Social cohesion plays a key role in processes of peacebuilding and sustainable development. Fostering social cohesion might present a potential to enhance the connection of natural resource management and peacebuilding and better functioning of sustainable land use systems. This contribution explores the nexus between social cohesion, natural resource management, and peacebuilding. Research is based on experience from cocoa production in two post-conflict countries, Côte d’Ivoire and Colombia.

In many parts of the foothills of the Orinoquía region of Colombia, cattle production takes place on poorly drained soils. The region is dominated by extensive grazing systems of Brachiaira humidicola cv. Humidicola, a grass with high adaptation potential under temporal waterlogging conditions. Inadequate management practices and low soil fertility result in degradation, however, with important negative effects on pasture productivity and the quality and provision of (soil) ecosystem services–a situation that is likely to worsen in the near future due to climate change.

This brief summarizes findings of a project entitled “Food Security in Developing Countries: Gender and Spatial Interactions’” undertaken by researchers from the University of Alberta. The project uses a large cross-sectional dataset from the Integrated Modelling Platform for Mixed Animal Crop systems (IMPACT) Lite collected by Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) from 2010 to late 2012. This dataset surveyed 1,500 households located across seven countries in Africa and Asia.

Agriculture and other land-use sectors play a major role in the global response to climate change – as a large source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as a carbon sink, and as a sector vulnerable to climate extremes and variability. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are important policy instruments under the Paris Agreement that guide national climate actions in the near to short term. While most Southern African countries have included agriculture in their current NDCs, many lack sector-specific, quantifiable commitments to drive targeted action.

Rural entrepreneurship in the developing world has long been hailed as a powerful tool for promoting the socioeconomic integration of young people and the key to avoiding rural depopulation as well as ensuring these areas remain attractive places for rural youth. However, there have been no efforts to investigate the role of collective entrepreneurship in the creation and management of new businesses in Morocco.

Drylands are a critical part of the earth system in terms of total area, socioeconomic and ecological importance. However, while drylands are known for their contribution to inter-annual atmospheric CO2 variability, they are sometimes overlooked in discussions of global carbon stocks. Here, in preparation for the November 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), we review dryland systems with emphasis on their role in current and future carbon storage, response to climate change and potential to contribute to a carbon neutral future.

The importance of equity has been emphasized in climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and ecosystem restoration. However, equity implications are rarely considered explicitly in restoration projects. Although the role of equity has been studied in the context of biodiversity conservation and environmental governance, environmental variables are often ignored in equity studies, and spatial analyses of equity are lacking.

Field tested practices, methodologies and approaches to regenerating agriculture and associated ecosystems are featured in this compilation . Mostly experiences from across Asia are included , the compilation is based on publications generated through participatory writeshops, organised over thirty years featuring a wide range of stakeholders, disciplines and donors. Participatory approaches in resource management and farmer-centered approaches are prominently featured .

Burkinabé women have traded shea kernels and shea butter in periodic local markets, and on a regional scale with the densely-populated West African littoral, for centuries. This paper traces the origins of French colonial efforts to develop shea as a commodity of empire from the 1890s to independence in 1960.

Guyana is highly exposed to climate extremes with significant flooding risk for coastal regions, and more frequent drought events affecting subsistence agricultural activities in the hinterlands. Future climate scenarios show an increase in climate extremes.
The agriculture sector requires a transformation toward climate-resilient agriculture systems. Gender and social inclusion are of great significance for the successful transformation to climate-resilient farming in Guyana.

Livestock production constitutes a significant contribution to the economy and nutrition of many households in Tanzania. Despite the profound attributes of livestock in the nation, livestock sector is yet to attain its maximum level of production and productivity due to a number of challenges including insufficient forage quantity and quality. This culminates to poor animal performance especially during the dry seasons whereby availability of natural forages is limited and yet of poor nutritive value.