CIMMYT, the lead for work package one under the Ukama Ustawi: Diversification in East and Southern Africa (UU), successfully convened a highly engaging, 2-day planning and evaluation meeting at Radisson Blue in Lusaka, Zambia from 21st to 22nd September 2023. This reflective meeting strived to comprehensively review and analyze the outcomes of the previous farming season, acknowledge achievements, and strategically outline a roadmap for the forthcoming agricultural season.

Sub-Saharan Africa is grappling with surging food demand amid a growing population and challenges of climate change. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) emerges as a holistic solution, aiming to counter these complexities and enhance livelihoods. However, the evidence remains thin and mixed. We used a meta-analysis with 18 studies to assess the impacts of climate smart agricultural practices on livelihood indicators in sub-Saharan Africa. We find that adoption of climate smart agriculture is positively correlated with crop and household income and food security in sub-Saharan Africa.

The lower Mekong region, encompassing Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, heavily relies on agriculture for livelihoods. However, both the historical and current agricultural systems face a plethora of sustainability challenges, including in relation to the health of soils to support agricultural production and livelihoods. To improve the sustainability of agricultural systems, nature-based solutions in the form of microbial bioinoculants are being combined with agroecology principles as approaches to improve soil health.

The CWANA (Central and West Asia and North Africa) region was once considered the birthplace of civilizations and played a significant role in sustaining ancient empires like the Romans through its agricultural productivity. The area is characterized by diverse agroclimatic conditions, which vary across the countries in this extensive region in terms of climate, soil, and topography. Agriculture continues to make a significant contribution to the GDP of many CWANA countries, creating job opportunities and ensuring food security.

Evidence suggests that intensive tillage, crop residue removal/burning, and frequent soil wetting-drying cycles in rice-wheat rotations have led to declining soil organic matter and increased greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and a consequent deterioration of soil quality (Jat et al., 2023).

Background
The social science and agribusiness research program at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has supported the Institute’s research and delivery efforts since 1967. This Compendium highlights the main achievements of IITA’s social science and agribusiness research over the 55 years from 1967 to 2022.
Methodology

A protocol was developed to establish AICCRA's on-farm demonstration plots for the short rains season of October-November-December 2023 in Makueni, Kitui and Taita Taveta Counties. This protocol outlines the specific roles and responsibilities of extension officers and lead farmers, covering various activities from land preparation to harvesting. It employs a randomized block design, integrating conservation agriculture and conventional tillage systems, with both sole cropping and intercropping of legumes and cereals.

The Breakthrough Agenda was launched by 45 world leaders at COP 26 and is a commitment to work together this decade to accelerate innovation and deployment of clean technologies, making them accessible and affordable for all this decade. To kick-start this Agenda, countries endorsed Breakthrough goals to make clean technologies and sustainable practices more affordable, accessible and attractive than their alternatives by 2030 in the power, road transport, steel, hydrogen and agriculture sectors.

ICRISAT organized a training for county extension officers and Trainer of Trainers (ToTs) with the primary objective of increasing production and productivity of Drought Tolerant Crops (DTC) in the arid regions of Kenya. This training held from 8th to 30th August 2023, was conducted across Kitui, Makueni and Taita Taveta Counties. The main focus of the training was to enhance participants' understanding of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), quality seed production and post-harvest handling of DTCs, while also providing insights into climate information systems.

This brief provides insight into the different farming systems of the three study regions and their application of CSA practices, comparing uptake between Heifer supported cooperatives and non-Heifer supported cooperatives, using evidence from a Rural Household Multi-Indicator Survey (RHoMIS).