, birds, insects, and amphibian species, and more. The volumes in this series will be essential resources for researchers and practitioners in the fields of conservation biology, ecology, and evolution.

Even in the relatively serene world of North America and Western Europe, numerous conflicts with the propensity for sustained political violence are carried out by domestic groups with alarming regularity. This in-depth volume explores conflicts and potential hot spot areas in these regions, from anti-globalization protests to immigration politics to the Basque provinces and the ETA. Coverage is divided into three regions—the established democracies of the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe; the democratizing countries of post-communist Europe; and the more volatile region encompassing Russia, the Balkans, the Causasus, and Post-Soviet Eastern Europe—for a greater understanding of geographic interrelationships. This comprehensive volume is a first-stop reference source for the most significant political, cultural, and economic conflicts in North America and Europe today.