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The report details the environmental and public health impacts of waste incinerators in New Jersey, highlighting their disproportionate location in overburdened communities of color and low-income areas. It documents significant air permit violations and the receipt of millions in clean energy subsidies despite high emissions. The authors propose a shift toward a zero-waste hierarchy—emphasizing redesign, reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting—and recommend that New Jersey ban new incinerators and decommission existing ones by 2030.

The document critiques the 'green economy' as a mechanism for financial institutions and multinationals to commodify nature. It argues that market-based solutions, such as carbon markets and biodiversity offsets, lead to 'green grabbing,' the marginalization of indigenous communities, and the evasion of corporate environmental responsibility. The report advocates for the recognition of ecological debt, the protection of common goods through community management, and a radical shift toward sustainable societies based on social and ecological justice rather than market logic.

The report critiques the extension of market economies to ecosystems, specifically targeting carbon markets, biodiversity offsets, and water trading. It argues that these mechanisms allow corporations to avoid genuine emission reductions and environmental protection by paying for compensation certificates. The text highlights the role of financial institutions like the World Bank and Caisse des dépôts et consignations in structuring these markets, and warns that such financialization leads to land grabbing, the marginalization of indigenous populations, and the deregulation of environmental laws.

The Youth Enterprise Grants (YEG) pilot project is a two-year intervention providing approximately $1,200 in grants and a smartphone to over 1,000 youth (aged 18-35) in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya. The project aims to test whether capital injections and digital access can shift youth from casual labor to sustainable self-employment. Initial findings indicate a significant increase in self-employment, rising from 37% to 64% among recipients, and a marked improvement in financial status, with over 75% reporting income increases beyond the grant value. While smartphones are critical for market knowledge and client acquisition via social media, specialized money management apps like Touch Doh saw limited use. The project also highlights a strong preference for 'illiquidity' in savings to prevent spending, often achieved through informal groups or M-Shwari.

The report identifies significant gender disparities in Morocco's rural agricultural sector, where women face high rates of illiteracy, lack of land ownership, and limited access to finance. In the Saïss Plain, these barriers—combined with a prevalence of unpaid informal labor—make it unlikely that women will automatically benefit from project-driven irrigation improvements. To address this, the document recommends a dedicated component to support women-led agribusinesses through capacity building, formalization of informal activities, and improved access to credit and markets.

The Alternative Service Delivery Unit (ASDU), implemented by GreenCape, is seeking technical partners to provide off-grid energy services to the Nomzamo Agricultural Village in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Based on a September 2023 enumeration of 2,097 people across 681 households, the community lacks formal electricity, water, and sanitation. Residents currently rely on wood, coal, and candles, spending up to R300 per month on lighting and R1,100 on cooking fuel. The community's primary energy priorities are efficient cooking fuel, home-level electricity for lighting and charging, and refrigeration to reduce food costs. Residents expressed a willingness to pay up to R350 per month, preferably via a pay-as-you-go model. The project is scheduled to begin in February 2024, with the Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) serving as social service partners.

The Alternative Service Delivery Unit (ASDU), implemented by GreenCape, uses an adaptive co-design framework to provide energy services to unserviced communities. In Malawi Camp, Cape Town, a community of over 1,000 people with no formal electricity, residents identified home-level electricity, food storage (fridges), and area lighting for safety as their primary priorities. While residents expressed a willingness to pay between R50 and R100 per month for these services with the goal of eventual ownership, the document notes that the upcoming relocation of the community to a formal housing development on Symphony Way may decrease the business case for off-grid solutions.

The #SeAdapta project investigates the vulnerability and adaptation of small-scale fisheries in South America. In Uruguay, the project emphasizes combining scientific data with local ecological knowledge for better fishery management. In Argentina, research on the yellow clam (Mesodesma mactroides) and wedge clam (Donax hanleyanus) indicates that climate oscillations like El Niño and changes in salinity and temperature negatively impact growth and abundance. In the Galápagos Islands, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of the seafood system to global shocks but also the critical role of small-scale fishing in maintaining food security, leading to recommendations for local consumption, improved business capacity, technology to fight illegal fishing, and a circular economy.

The #SeAdapta project investigates the adaptive capacity of small-scale fisheries in Latin America, specifically focusing on Yellow Clam, Spiny Lobster, and Sea Cucumber. In Uruguay, the project emphasizes the value of combining conventional science with local ecological knowledge. In Argentina, research on yellow and wedge clams shows that shell properties and population abundance are negatively impacted by El Niño and low-salinity waters. In the Galapagos Islands, the project found that while the seafood system is vulnerable to global shocks like COVID-19, small-scale fisheries are critical for food security, leading to recommendations for systemic transformation through local consumption, entrepreneurial support, technology against illegal fishing, and circular economy practices.

The project 'Improving the governance of the floodplain in over-built river basins' investigates the ecological impacts of hydropower plants on the Paraná river in Brazil. Using computer modeling and the Indicators of Hydrological Alteration (IHA) method, researchers identified that fish migration and reproduction are strongly influenced by the duration, starting date, peak, and frequency of flood events. The study also highlights the dependence of local socio-economic activities, including professional fishing, tourism, and recreation, on these fish ecosystems. To resolve conflicts between energy production and environmental needs, the team simulated the performance of 53 hydropower plants using Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming (SDDP) to develop reservoir operational policies that meet both hydropower and ecosystem service demands.

The South African food system is characterized by concentrated corporate ownership, policies favoring large-scale commercial agriculture for export, and high levels of food insecurity, with at least one in five households regularly food insecure. The current industrial model causes significant environmental damage through toxic chemicals and greenhouse gas emissions, while WTO-mandated open markets lead to a dependency on cheap, subsidized imports that undermine local production. The document proposes a just transition centered on the right to food, the implementation of a universal basic income grant, and the adoption of agroecology to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and soil degradation.

The document analyzes the South African food system, describing it as a concentrated, corporate-led industrial model that prioritizes export markets over domestic food security. It highlights systemic issues including high food insecurity—affecting at least one in five households—and environmental degradation caused by large-scale commercial farming. The author advocates for a 'just transition' characterized by the redistribution of land, the adoption of agroecology to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, and the establishment of a universal basic income grant to ensure the right to food for all citizens.

The document analyzes the South African food system, highlighting how a business-led approach prioritizes exports and large-scale commercial farming over domestic food security and small-scale producers. It identifies critical failures including high food insecurity—affecting at least one in five households—and environmental damage caused by industrial agriculture. The text advocates for a 'just transition' characterized by the redistribution of land and resources, the adoption of agroecological principles, and the establishment of a universal basic income to ensure the right to food for all citizens.

The report examines the reception of 250,000 to 350,000 Mozambican refugees in South Africa during the 1980s, highlighting a paradox where ethnic solidarity among Shangaan-speakers coexisted with severe economic exploitation. It details the creation of a 'third tier' of undocumented labour in the lowveld's commercial farming sector and critiques the UNHCR's flawed repatriation programme in the 1990s. Despite subsequent South African government amnesties granting permanent residence to 176,648 refugees by 2000, the author argues that many former refugees remained a 'de facto undocumented' underclass due to systemic xenophobia and structural economic dependence on cheap labour.

The report examines the migration of Congolese nationals to South Africa, noting a transition from elite migration during the late apartheid era to a larger influx of middle-class, educated refugees fleeing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Despite high levels of human capital, these migrants face significant social dislocation, high unemployment, and systemic discrimination, often finding themselves in survivalist informal labor such as car guarding and hair cutting. The text highlights the role of ethnic 'tribes' as survival networks and the pervasive corruption within the Department of Home Affairs.

The report examines the challenges faced by former South African National Defence Force (SANDF) personnel and combatants from non-statutory forces (such as MK and APLA) as they transition to civilian life. Based on a survey of 307 former soldiers, it finds high unemployment rates, particularly among the youth, and a significant mismatch between the military skills of demobilised personnel and the demands of the South African labour market. The document argues that the demobilisation process was often dysfunctional for individuals, leading to poverty and disillusionment. It recommends a policy shift toward targeted reskilling, public-private partnerships, and the creation of specific Citizen Force units to provide sustainable employment and social reintegration.

The document examines the link between poverty, human insecurity, and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that the 'security first' approach of international donors is flawed because it focuses on state security while ignoring the structural economic collapse caused by neo-liberal structural adjustment programmes and unsustainable debt. The author describes 'new wars' in Africa as rational economic responses to exclusion, where warlords utilize global markets for lootable commodities. The paper advocates for a shift toward 'human security' and a significant increase in official development assistance (ODA) to meet Millennium Development Goals, warning that current donor strategies continue to prioritize market liberalization over genuine poverty alleviation.

The research identifies a cycle of instability in the Mano River Basin driven by extreme poverty, porous borders, and the failure to effectively reintegrate ex-combatants. It highlights how natural resources like diamonds and timber are leveraged by warlords and terror networks to fund conflict, and how the lack of economic opportunities for youth makes them susceptible to recruitment as mercenaries. The document argues that sustainable peace requires coordinated sub-regional efforts in disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR), alongside the economic empowerment of youth and the regulation of the extractive industries to prevent corporate security forces from becoming new militias.

The report examines how land tenure insecurity, scarcity, and the tension between customary and statutory legal systems contribute to both the structural and proximate causes of conflict in Africa. It argues that poverty and the loss of livelihoods are central to the conflict-underdevelopment cycle, and that land often serves as a tool for political struggle among elites or a source of ethnic mobilisation. Through case studies of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Angola, the text highlights the risks of 'formalising' land rights without considering local customs and the importance of multi-sectoral, pro-poor land policies in post-conflict reconstruction.

The report details how the cashew boom in Côte d'Ivoire has transformed diverse savannas into 'green deserts,' leading to significant primary forest loss and threatening endangered species like the Western chimpanzee. It highlights a dangerous trade-off where increased cash income from cashews has replaced traditional food crops, leaving rural households vulnerable to market crashes and food insecurity. Additionally, it documents health risks for factory workers, primarily women, who suffer caustic burns from cashew nut shell oil. The authors call for full supply chain traceability and stricter regulations in consuming markets like the US and EU to prevent deforestation-linked imports.