Agriculture is the mainstay of Ethiopia’s economy, contributing over 50% of the gross domestic product (GDP), accounting for more than 85% of the labor force and over 90% of the foreign exchange earnings (Alemu et al. 2010). Consequently, the sector receives considerable attention from the government, investing 15% of its total budget over the decade and meeting the commitments by Africa’s heads of states to the African Union Maputo 2003 Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security (CAADP 2003).

This study focuses on the valuation of ecosystem services in Kenya and Vietnam, two countries that have received much attention from the international development community for their biodiversity significance, opportunities for scaling, climate and poverty challenges, and political will. Using The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) framework and the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), this study estimates per hectare values of ecosystem services in Kenya and Vietnam based on a systematic literature review of studies on the values of ecosystem services in both countries.

Agricultural activities in Guatemala constitute 32% of the total employment, but only one in every 10 individuals employed in these activities are women. This study examines cultural and economic barriers and opportunities for women’s participation in crop and livestock production systems. We used a qualitative approach involving focus groups with 15–20 women in eight communities in Chiquimula and Huehuetenango in 2022. The findings are consistent across locations.

The Asian Mega-Deltas is one of the CGIAR’s research initiatives which aims to create resilient, inclusive and productive deltas, which maintain socio-ecological integrity, adapt to climatic and other stressors, and support human prosperity and wellbeing, by removing systemic barriers to the scaling of transformative technologies and practices at community, national and regional levels.

Inland aquaculture is essential for the food and livelihoods of millions of small-scale producers across the global South. Very diverse actions from national governments, civil sector and international organizations have been seeking to enhance the performance of small-scale aquaculture systems. However, many of these efforts are constrained by the general lack of information about the status and characteristics of the sector.

Low- and middle-income countries worldwide share the common challenge of achieving sustainable economic development while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This challenge is complex due to the interconnectedness of economic activities, where policies targeting one industry can have ripple effects on others. Therefore, it is crucial to understand integrated GHG emissions and their relationships across industries within an economy to inform effective policy formulation.

To increase productivity and profitability, while limiting nutrient losses and related GHG-emissions, African smallholders need more tailored fertilizer advice. Yet, such advice critically hinges upon – largely lacking – field-level management data, as management is key to efficient fertilizer use. The Maize- Nutrient-Manager (MNM) mobile phone application enables collection of such data at scale, and directly converts this data into actionable advice for the farmer.

Organised by CTA, the European Commission (EC), the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and Concord, the Brussels Development Policy Briefings have been a flagship initiative providing an inclusive policy dialogue forum for 13 years, focusing on the most critical issues facing agriculture and rural development in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific countries. The Briefings offered a structured mechanism for the exchange of information and experience among representatives of the development community in Brussels.

This study explored the potential of the Innovation Platform approach, in improving the participation of rural female farmers in Maize value chain. It intends to identify the peculiarities, in terms of challenges and opportunities related to its application to the rural women realities. The study collected data from 120 small scale maize producers in South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 2015 to 2017, using individual interview and focus group discussion (FGD) for data confirmation.

Digital Extension and Advisory Services (EAS) have evolved to deliver more need-based advisories at scale ranging from broadcast media to Artificial Intelligence (AI)-backed applications. Over the years, rapid growth in the number of digital EAS providers has seen the use of varied channels to deliver similar advisories that are generic. Very few of these have succeeded in providing content that is relevant to a specific situation or problem farmers are dealing with.

Small-scale fisheries account for at least 40 percent of the global catch from capture fisheries and provide employment across the value chain for an estimated 60.2 million people, about 90 percent of the total number employed in fisheries globally. The economic value of these fisheries, however, is only a part of their importance: for example, nearly 53 million additional people were estimated to be engaged in subsistence activities in 2016.

Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) is a social enterprise that finances improved agricultural practices through the adoption of agroforestry and a legume-based farming system that increases food crop yields and market opportunities for over 230,000 small-scale farmers. The proposed project will build on this foundation that spans 19 years of growing a brand called It’s Wild! of 20 different value-added food products by partnering with the Chitetezo Co-operative Federation.