Growing attention to food environment policies has been observed to address the multiple aspects of malnutrition (Kumar et al. 2023). In India, interventions promoting sustainable agriculture, small-scale farming, and equitable access to markets have been initiated to address the food and nutrition security of economically vulnerable groups. However, transformative interventions require deeper understanding specific contexts and a deep knowledge of the food environment.

This report present progress and achievement of the seed multiplication activities under the Ukama Ustawi (UU) regional initiative in Malawi. International potato Center and its key research partner, Department of Agriculture and Research services (DARS) has been carrying out sweetpotato early generation seed (EGS) multiplication at Bvumbwe research stations.

This research note explains the results of social experiment designed with three primary objectives. These include (1) to mitigate the digital divide concerning the accessibility of forecasted weather information and crop advisories for women farmers in Bangladesh and (2) to assess the potential impact of a digital climate advisory tool on the agricultural practices of women farmers.

The granular gender and climate change vulnerability hotspot mapping for decision support study in Uganda reveals sub-national level gendered climate vulnerabilities that require policy intervention to build community resilience to the impacts of climate change in the three sectors of agriculture, water and energy.

Nature positive agriculture initiative offers sustainable food production system that meet the demands of growing population as well as facilitating the necessity of environmental restoration, biodiversity conservation thereby improving soil, land and water by scientifically supported solutions. Nature positive implement and equitably support food and livelihoods on the ground through a transformative change, initiating at farm and community-level, mainstreaming the research pathways and solutions in the smallholder agricultural systems.

Cocoa production is a major export crop in West African countries such as Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, and Nigeria. These countries collectively contribute to 70% of global cocoa production. Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, and Togo are leading economies and significant hubs for cocoa production. Cocoa cultivation in West Africa primarily relies on rainfall, with approximately six million hectares of land dedicated to cocoa production.

Silvopastoral systems, integrating trees, shrubs, and livestock, offer an innovative approach to sustainable land use. Key to success is the strategic selection of forage crops, tailored to climatic and soil conditions, promoting system resilience and productivity. The field day showcased sustainable restoration practices, with farmers receiving Sulla seeds, marking a transformative step toward sustainable agriculture and improved economic well-being.

As part of the Livestock and Climate initiative, we have been working together with MediaE to improve the advisories related to climate and financial aspects of agriculture. For instance, we have been developing content on Shamba Shape-Up (SSU) television episodes which is one of the products of MediaE. However, one of the key learnings from developing content is whether the episodes are actionable or not.

The Index-based flood insurance (IBFI) is one of the outputs of the research under the initiative on Diversification in East and South Africa (UU), Work Package two (WP2): Bundling climate insurance solutions focusing on a case study in districts in Southern part of Zambia. This research was developed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) co-designed with an insurance institution and insurance product developers and co-implemented with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) of Zambia.

Accurate crop yield prediction is crucial for optimizing agricultural practices and ensuring food security. The NextGen advisory is a fertilizer recommendation system that can be customized for different farming systems, crop types, and locations. The system uses machine learning models to predict site-specific fertilizer rates using filed trial and covariates (soil, topography, and climate) data.

This report is a comprehensive synthesis of insights, discussions, and recommendations stemming from Ukama Ustawi’s (UU’s), Learning Alliance's strategic session held during the Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS) and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform event in Zambia. The primary focus of the session was to explore practical strategies for operationalizing the Learning Alliance to achieve meaningful impact.