Understanding the dynamics of food production is critical to improving food security. This is particularly important in regions that rely on subsistence agriculture with little adaptive capacity to climate change. Sorghum plays an important role in food security in some of the poorest parts of the world. This article reviews the literature to identify and examine the major factors affecting sorghum production in three major production regions. Factors were not categorized ex ante but rather determined from the review. Ten major factors were identified as having notable impacts on sorghum production: climate change, population growth/economic development, non-food demand, agricultural inputs, demand for other crops, agricultural resources scarcity, biodiversity, cultural influence, price and armed conflict. This synthesis revealed that (1) multiple factors simultaneously affect sorghum production; (2) the effect of each factor is greatly influenced by the magnitude and certainty of one or more other factors; and, (3) factors differ in relevance and degree with regard to geography. Generally, improved agricultural inputs, population growth/economic development and climate change have substantial influence on sorghum production. However, local dynamics likely go beyond these broad trends and more exhaustive, locally-focused studies are needed for actionable planning purposes.

Transboundary water resources, such as international river basins, pose complex and often contentious management challenges. In response to the failures associated with the state-centric approach to the governance of international waters, discussions on transboundary water resources governance over the last two decades or so have focused largely on public involvement. The need to build resilience into such governance systems has been virtually overlooked. Based on a conceptualization of transboundary water resources as complex social-ecological systems, the manuscript proposes adaptive governance as a unifying framework for informing policies aimed at promoting the conservation of transboundary water resources in an increasingly unpredictable future. The key attributes of adaptive governance satisfy the requirements for good governance of transboundary water resources, as well as preparing the coupled social-ecological system to respond to unpredictable drivers of change.

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Abstract:The command-and-control paradigm of water resource management that dominated 20th century water policy has resulted in vulnerabilities due to its inadequate consideration of the human dimensions as well as its failure to prioritize the need for learning and adapting to change and uncertainties. In response to these shortfalls, recent years have seen the emergence of alternative water policy frameworks, notably integrated water resource management (IWRM) and adaptive management. However, while IWRM broadens the planning goals and scope of water resource governance through integration and coordination across scales and sectors, it does not adequately emphasize learning to deal with uncertainty. On the other hand, adaptive management emphasizes the need to prioritize learning to deal with uncertainty in resource management through monitoring and experimentation, but places less emphasis on the human dimensions required for its successful implementation. This paper discusses adaptive water governance -collaborative, flexible, and learning-based institutions that connect state and non-state actors across multiple levels for ecosystem-based management of land and water resources -as a promising institutional mechanism for integrating the human dimensions into water resource governance while building the capacity of water resource systems to learn and adapt to change. The paper highlights four attributes of adaptive water governance: (1) reintegrating humans into nature; (2) integrating diverse sources and types of knowledge; (3) promoting adaptive and integrative management goals; and (4) using polycentric institutions and analytic deliberation processes. Through these mechanisms, adaptive governance can contribute to sustainability, good governance, conflict management, and social-ecological resilience in water resource systems.

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