CONTEXT: Integration of farms into markets with adoption of maize as a cash crop can significantly increase income of farms of the developing world. However, in some cases, the income generated may still be very low and maize production may also have strong negative environmental and social impacts.
Accurate and regularly updated information regarding the cultivated area of rice, along with forecasts and harvested yields, is indispensable for governments in making informed decisions related to food security, natural resource management, agricultural productivity, and insurance. The RIICE technology approach, tailored for Mali's rice-based systems, has demonstrated its capability to intricately map rice areas and accurately determine the start of growing seasons.
The quality and origin of tree seeds and seedlings affect the survival, growth, productivity, ecosystem services and adaptive capacity of restored forests and landscapes. The availability of seeds and seedlings directly influences the delivery of benefits to land users from restoration efforts. Yet, despite more than a decade of global restoration commitments and programmes since 2011, substantial gaps remain worldwide in individual, organizational and sectoral capacities to source and deliver quality tree seeds and seedlings for restoration, especially of native species.
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.
Reliable and seasonally updated information on the effective rice cultivated area, forecasted, harvested yield and climate change impacts are essential requirements for governments to support decision-making related to food security, management of natural resources, agricultural productivity, and insurance.
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.
The Enhancing the Science-Policy-Investment Linkages and Decision Support for Climate-Smart Agriculture Planning learning materials highlights and expands upon key methods, tools, and actions to actively strengthen decision contexts in scaling climate-smart agriculture in Africa. These learning materials and content are built to include both technical skill building resources as well as process and approach guidance to help uncover more equitable, holistic, and resilient pathways to increase climate-resilience in our food and agricultural systems.
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.
Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in food systems can result in greater food security and better nutrition, as well as more just, resilient and sustainable food systems for all. This chapter uses a scoping review to assess the current evidence on pathways between gender equality, women’s empowerment and food systems. The chapter uses an adaptation of the food system framework to organize the evidence and identify where evidence is strong, and where gaps remain.
Anthropogenic activities profoundly impact soil organic carbon (SOC), affecting its contribution to ecosystem services such as climate regulation. Here, we conducted a thorough review of the impacts of land-use change, land management, and climate change on SOC. Using second-order meta-analysis, we synthesized findings from 230 first-order meta-analyses comprising over 25,000 primary studies.
Inoculation of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] with rhizobia strains is a low-cost investment which can increase yields of smallholder farmers in Mozambique. The performance of four Bradyrhizobium strains was evaluated to identify the best strain to inoculate soybean grown in different agro-ecologies. Field experiments were conducted in three ecological zones in 2018 and 2019 using soybean variety Zamboane inoculated with Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens strain USDA 110, B.