A collaborative effort by WLE/Alliance, GIZ-Ethiopia and partners to institutionalize data sharing has led the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture to adopt the concept. Partners undertook many activities: creation of a digital web portal, data collation, standardization guidelines and big data analysis. They are now developing a site-specific fertilizer recommendation tool. This has led to better-targeted recommendations and a paradigm shift in the research and development discourse as well as further funding and scaling of the framework to other countries.

This annual report presents highlights from the wide variety of our achievements over 2019 through which we contribute to sustainable land use, inclusive governance, and responsible business and finance, as building blocks of climate-smart landscapes.

In 2018, CCAFS and partners provided technical and policy recommendations on Land Productivity and Agricultural Performance for the Colombian Green Growth Policy. The government allocated US $74.5 million to implement actions that help to improve the agricultural sector's performance aiming for increasing by 3%, the agricultural production under green-growth criteria. The current National Development Plan focuses on sustainable agricultural activities that include climate-smart innovation options in line with green growth standards.

With decreasing aquifer levels, increasing groundwater pollution, inequitable access, and generally poor management outcomes, better groundwater governance has been put forward as a recipe to address these challenges worldwide. Existing recommendations focus on improved legal frameworks, monitoring and control of access and abstraction through permits or formal rights. In addition, decentralized water management, enforcement of regulations, and supply-side technological solutions are seen as cornerstone components of good groundwater governance systems.

Landscape governance refers to the combination of rules and decision-making processes of civic, private, and public actors with stakes in the landscape, that together shape the future of that landscape. As part of the Green Livelihoods Alliance, a program that supports civil society organizations (CSOs) to strengthen the governance of tropical forested landscapes, we developed and implemented a method that facilitates stakeholders to assess the status of governance in their own landscape and to identify options for improvement.

Five years ago, the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by 193 countries. They set out an ambitious plan to eradicate global poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030 ensuring that "no one is left behind". Work to deliver on that commitment has reaped some rewards, such as improving maternal and child health, expanding access to electricity and increasing women’s representation in government. Yet with just ten years left, we still have a very long way to go, especially in terms of meeting the 'climate and environment' commitments.

Globally, 50% of the population relies on on-site sanitation systems (OSS) such as septic tanks and pit latrines and is, hence, in need of Fecal Sludge Management (FSM) solutions. India is a classic example, given that its government built more than 100 million toilets with the majority relying on OSS. With 400 fecal sludge treatment plants (FSTPs) in various stages of planning, procurement and construction, this report comes at an opportune time to present findings on FSM business models already implemented across India.

Results from the CGIAR Research Program on Water Land and Ecosystems (WLE) demonstrate how
new evidence and innovations contribute to sustainable intensification of agriculture at landscape
level. WLE’s solutions support producing more nutritious food while managing natural resources
more productively and sustainably in the face of critical climate change, health, demographic, and
economic challenges.

The harvest of paddy and other food crops in 2020 was above-average compared to the past few years. Major reservoir storage levels are at 39% of their capacity at present, which is well above average.

In 2019 PIM completed the participatory priority-setting exercise started in 2018 to update the priorities for the program’s final 2019-2021 period. As a conclusion of this exercise, the framework of the Phase 2 proposal as well as the flagships’ impact pathways were reaffirmed as highly relevant.

Burundi’s population has been expanding
far faster than its economy. And while the
agriculture sector contributes around 40%
of GDP and to over 95% of food supplies,
high pressure on land is leading to soil
fertility depletion, eroding the country’s
capacity to ramp up food production for a
growing population.
The Flagship project: “Improving food
security, nutrition, incomes, natural
resource base and gender equity for better
livelihoods of smallholder households in
sub-Saharan Africa” between 2015 and