The current paradigm of biodiversity conservation, with its continued focus on the notion of pristine nature, has resulted in the separation of humans and nature at the expense of both biological and cultural–linguistic diversity. The continued annexation of land for the cause of conservation has resulted in the curtailment of both rights and access to local and diverse food sources for many rural communities.

Fragility, Conflict, and Migration addresses challenges to livelihood, food, and climate security faced by some of the most vulnerable populations worldwide. The Initiative focuses on building climate resilience, promoting gender equity, and fostering social inclusion. It forms part of CGIAR’s new Research Portfolio, delivering science and innovation to transform food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis.

An innovation brief has been developed to facilitate the scaling of the Smart-Valleys approach for land and water development in inland valleys. The innovation brief presents how to implement the Smart-Valleys approach and its effects on rice yield and farmers’ income, as well as the users and the factors that affect the adoption of the approach.

Land-use-change-induced increases in shallow groundwater levels across parts of the Sahel in recent years have coincided with expanded use of groundwater for irrigation. This study was conducted to assess the potential linkages and livelihood implications based on a field survey of nine villages building on previous hydrological studies. The results show that irrigators lack effective means of production and mostly rely on manual methods. Borehole usage is more profitable and reliable than shallower wells.

This study uses maize as the test crop. Maize is the key focus of most studies on crop response to micronutrients in SSA with a limited number of studies on wheat, rice, cowpea, sorghum, and soybean responses. Maize, constituting 45% of the cereal production in SSA in 2014, is the staple food crop (accounting for over 40% of the calories consumed in some countries such as Malawi and Zambia (http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data)) and the main component of food aid interventions in SSA (Leonardo et al. 2015).

Weather and climate information services (WCIS) are recognized as a powerful tool to support the management of climate risk in the context of climate variability. However, the picture of its value for agriculture is not yet well evaluated. This study used the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) framework to assess the impact of WCIS use on yield, income and technical efficiency of

Emergy-Data Envelopment Analysis (EM-DEA) is a methodological approach for achieving complete environmental-economic accounting of different production systems.

Land degradation, declining soil fertility, and erosion continue to plague agricultural production in many developing countries. In response to these farm production constraints and environmental challenges, a range of soil conservation technologies and practices have been developed and disseminated to tackle soil nutrient and fertility declines. However, evidence on the association between soil conservation, farm performance, and smallholder welfare is scarce.

The workshop provided overview on the food systems landscape in Kenya, and to identify opportunities to inform inputs on crop diversification, livestock, land use expansion, and irrigation. It also contributed immensely into policy and stakeholder mapping exercise in Kenya.

Over the past 20 years, recurrent and violent conflicts between farmers and Fulani pastoralists have persisted in Northern Ghana. These conflicts mainly revolve around access to and utilisation of natural resources such as land and water. Conflicts of interest have led to the social marginalisation of the Fulani community, leading to their exclusion from formal landscape governance processes.

Background | The challenges facing food, land, and water systems are numerous and complex. In addressing these interlinked challenges, the choices facing governments and their development partners have also become increasingly complicated. Synergies are possible, but trade-offs are often unavoidable. Decision-makers need better evidence to help them choose actions that minimize trade-offs and advance progress towards collective goals.