Ever since the oil, financial and food crises of 2008, sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed a marked increase in large-scale investment in agricultural land. The drivers of this investment are varied and include growing food, water and energy insecurity as well as social and economic interests of investors and recipient countries. The shape of these investments and their eventual outcomes are equally influenced by the existing land and water governance systems in the host countries.

Key Messages

• A governance approach, combining public policy and private initiatives was effective in slowing down deforestation, but

was unable to support a transition to more sustainable production systems.

• New technical intensification models must be identified for low-productivity systems in degraded lands, adapted to the

biophysical and sociotechnical conditions of the Amazonian landscapes.

• Multiple constraints inhibit progress toward sustainable intensification of cattle ranching, and reversing them requires that

Recent studies show that carbon

sequestered by trees on agricultural

land is not well accounted for. If it was,

researchers argue in a new study: “Global

Tree Cover and Biomass Carbon on

Agricultural Land: The contribution

of agroforestry to global and national

carbon budgets,” total carbon estimates

from agricultural land could be more

than four times higher.

The absence of either state regulations or markets to coordinate the operation of individual wells has focussed attention on community level institutions as the primary loci for sustainable groundwater management in Rajasthan and Gujarat, India. The reported research relied on theoretical propositions that livelihood strategies, groundwater management and the propensity to cooperate are associated with the attitudinal orientations of well owners in the Meghraj and Dharta watersheds, located in Gujarat and Rajasthan respectively.

The objective of this study is to integrate socioeconomic, biophysical, and remote-sensing information to enhance the understanding of climate change, agriculture and food security within and between CCAFS sites. The purpose is to assess the agricultural production system in the CCAFS site Katuk Odeyo, Nyando (Western Kenya) to explore potential indicators that can be long-term monitored. Ecosystem health determines energy supply and demand by sustaining the productive capacity of the landscape.

Assessing the impact of integrated natural resource management (INRM) research poses a challenge to scientists. The complexity of INRM interventions requires a more holistic approach to impact assessment, beyond the plot and farm levels and beyond traditional analysis of economic returns. Impact assessment for INRM combines the traditional "what" and "where" factors of economic and environmental priorities with newer "who" and "how" aspects of social actors and institutions. This paper presents an analytical framework and methodology for assessing the impact of INRM.

This training resource is presented in five modules. 1) Global perspectives on animal genetic resources for sustainable agriculture and food production in the tropics. This module provides some insight into the need for better use of animal genetic resources (AnGR) in the context of projected demand for food in developing countries until 2020. 2) Improving our knowledge of tropical indigenous animal genetic resources.