This synthesis brief draws on the experiences of the Restoring Degraded Landscapes sub-program, part of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). The brief captures learning from a decade (2011-2021) of research in development work with different stakeholders including farmers and governments across the world to reverse landscape degradation. It provides an overview of effective approaches, innovations and solutions that can be taken forward and scaled up to meet current and future challenges from land degradation – as well as the opportunities that may arise.

Value chain for development (VCD) has increasingly been promoted for poverty reduction; yet, there is inadequate evidence on its effectiveness. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this article offers reasons why evidence on VCD impacts on poverty reduction is uncertain. It also suggests a conceptual framework for the poor-centred value chain for sustainable development to guide a better analysis of VCD participation and poverty impacts. The framework is particularly useful for researchers involved in research for development related projects in the VCD space.

Brazil has transformed from being a net food importer, to one of the largest agricultural exporters in the world. The country is now one of the top global funders of agricultural innovation, with a special emphasis on funding R&D for sustainable agriculture. While food insecurity and environmental challenges exist in many parts of Brazil, social programs and funding in innovation have helped those in need.

Water markets are a potential approach for reallocating and improving the efficiency of water use in river basins in which water resources are under stress as a consequence of demographic and economic pressures. However, establishing water markets is not easy and to be successful a wide range of context specific criteria, relating to the legal and institutional framework as well as political and economic conditions, must be met. We applied the Water Market Readiness Assessment framework proposed by Wheeler et al.

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is the production of plants, fish, insects or animals inside structures, such as greenhouses and buildings, in controlled conditions. In a rapidly urbanizing world, CEA can contribute to sustainable development, e.g. through reduced use of land, water and inputs. There is a need for innovation in policy, technology and business practices to scale up CEA in the Global South sustainably and equitably.

Landscape Approaches have been proposed as a transferable model of multi-stakeholder governance, yet assume conditions of ideal speech, trust, and transparency that seem untransferable to authoritarian regimes. This paper argues that building Landscape Approaches under authoritarian conditions cannot be based on a governance deficit model of awaiting idealized political conditions, but instead needs to pay attention to how local social and political structures influence what is deliberated, and by whom.

Indonesia has experienced one of the world's fastest plantation expansions. Plantation growth is indeed an economic solution to meet the market's needs, but the accompanying environmental damage and social conflict are at odds with sustainability goals. Various actors with interests in land compete with the power they have. The most powerful actors have controlled land use based on their decisions. Accordingly, this paper presents empirical evidence to understand the important role of powerful actors in land-use contestation in oil palm and industrial plantation forests.

Led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), WLE is a collaboration between CGIAR Research Centers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the RUAF Foundation, and several national, regional and international partners. Through these partners, we provide evidence and solutions on natural resource management to influence key decision makers, including governments, international development organizations and financiers.

This monitoring and evaluation framework (M&EF) for Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) has been developed to foster the effective transformation of the agricultural sector toward resilient, low-carbon development, and to check whether the implementation of the Kenya Climate Smart Implementation Framework (KCSAIF) objectives, outcomes, and outputs are proceeding as planned, in order to support optimal planning and efficiency in the utilization of resources.

This socio-legal analysis provides an overview of existing land governance arrangements in The Gambia as they relate to women’s access to land and resources. It discusses two different types of land tenure interventions: title deeds and certification. These inventions vary according to different types of recognized rights-holders and the area in which rights are being formalized. Access to and control over land and other productive resources in The Gambia is shaped by complex tenure systems.