State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Poverty / Development41

  • The Challenge of the Half-Acre Plot

    The Challenge of the Half-Acre Plot

    Ask most who have worked in this region, “what characterizes small holder farming in sub-Saharan Africa ?”, and the answer, which sadly, has remained unchanged for the past ten years, will go something like this: mono-cropping, reuse of seeds season after season, no fertilizer, and ever diminishing land holding sizes. Add to that the fluctuations…

  • MCI’s MDG Heroes Series: Kumasi Metropolitan Health Director Reduces Maternal Mortality

    MCI’s MDG Heroes Series: Kumasi Metropolitan Health Director Reduces Maternal Mortality

    In the Millennium City of Kumasi, Ghana, the Maternal Mortality Ratio was on the rise until 2009. But a sustained and dedicated effort on the part of the Kumasi Metropolitan Health Directorate and its director, Dr. Kwasi Yeboah-Awudzi, has resulted in dramatically reduced maternal deaths over the last 18 months. Dr. Yeboah-Awudzi’s direction included upgrading…

  • MDG Summit Media Rundown #1

    Here’s a list of some of the media that’s been mustered up for MDG week at the UN. I’ll update as the week goes on. International Herald Tribune: By Jeffrey D Sachs Millennium Goals, Five Years to Go. New York Times–Sept 19, 2010 UN Poverty Goals Face Accountability Questions BBC Radio and TV–Sept 15, 2010…

  • Millennium Goals, Five Years to Go

    Millennium Goals, Five Years to Go

    As 140 heads of state and government gather Monday at the United Nations for the Millennium Development Goals summit, they and the public will ask what has come out of this decade-long effort. The answer will surprise them …

  • Promises, Promises: The Clock is Ticking in Africa’s Cities

    Promises, Promises: The Clock is Ticking in Africa’s Cities

    Back in the flush days of 2005, a confident, wealthy G8 promised sub-Saharan Africa $25 billion more per year to help the region achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target date of 2015, then 10 years hence.

  • Drylands of Africa Pose Unique Challenge to Acheiving MDGs

    Drylands of Africa Pose Unique Challenge to Acheiving MDGs

    Dryland regions make up roughly 43% of the earth’s surface. In Africa alone, it’s over 60%, but despite this, decision-makers have generally neglected development of these regions. One of the main reasons is that drylands are assumed to be wastelands, with little potential, and in need of constant supplies of food aid. Contrary to this…

  • Reaching the Millennium Development Goals in the Millennium Villages and Beyond

    Reaching the Millennium Development Goals in the Millennium Villages and Beyond

    There are just five years left until the deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, eight ambitious objectives to tackle extreme poverty and its many dimensions and reach a more equitable and sustainable world by 2015. World leaders are gathering this month at the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals to see that…

  • Transforming Health in the Millennium Villages

    Transforming Health in the Millennium Villages

    If someone asked me what is the single most important thing that has caused these positive developments in health I would say the Community Health Worker (CHW) system. There are definitely other equally important program interventions in setting up health facilities, ensuring commodity security for health-related consumables, and providing equipment and staffing to optimize the…

  • Practice and Persevere: Neonatal Survival Workshops Aim to Reduce Infant Mortality in Ghana

    Practice and Persevere: Neonatal Survival Workshops Aim to Reduce Infant Mortality in Ghana

    With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to accelerate progress towards the MDGs, aimed at slashing poverty, hunger, disease, maternal and child deaths and other…

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More

  • The Challenge of the Half-Acre Plot

    The Challenge of the Half-Acre Plot

    Ask most who have worked in this region, “what characterizes small holder farming in sub-Saharan Africa ?”, and the answer, which sadly, has remained unchanged for the past ten years, will go something like this: mono-cropping, reuse of seeds season after season, no fertilizer, and ever diminishing land holding sizes. Add to that the fluctuations…

  • MCI’s MDG Heroes Series: Kumasi Metropolitan Health Director Reduces Maternal Mortality

    MCI’s MDG Heroes Series: Kumasi Metropolitan Health Director Reduces Maternal Mortality

    In the Millennium City of Kumasi, Ghana, the Maternal Mortality Ratio was on the rise until 2009. But a sustained and dedicated effort on the part of the Kumasi Metropolitan Health Directorate and its director, Dr. Kwasi Yeboah-Awudzi, has resulted in dramatically reduced maternal deaths over the last 18 months. Dr. Yeboah-Awudzi’s direction included upgrading…

  • MDG Summit Media Rundown #1

    Here’s a list of some of the media that’s been mustered up for MDG week at the UN. I’ll update as the week goes on. International Herald Tribune: By Jeffrey D Sachs Millennium Goals, Five Years to Go. New York Times–Sept 19, 2010 UN Poverty Goals Face Accountability Questions BBC Radio and TV–Sept 15, 2010…

  • Millennium Goals, Five Years to Go

    Millennium Goals, Five Years to Go

    As 140 heads of state and government gather Monday at the United Nations for the Millennium Development Goals summit, they and the public will ask what has come out of this decade-long effort. The answer will surprise them …

  • Promises, Promises: The Clock is Ticking in Africa’s Cities

    Promises, Promises: The Clock is Ticking in Africa’s Cities

    Back in the flush days of 2005, a confident, wealthy G8 promised sub-Saharan Africa $25 billion more per year to help the region achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target date of 2015, then 10 years hence.

  • Drylands of Africa Pose Unique Challenge to Acheiving MDGs

    Drylands of Africa Pose Unique Challenge to Acheiving MDGs

    Dryland regions make up roughly 43% of the earth’s surface. In Africa alone, it’s over 60%, but despite this, decision-makers have generally neglected development of these regions. One of the main reasons is that drylands are assumed to be wastelands, with little potential, and in need of constant supplies of food aid. Contrary to this…

  • Reaching the Millennium Development Goals in the Millennium Villages and Beyond

    Reaching the Millennium Development Goals in the Millennium Villages and Beyond

    There are just five years left until the deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, eight ambitious objectives to tackle extreme poverty and its many dimensions and reach a more equitable and sustainable world by 2015. World leaders are gathering this month at the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals to see that…

  • Transforming Health in the Millennium Villages

    Transforming Health in the Millennium Villages

    If someone asked me what is the single most important thing that has caused these positive developments in health I would say the Community Health Worker (CHW) system. There are definitely other equally important program interventions in setting up health facilities, ensuring commodity security for health-related consumables, and providing equipment and staffing to optimize the…

  • Practice and Persevere: Neonatal Survival Workshops Aim to Reduce Infant Mortality in Ghana

    Practice and Persevere: Neonatal Survival Workshops Aim to Reduce Infant Mortality in Ghana

    With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to accelerate progress towards the MDGs, aimed at slashing poverty, hunger, disease, maternal and child deaths and other…