the concept of water security clarifies how water-resource scarcity impacts at varying geographic scales and on different socio-economic sectors, causing allocation conflicts and environmental risks
• the large natural storage of most groundwater systems offers exceptional drought resilience and is well positioned to enhance water security for a wide range of water users
• to perform this role sustainably groundwater systems require better data and analyses to inform water resource administration and effective pollution protection

This study was conducted in Lake Hawassa catchment, Ethiopia where policy programs are aiming to restore degraded lands with participation of local stakeholders. We assessed the system in relation to natural resource management and degradation using the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conceptual framework and conducted a stakeholder analysis to understand stakeholder interest, influence and interactions amongst the different categories of stakeholders. Data were collected using key informant interviews, field observation and a literature review.

Agriculture is one of the pillars of the Ethiopian economy and the overall economic growth of the country is highly dependent on the success of the agricultural sector. Livestock is an integral part of the agricultural sector and the contribution of live animals and their products to the agricultural economy is immense. Livestock production plays a substantial role in Ethiopia through the provision of food, income, employment and many other contributions.

Providing credible and quantifiable measures of the impact of CGIAR innovations at scale has always been a challenge. Recent SPIA-supported research has attempted to address this challenge using quasi-experimental approaches to assessing impact. This technical note details some of these completed and ongoing studies and approaches, focusing on the identification strategies used to infer causal impact, and the kinds of diverse data sets that may be brought to bear in making these inferences.

The high mountains stretch over 20.4% of Nepal’s land surface with diverse climatic conditions and associated vegetation types. An understanding of tree species and forest structural pattern variations across different climatic regions is crucial for mountain ecology. This study strived to carry out a comparative evaluation of species diversity, main stand variables, and canopy cover of forests with contrasting precipitation conditions in the Annapurna range. Firstly, climate data provided by CHELSA version 1.2, were used to identify distinct precipitation regimes.

There is a need to overcome systemic bottlenecks to facilitate agri-data management, access, and sharing. Among the possible measures recommended by various studies is the development and establishment of national ag- data hub. Understanding the gaps, needs, constraints, and priorities of partners is essential to co-define contextualized interventions that are timely and useful. One of the key activities is thus be to engage with partners in order to consult them on data and infrastructure needs and requirements in order to facilitate co-creation.

This research report presents the first comprehensive framework of business models in terms of developing, marketing and scaling Index-based flood insurance (IBFI). The report evaluated ten case studies on agricultural insurance schemes (macro, meso and micro levels), globally, to develop public-private partnership business models for creating value (product development) and capturing value (product marketing).

This study used community-level focus group discussions in the seven villages of the Nyando climate-smart villages (CSVs) in Kenya. The discussions were complemented with satellite images from mixed sources and GIS-based analytics to monitor the changes in land use and land cover over the past 10 years (2011-2021).

Various efforts have been made to harmonize datasets and facilitate storage and data sharing. However, some of them have already failed while some others are still struggling to succeed due to different reasons including lack of champion institution and limited buy-in and capacity of the government to support initiatives, limited cooperation between sectors and among Directorates within sectors, low technological readiness, governance barriers, and data incompatibility (Gelagay, 2017; Gelagay, 2019).