The urgency with which the world needs to combat climate change has led to ambitious commitments by
leading food companies such as Nestlé. Given that a large proportion of emissions in supply chains occur during the
production of commodities, focus has converged on Regenerative Agriculture as a key strategy to achieve
those goals. The Regenerative Agriculture agenda coalesces around three main goals:
• Reduce the Carbon Footprint
• Enhance Soil Health
• Enhance and safeguard Biodiversity

Sesame (locally known as simsim) production in Uganda is increasingly becoming popular because of its wide benefits. Sesame production is equally being affected by several factors including climate change. Climate change is associated with changing precipitation patterns, rising temperatures and prolonged dry spells. This manual therefore provides detailed information on sesame growing in times of climate change. The manual is structured in five chapters which are summarized as follows.

This training resource kit aims to support multi-stakeholder platforms and consortia at landscape level that aim to strengthen capacities for climate smart strategies and actions in food and agriculture. The training kit provides an introduction to a diversity of science-based tools and processes that can support climate smart approaches as well as practical support in how to collaboratively learn from each other in the process and co-create a roadmap for capacity strengthening in climate adaptation.

The uptake of conservation agriculture and farm mechanization in Southern Africa has been slow and low. As a result, most smallholder farmers continue to grow crops under degraded soils using conventional tools and human powered farm operations. This leads to low productivity. Therefore, spatially visualizing areas where conservation agriculture and farm mechanization can be targeted can be crucial to guide targeting and scaling.

In Ghana, AICCRA is implemented by various institutions and NGOs led by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Benin. As climate information is key in the process, in collaboration with IITA, the Center for International Forestry Research-World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF/Sahel) is engaged for capacitating stakeholders for the efficient use of climate information and services through the Participatory and Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach.

The milpa system is the basis of traditional agriculture in Mesoamerica. It is based on a polyculture of maize (Zea mays L.), bean (Phaseolus spp.) and squash (Cucurbita spp.) and is associated with a great diversity of crops and wild species. The milpa has great cultural and historical importance but can also be highly productive and provide sufficient and healthy diets for smallholder farmers. The milpa system is practiced less and less however, mainly due to socioeconomic changes, but also due to a lack of agronomic knowledge adapted to current conditions.

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