Call for Papers: New Dimensions of South-South Cooperation: The MENA Region and Tropical Agriculture in Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia
Call For Papers
On 29-30 January 2015 King’s College London (KCL), the OCP Policy Center, the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) and Wageningen University will organize an international conference on Tropical Agriculture: the Future of Food and Water Security in the MENA region?, which will take place in Barcelona. The program will consist of twelve papers and will be organized by Mark Mulligan (KCL), Martin Keulertz (Purdue University), Karim El Aynaoui (OCP Policy Center), Eckart Woertz (CIDOB) and Jeroen Warner (Wageningen University).
Papers from the conference will be considered for a special section in Food Security, subject to the Journal’s normal refereeing process.
The MENA region is among the most water-stressed regions in the world exposed to severe challenges with respect to food and water security. Apart from policy options to sustainably intensify regional agricultural production, trade will play a crucial role for most MENA economies to achieve food security. We invite abstracts that investigate ways to increase food and water security in the MENA region through trade options in tropical agriculture. Given the environmental value and sensitivity of tropical ecosystems opportunities for sustainable intensification in countries like Brazil, Sub-Sahara Africa and South East Asia are of particular interest. The desired outcome of the conference is to provide an interdisciplinary perspective on how to open up opportunities for a new geopolitical-environmental cooperation between regions faced by either physical or economic water stress.
Topics of interest include: Trade maps and complementarities in food and input provision; environmental and biophysical risks and opportunities for greater MENA collaboration with tropical economies; the impact of climate variability and change on MENA food security and transboundary food-dependence; possible transformation trajectories of farming systems in tropical zones that can increase domestic and international food security while protecting social and environmental needs in both regions to avoid ‘land grabbing’; institutional changes on both the international relations and domestic level to facilitate cooperation potentials; and the role of agricultural technology and skills transfer.
The organizers invite detailed proposals and preferably draft research papers. Proposals should be submitted electronically to ewoertz@cidob.org no later than 30 September 2014. Authors of selected papers will be notified by 14 October 2014. Please note that the organizers will contact authors only if their paper is accepted. The papers should have a length of 6,000-7,500 words and represent original research not presented or published elsewhere. Authors will receive an honorarium of $1,000 and be expected to present their paper at the conference. For selected papers a contribution towards travel and accommodation costs can be made available.
About CIDOB:
CIDOB, the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, is Spain’s oldest international relations think tank. Since 1973 CIDOB has been an important reference in information and policy-oriented research in international issues, and it has gained growing recognition for its research and publications beyond Spanish borders. CIDOB is an independent, non partisan centre funded by a variety of local, national and international public and private actors which, according to the “Global Go To Think Tank” report issued yearly by the University of Pennsylvania, holds the 64th ranking position in the category of “Top Think Tanks Worldwide” and the 16th of Western Europe.
Its areas of geographical expertise include Europe, Latin America, the former Soviet space, Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East with a particular focus on issues such as regionalism, international migration, intercultural dialogue, development and human security. CIDOB participates in a number of research consortiums funded by the European Commission and the European Parliament. It is currently coordinating three major projects on the future of the Atlantic Space, Arab Youth and Integration policies of migrant population in the EU.
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