Traditional crops play an important role in household food security and livelihood needs of mountain communities, while at the same time safeguarding crop biodiversity for future generations. This study aims to analyse socioeconomic, farmspecificagro-ecological and market factors influencing cultivation and maintenance of crop diversity in Nepal. It used sample surveys of 328 households from mountains of Humla, Jumla, Lamjung and Dolakha districts in 2015. The sample survey was supplemented with participatory rural appraisals, field monitoring visits and local stakeholder consultations.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Ethiopia’s economy, contributing over 50% of the gross domestic product (GDP), accounting for more than 85% of the labor force and over 90% of the foreign exchange earnings (Alemu et al. 2010). Consequently, the sector receives considerable attention from the government, investing 15% of its total budget over the decade and meeting the commitments by Africa’s heads of states to the African Union Maputo 2003 Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security (CAADP 2003).

A multi-stakeholder survey and site-based data comparison was carried out to predefine three benchmark sites or populations along a rural-to-urban transect. The current report is a draft version to be shared widely with A4NH- FSHD partners before we commit to ACTUALLY initiating food system characterization in each site, followed by different types of action research based on a clear and concerted rationale, during the upcoming 5 year period of phase II of A4NH-FSHD.

A study was conducted in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya district of Nepal to assess the benefit cost (BCA) analysis of small farm machineries (transplanter, reaper and power tiller) used for rice cultivation. Out of total respondents of 274 under mechanized farm category selected using Raosoft Software of sample size determination, 74% (20) reaper owner, 67% (20) power tiller owner and 100%(09) transplanter owner were selected for benefit cost analysis using simple random sampling.

A farmer-inclusive value chain development approach is a powerful formula for developing sustainable market linkages in the Pacific. We need to apply new thinking to modernising and sustaining agri-food systems as the impacts of climate change, unpredictability in global trade, migration and conflicts threaten progress towards the goals of zero hunger and end to poverty and malnutrition. Innovation in all aspects of the agrifood system, from production to processing, financing and marketing as well as in how producers organise themselves to address these challenges is critical.

While there is consensus on the need to promote agricultural development in Africa to achieve food security and use agriculture as an engine of growth, there is a lively policy debate on appropriate policies to achieve this goal. In the past two decades, there has been a revival of policies that favor government support to agriculture in Africa, especially in the form of input subsidies.

Field survey of Brassica oleracea growing in the wild in northwestern French coastal areas and AFLP analysis of their genetic diversity and population structure. This study offered the highest level of detail ever presented about the distribution of wild B. oleracea populations along the French Atlantic coast. Populations analysed showed a low level of genetic differentiation. Traditional varieties commonly grown in the same area were not fully distinguishable from the wild populations on a molecular level.

As the effects of climate change are severely straining West African agricultural systems, the adoption of more incisive interventions in support of sustainable development agendas for the region is highly critical and cannot be further delayed by governments. Neglected and underutilized species (NUS) are one important ally in pursuing resilience in both production and food systems because of their promising traits in terms of nutrition, adaptation to local agroecosystems, and economic potential for local populations.

Organised by CTA, the European Commission (EC), the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and Concord, the Brussels Development Policy Briefings have been a flagship initiative providing an inclusive policy dialogue forum for 13 years, focusing on the most critical issues facing agriculture and rural development in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific countries. The Briefings offered a structured mechanism for the exchange of information and experience among representatives of the development community in Brussels.

This study explored the potential of the Innovation Platform approach, in improving the participation of rural female farmers in Maize value chain. It intends to identify the peculiarities, in terms of challenges and opportunities related to its application to the rural women realities. The study collected data from 120 small scale maize producers in South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 2015 to 2017, using individual interview and focus group discussion (FGD) for data confirmation.

Every year, millions of dollars are spent on tree-based landscape restoration activities. Over the last five decades, there are few success stories of such interventions and even those do not match the anticipated objectives for which the resources were spent. News articles that announce planting campaigns of millions of seedlings are common. Despite all this, in many countries, vegetation cover has not improved due to poor seedling survival rate. This makes the return on investment low.

This paper examines the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on youth unemployment in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region using panel data from the World Bank World Development Indicators for the period 1994–2017. Results from the Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS-Parks) technique show that FDI has an insignificant effect on reducing youth unemployment in the SADC region. This could be because the type of FDI in the region is partly mergers and acquisitions, which has fewer jobs creating capacity compared to Greenfield investment.