Tropical peatlands are one of the largest natural sources of atmospheric methane (CH4) and play a significant role in regional and global carbon budgets. However, large uncertainties persist regarding their feedbacks to climate variations. The Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) Land Model (ELM) is an ongoing state-of-the-science model, which has developed new representations of soil hydrology and biogeochemistry and includes a new microbial-functional-group-based CH4 module.

International standards and policies are clear about women’s right to equality in the enjoyment of all their rights, including rights to access, use, inherit, control and own land. Sustainable Development Goal Target 5.a specifically calls for reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to, ownership and control over land and natural resources. Securing women’s land and resource rights is a critical goal in and of itself - and also a crucial factor in achieving many of the other SDGs.

Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) is a major threat to banana production in Rwanda, causing up to 100% yield loss. There are no biological or chemical control measures, and little is known about the potential direction and magnitude of its spread; hence, cultural control efforts are reactive rather than proactive. In this study, we assessed BXW risk under current and projected climates to guide early warning and control by applying the maximum entropy (Maxent) model on 1,022 georeferenced BXW datapoints and 20 environmental variables.

Rice is a vital food crop in Tanzania, both for household consumption and commercial retail. Contract farming is an important agricultural tool through which farmers and larger investors are linked to increase production and quality of crops, benefiting both the farmers and investors. This chapter uses the relational model to look at the relationships in two rice contract farming schemes in Tanzania: Kapunga Rice Plantation Limited and Mtenda Kyela Rice Supply. The empirical data is from household surveys and interviews from the Mbeya region in 2015.

Die Parameter für die Ernährung in Afrika verändern sich rasch aufgrund der Urbanisierung, die vom Wachstum von Wirtschaft und Bevölkerung und der Migration vom Land in die Stadt angetrieben wird. Dieser Wandel ist eine Herausforderung für die Ernährungssicherheit und die Nährstoffversorgung in städtischen Gebieten und den Megastädten Afrikas wie Accra, Kinshasa, Lagos und Nairobi, da die Verbraucher zunehmend Arbeit sparende, verarbeitete Lebensmittel verlangen. Mit der Supermarktrevolution werden in den Städten immer mehr erschwingliche hochverarbeitete Lebensmittel angeboten.

Alternative protein sources for human food, as well as for terrestrial and aquatic animal feed, are increasingly commercially available. These products have considerable potential for sustainably delivering protein for food and feed and could lead to significant reductions in climate and land use impacts. Alternative protein sources include meat analogs, insects, certain woody plants, and algae including seaweed. We briefly review recent work on their nutritional, environmental, technological, and socioeconomic impacts.

Food, land, and water systems face daunting challenges in the future, and the body of research exploring these challenges is growing rapidly. This note is part of a series developed by the CGIAR Foresight Initiative to summarize what we know today about the future of various aspects of food systems. The goal of these notes is to serve as a quick reference, point to further information, and help guide future research and decisions.

This chapter focuses on the multiple facets and meanings of water and how it is a contested resource. It also explores linkages between SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation) and SDG 2 (Zero hunger). Water is essential for all life and integral to the functioning of food systems; similarly, changes in our food systems are essential to achieve SDG 6. And improvements in both are needed to reduce inequities in resources and achievements. As an example, land, food and water rights often go hand in hand, and are marked by gender, caste, racial and other exclusions.