Climate change is one of the major concerns mankind will have to deal with for a long period of time. Judicious use of adaptation and mitigation measures are the only avenues for addressing climate change and associated impacts. Building climate science literacy is vital for citizens to understand the impacts of climate change and develop solutions to mitigate climate change and adapt to its effects. AICCRA-RUFORUM partnership aimed at developing continental-wide top-priority course modules in order to build capacity at different levels on the continent.

On September 18, 2023, the One CGIAR initiative on Livestock and Climate, in collaboration with the Direction General des Forets (DGF) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), hosted a webinar addressing the challenges and opportunities in leveraging native species for the restoration of degraded silvopastoral systems in Tunisia. The webinar convened 34 participants from diverse national research and development institutions, fostering a rich exchange of perspectives.

The frequency of El Niño occurrences in southern Africa surpasses the norm, resulting in erratic weather patterns that significantly impact food security, particularly in Zimbabwe. The effects of these weather patterns posit that El Niño occurrences have contributed to the diminished maize yields. The objective is to give guidelines to policymakers, researchers, and agricultural stakeholders for taking proactive actions to address the immediate and lasting impacts of El Niño and enhance the resilience of the agricultural industry.

In Ethiopia, the production of livestock has been mainly constrained by low quality feed supply and seasonal fluctuations. The usage of good quality and drought-tolerant forage legumes like white lupin and tree lucerne are recommended to overcome feed constraints. Those legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen when being in symbiosis with rhizobia and thereby reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers. However, they show variations in terms of N2-fixation, calling for screening the best native symbionts.

In Tunisia, pastoral and silvopastoral lands play a crucial role as vital resources, constituting a substantial portion and significantly contributing to livestock feed requirements. Unfortunately, the excessive exploitation of these lands, involving overgrazing and wood cutting, has resulted in their deterioration and diminished productivity. Acknowledging the imperative for rehabilitation, the General Directorate of Forests (DGF) and the Office of Livestock and Pastures (OEP) are actively involved in restoration projects.

Rangelands in Tunisia, spanning approximately 5.5 million hectares, play a vital role in providing about 30% of livestock feed. However, widespread overexploitation, including overgrazing and wood cutting, has led to degradation and reduced productivity. To address this, a training initiative focused on rangeland survey, management, and restoration was conducted under the Livestock and Climate Initiative of OneCGIAR. The objective was to enhance the capacity of engineers and technical staff from relevant institutions.

Climate change poses significant challenges to livestock systems worldwide, requiring urgent and innovative responses to ensure the resilience of these systems and the livelihoods that depend on them. This report presents the water, fodder, bush-fire and transhumance corridor monitoring system as well as the livestock climate information information dissemination in the pastoral zones of Senegal.

Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) is an agricultural extension and climate services approach that supports farmers in making plans and decisions tailored to each farmer’s own ‘context’ in their production systems. It is implemented by facilitators (e.g., extension officers, non-governmental organisation field staff, community volunteers and researchers) through a series of meetings with groups of farmers.

Climate change is severely impacting our food systems, making it increasingly challenging to provide food security and healthy diets for all people. At the same time, food systems contribute 25–30% of all greenhouse gas emissions. The livestock sector alone contributes about half of these GHGs, and has a large land and water footprint.

The current consensus within livestock production systems is directed toward more sustainable and environmentally friendly methods and practices. Silvopastoral systems offer a significant opportunity by integrating tree growth with pasture systems to provide shelter, enhance livestock feeding and welfare, improve soil characteristics, and can be profitable for producers. These systems typically exhibit a sparse distribution of trees, and a consistent and reliable monitoring process is essential for their management.