Climate change can manifest in various ways, including altered precipitation patterns, increased temperatures, and more frequent extreme weather events. These factors can adversely affect crop yields, jeopardizing food security and the livelihoods of the majority of the population dependent on agriculture. Agriculture in Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) is a major contributor to the national economy and is estimated to contribute about 17% of SADC’s gross domestic product (GDP). Smallholder farmers in Southern Africa contribute up to 90% of food production.

This policy brief examines consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war on India’s agrifood systems, focusing on impacts on staple foods and agricultural inputs, as well as the Government of India’s policy responses to the war. The methodology is based on content analysis of articles, published papers, reports, and official announcements, in addition to analyzing data from a variety of international and Government of India sources. India plays a critical role in global agricultural production.

The link between climate change and conflict has been widely studied in the past decade. Despite empirical evidence leading to ambiguous, sometimes contradictory, conclusions, it is generally accepted that climate-related security risks are manifested through a non-linear and complex interplay between climate threats, sources of vulnerability, and drivers of conflict. The effects of this “vicious circle” are underlined by socioeconomic and political factors acting as drivers of insecurity.

The inventory of CSA approaches, practices, and technologies was compiled as an output of the CSA Writeshop that CCARDESA convened in October 2022 under the auspices of the AICCRA and GCCA+ projects with the primary objective of developing the CSA Handbook as well as a training manual for use in SADC region. The CSA Handbook has provided an elaboration of best-bet CSA options that have been categorized along the three pillars of CSA: increased productivity, adaptation, and mitigation.

The concept of regenerative agriculture has rapidly gained momentum among agri-food companies, governments, NGO’s and farmers. Although there is no widely accepted definition, different interpretations of this concept emphasize the importance of restoring and enhancing soil to generate multiple benefits for society and for farmers. The premise is that regenerative agriculture, by strengthening soil health and associated ecosystem services, helps to make agroecosystems more productive and resilient, while improving farmers’ livelihoods.

This report presents results from a survey conducted to understand the extent to which HEIs in Zambia have integrated CSA-CIS in the curricula and identify the needs & possible approaches for integrating the CSA and CIS in the HEI programmes. Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an approach for transforming and reorienting agricultural systems to support food security under the new realities of climate change.

The impacts of climate change in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), are already well known to farmers. Over 2 million people in Kenya face threat of food insecurity due to climate change. Maize production is particularly vulnerable to climate change. It is projected to face not only 15% climate-related declines in yield without adaptation but also challenges from diminished cropland suitability and poor agronomic inputs and management; degraded environmental bases with declining soil fertility and degraded water systems are already apparent.

This policy brief examines the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war on fertilizer and food commodities in Nigeria and the actions policymakers took in the agriculture sector in response to the war. This brief examines data from publicly available sources and policy responses from government documents and online newspapers. The results show that the Russia-Ukraine war has led to shortages in fertilizer availability, leading to high prices of fertilizer. Likewise, prices of major food commodities, such as maize, rice, wheat and cooking oils, have been on the rise.

As compared with single agronomic crop management practices during grain formation, knowledge about integrated agronomic management practices on grain mineral composition and grain technological properties in durum wheat is limited. This knowledge is important for determining management strategies aimed at increasing grain yield without affecting grain nutritional quality. Integrated agronomic practices such as foliar nutrient application × seeding rate × varieties combined with growing locations were investigated to evaluate the dynamics of yield and grain quality traits.

Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) is one of the most important diseases threatening banana production in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA). In this study, we examine the potential impacts of BXW on banana production, demand, and food security in SSA, if the disease spread across all banana-producing countries in the region. The analysis is based on a multidisciplinary approach that combines a mathematical model of field-level BXW spread over time with a dynamic global partial equilibrium economic model.