The working paper reviews the evolution of the CCAFS gender and social inclusion agenda towards gender equality and empowerment in relation to climate resilient agriculture. Climate change research typically shows glaring gaps in understanding the different adaptive strategies and capacities of men and women, and the technologies, practices, and enabling environments that will empower women.

For Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) to make a meaningful contribution to SAI in low- and lower-middle income countries, there is a need for investment in research, capacity development, enterprise initiation, scaling, and creation of enabling environments (through policies at national and sub-national levels). To attract investment and justify policy change, more information is needed on the potential contribution of CEA to sustainable development, and where, how, by whom, and for whom various technologies might be best deployed. The purpose of this report is:

In many developing countries, smallholder farmers cultivating vegetatively propagated crops (VPCs) have limited access to quality planting material. This constraint can limit both the yield of and returns on VPC cultivation. Yet policy and regulatory initiatives designed to strengthen access to quality VPC planting materials have been relatively unsuccessful to date. Part of the problem is the unique biological and economic characteristics of vegetative propagation and its distinctness from cereal crops, which dominate narratives on seed system reforms.

This Chapter describes the approach and impacts of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) Program. TAAT is an operational framework based upon collaboration between the African Development Bank, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, and many other partners. This

Since 2019, when WLE/IWMI reported on the impact of its research on groundwater knowledge generation and management in Laos, policies and investment programs have evolved that are benefitting groundwater-dependent communities. There is now greater recognition of the strategic importance of groundwater, and more emphasis placed on the systematic management of groundwater by responsible government agencies and in development projects.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a poorly developed, surface water-rich country that has traditionally given limited priority to its groundwater resources, which has resulted in a situation of inadequate scientific knowledge, technical capacity, and policies within the sector. This is slowly changing as the role of groundwater in socioeconomic development is better recognized. This chapter presents an overview of the country’s groundwater resources. It examines the state of knowledge, challenges, gaps, and barriers for effective groundwater resource development.

In 2019, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) published a framework to provide important insights into the successes and shortcomings of community-based forestry at the country level. A framework to assess the extent and effectiveness of community-based forestry also helps national governments determine and track the extent and effectiveness of the wide array of CBF initiatives.

Established in 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.

Due to industrial civilization, the decline of the countryside has become a global phenomenon. Spain is a good example that reflects this issue in the rural areas of the European Union because more than half of all municipalities in the country are at risk of extinction. This manuscript aims at combining social engagement and the application of sustainable development goals (SDGs) to propose a sustainable rural revitalization plan.

This case study from Stockholm County, Sweden, explores practitioners’ experiences of barriers and bridges in municipal planning practices to support actions for ecosystem services. This qualitative study is based on information gathered from a focus group, workshops, and semi-structured interviews, which aided in identifying key factors for integrating ecosystem services in municipal planning. We identified 10 key factors divided into three themes: (i) regulatory framework and political support, (ii) local organizational capacity, and (iii) local adaptation of tools and practices.