Business Insider posted a story this week describing the current drought in Ethiopia, which is one of the worst in the last fifty years.  But unlike previous droughts, the worst impacts have been blunted by smarter methods of managing the land.

The key to improvements: slowing down runoff so that it does not erode valuable topsoil and instead sinks into the ground where it can be most useful.  Making simple improvements like this has doubled yield in the area and has made the farmers there more resilient to potential changes in climate over time as well, without the need for expensive fixes.  You can read about it at https://www.businessinsider.com/ethiopia-is-experiencing-one-of-the-worst-droughts-in-50-years-2016-5?r=UK&IR=T.

Source: Georgina Smith, CIAT
Source: Georgina Smith, CIAT via Business Insider