This report presents case studies of success stories of value chain actors who operate in Zambia’s agribusiness sector to promote gender equality and social inclusion. Potential success stories were identified during a stakeholder workshop on gender equality and social inclusion in the agribusiness ecosystem for multidimensional mapping of opportunities and challenges held in September 2022 in Lusaka. Some of these stories were then selected from different value chains for follow-up by the research team.

The global food system is responsible for 23 – 42% of total net anthropogenic emissions. The food systems of all countries need to be transformed to lower their emissions while producing sufficient, nutritious and healthy food. The Low-Emissions Food Systems (Mitigate+) Initiative aims to offer a comprehensive, evidence-based and holistic approach to reducing agrifood systems emissions. It explores possible pathways that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing food security and nutrition and livelihoods and preserving the environment.

Declining land productivity is a major problem constraining banana (Musa spp.) production in Tanzania. Banana fruit yield consequently reaches only 15% of the potential, primarily due to inadequate soil nutrient replenishment. Improving farmers’ soil nutrient replenishment strategy in banana home gardens, which relies on applications of cattle manure only, by mixing with inorganic fertilizer resources can increase land productivity and can improve the overall profitability of banana production in the country.

The TAFSSA CGIAR Initiative is hosting a series of webinars to highlight research from South Asia on food security, sustainable healthy diets, farmer livelihoods and resilience, and land, air, and groundwater conservation. For the sixth webinar on September 27, Dr. Kaushik Majumdar, Director General, African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI), will present. Dr. Majumdar, a native of India, obtained his M.Sc. degree in Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science from BCKV University, India. He received his Ph.D. in Soil Mineralogy/Soil Chemistry from Rutgers University, USA. Dr.

In less than one year the Niger Basin Authority, an intergovernmental body tasked with the sustainable development of the Niger waters and associated resources, passed the first ever nexus policy in a transboundary river basin, contributing to a true acceleration of change for improved water and associated development in the Niger River Basin. The guidelines were developed in close collaboration with the nine basin countries and complemented by a large capacity building program.

Sequencing technologies have rapidly evolved over the past two decades, and new technologies are being continually developed and commercialized. The emerging sequencing technologies target generating more data with fewer inputs and at lower costs. This has also translated to an increase in the number and type of corresponding applications in genomics besides enhanced computational capacities (both hardware and software).

Maize (Zea mays) stover produced in the drier lowland areas on the volcanic foot slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro serves as an important additional fodder for smallholder zero-grazed dairy cattle farming in the humid highland areas of the region. The obtained cattle manure is used to replenish nutrients and manage soil fertility in banana-based agroforestry homegardens of the highlands, which contributes significantly to sustaining crop production, thus food security and the livelihoods of the community.

In Comoros, cassava plays a major food security role, however yields are low as few modern cultivars are grown. Prior to the introduction of new cultivars, and as a germplasm resource for breeders, germplasm collection missions were undertaken in the three largest islands; Ngazidja, Ndzouani and Mwali; and associated farmer knowledge documented. Cassava landraces were collected from 34 farms, and 17 key informant interviews conducted. Stakes of 79 collected landraces were planted for agro-morphological characterization.

Understanding the phenotypic variation and designing a mini-core collection is an efficient method to accelerate the genetic gain of bambara groundnut. A collection of 300 bambara groundnut landraces from 25 different countries of origin sourced from gene banks were used to analyze phenotypic variability among the landraces and develop a mini-core collection for future breeding. The landraces were evaluated in alpha lattice design with two replications for 2 years (2019 and 2020).

In the tropics, combining food security with biodiversity conservation remains a major challenge. Tropical agroforestry systems are among the most biodiversity friendly and productive land-use systems, and 70% of cocoa is grown by >6 million smallholder farmers living on <2$ per day. In cacao’s main centre of diversification, the western Amazon region, interest is growing to achieve premium prices with the conversion of high-yielding, but mostly bulk-quality cacao to native fine-flavor cacao varieties, culturally important since pre-Columbian times.

Cowpea is an important and climate-resilient grain legume for human and livestock nutrition worldwide. Its grains represent a valuable source of protein for rural families in Sub-Saharan Africa while its haulms offer nutritious fodder for livestock, especially, in the Sahel regions. Cowpea production, unfortunately, faces