Water scarcity and pollution are major threats for human development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and Lebanon is no exception. Wastewater treatment and reuse in agriculture can contribute to addressing the increasing water crisis in the MENA region. However, what is the actual potential of water reuse as a solution for agriculture in Lebanon? This report addresses this question and provides the most comprehensive assessment of water reuse potential up to now.

Despite the progress made in conceptualizing and advocating for secure community-based land and forest tenure rights, there is a critical lacuna in advocacy and policymaking processes pertaining to community-based freshwater tenure rights. Moreover, water tenure as a concept has only recently gained significant traction in global policy circles. This report analyzes national and international legal pathways for recognizing customary forms of community-based freshwater tenure rights held by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in sub-Saharan Africa.

This study maps out Ghana’s multi-hazard risk of flood and drought by using machine learning (ML) models for susceptibility analysis, socioeconomic survey for vulnerability analysis and population density for exposure analysis. The ML models used were Logistic Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) with inputs of location and features of natural hazards. Topographic, precipitation, temperature, hydrology, land cover and soil cover raster images were also used in these models.

Location-specific information is required to support decision making in crop vari-ety management, especially under increasingly challenging climate conditions. Datasynthesis can aggregate data from individual trials to produce information that sup-ports decision making in plant breeding programs, extension services, and of farmers.Data from on-farm trials using the novel approach of triadic comparison of technolo-gies (tricot) are increasingly available, from which more insights could be gainedusing a data synthesis approach.

The dry lowlands of Ethiopia are seasonally affected by long periods of low rainfall and, coinciding with rainfall in the Amhara highlands, flood waters which flow onto the lowlands resulting in damage to landscapes and settlements. In an attempt to convert water from storm generated floods into productive use, this study proposes a methodology using remote sensing data and geographical information system tools to identify potential sites where flood spreading weirs may be installed and farming systems developed which produce food and fodder for poor rural communities.

This paper provides an inventory of novel approaches to and mechanisms for quality assurance of the seeds of vegetatively produced crops (VPCs). It explores to what extent seven African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) are decentralising and integrating VPC seed systems, in terms of regulations governing the sector, methods of seed production, and methods of seed inspection and certification. It consolidates existing data and presents new data on decentralised seed quality assurance (SQA) approaches for VPCs in these seven selected countries.

The index-based livestock insurance (IBLI), since the time it was launched in 2010 in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya and Ethiopia, has evolved into drought risk financing solutions (DRFS). This evolution is characterized by development from a micro product implemented, as potential social protection tools, to a regional level de-risking instrument for pastoralists in the Horn of Africa. There have also been demands for DRFS to rise to several other challenges such as conflict, access to health and market services (feed, fodder) that are being faced in the drylands of Africa.

A rapid Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) assessment was conducted on 20 agri-food companies supported by the Gender-Smart Accelerator in Senegal. As the Accelerator-technical assistance is implemented, companies are likely to double climate change mitigation and adaptation impacts. Major interventions driving changes are: climate information services (CIS), water and soil management (Adaptation); agroforestry, efficient fertilizers use, and renewable energy (Mitigation); improved ag-practices and food loss reduction (Productivity).

One of the overall project components for the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project is supporting the generation and sharing of knowledge tools to address critical gaps in the provision of climate advisory services, enable climate-informed investment planning and contribute to the design of policies to the uptake of climate-smart agricultural practices.

A presentation on how to improve local adaptive capacities and inclusive scaling mechanisms for climate-smart agriculture in Ethiopia. It was delivered at the inception workshop for the CGIAR Initiative for Livestock and Climate by Birgit Habermann

Dairy productivity in sub-Saharan Africa remains below its potential, while there is an increasing demand for milk from its growing population. This study focuses on the adoption potential of improved, more nutritive and productive forages by smallholder farmers in the Tanga region of Tanzania.