USAID has played a crucial role in shaping global shifts in agriculture and sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) through the decades. The agency has constantly fostered agricultural innovation - from the Green Revolution in the 1960s to the market-economy transition in the 1990s1 . USAID’s more recent work has followed the priorities of the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, the US government's flagship global hunger and food security initiative.

Potato sector has a substantial role in Kenya's agriculture, contributing to food security, nutrition, and the national economy. While underscoring the sector's vast potential, this Technical Brief identifies the existing gap between current yields and achievable targets, highlighting the necessity for strategic improvements in farming practices. It accentuates the transformative impact of digital tools in the agricultural landscape, notably accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and facilitated by the widespread use of mobile technology and internet access in the country.

The rising concerns of over-exploitation of groundwater resources, increasing cost of inputs and cultivation, timely availability of labor and energy, degradation of soil health, and climate change prevail in major agri-food systems in Bangladesh. Thus, reversing the unsustainable way of practicing agriculture to climate-smart agriculture would be key to sustainable agricultural development and productivity.

For the 1.5 billion people living in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings (FCAs), livelihood challenges and rising food, fertiliser, and input prices are compounded by climate change, unsustainable resource consumption, poor governance, and weak social cohesion . Economic disruptions, such as those caused by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, are sparking the risk of food and nutrition crises and poverty and conflict traps.

Agriculture remains crucial to Ghana’s economy, livelihoods and food security, contributing 20.3% of GDP in 2015. However, climate change creates mounting pressures on agricultural productivity and sustainability nationwide. Ghana has experienced rising temperatures, increased variability in rainfall, and more extreme weather events over the past decades. Climate shocks undermine crop and livestock yields, raise production risks and costs, lower incomes, and exacerbate hunger and poverty levels for smallholder farmers.

The Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems (SIMFS) is a CGIAR initiative. This initiative ‘aims to provide equitable, transformative pathways for improved livelihoods of actors in mixed farming systems through sustainable intensification within target agroecological and socioeconomic settings. To achieve this, different methodologies, innovations, and practices have been implemented to understand and improve the agroecological/productive conditions to assess a benefit on nutrition, food security and welfare.

Pastoralism is a way of life and livelihood strategy for millions of people around the world and it is characterized by mobility. In Ethiopia, pastoralism is an important means of livelihood for more than four million people, with most pastoralists living in the Somali, Afar, Oromia and Southern Nations regions.

Traditional wet markets are the main source of fresh food and the largest source of daily nutrient intake for citizens of Hanoi. Nevertheless, due to the lack of traceability and sales registration systems, food flows within these markets remain largely invisible. This makes it challenging to assess the impact of shocks, such as pandemics, on these markets. In this paper, we characterize the impact of COVID-19 by analyzing data from 25 Wi-Fi access points installed in five formally established wet markets.

Abstract

The Ganges Delta has large agricultural landscapes that provide food for millions of people. However, changes in climate and anthropogenic activities are causing water scarcity, floods and soil salinization, threatening food security and putting livelihoods at risk. To address these challenges, the CGIAR Initiative on Asian Mega-Deltas (AMD) is working to create more resilient, inclusive and productive deltas that can adapt to climate change and other stressors.

This working paper examines the pivotal role of High Value Crop Products (HVCPs) in modern agricultural research and development, emphasizing their potential to significantly enhance rural prosperity and address global challenges such as poverty and food security. The paper argues for a shift in agricultural focus from traditional staple crops to HVCPs, highlighting their ability to generate higher income per unit of land and labor, thereby offering an effective solution to rural poverty.

The Mekong Delta is a vast region that is crucial for providing food to millions of people. However, climate change and human activities are causing water scarcity, floods and soil salinization, which are a threat to food security and livelihoods. To tackle these issues, the CGIAR Initiative on Asian Mega-Deltas (AMD) is working towards creating more resilient, inclusive and productive deltas that can adapt to climate change and other challenges.