Under WP 1, CIAT/PABRA promotes beans as means of contributing to the wellness of the food system, including climate adaptation, as well as the business environment. The nutrition component implemented its planned activities through partnerships with NARES and private sector players (SMEs). Eight NARES partners were engaged (three in SABRN and 5 in ECABREN) and eleven private sector players were engaged (seven in SABRN and four in ECABREN). As a result, more than 731 field demonstrations using food basket approach were mounted (100 in Zambia, 17 in Uganda, 9 in Zimbabwe and 605 in Malawi).

The integration of gender concerns in crop breeding programs aims to improve the suitability and appeal of new varieties to both women and men, in response to concerns about unequal adoption of improved seed. However, few conventional breeding programs have sought to center social inclusion concerns. This community case study documents efforts to integrate gender into the maize-focused Seed Production Technology for Africa (SPTA) project using innovation history analysis drawing on project documents and the authors’ experiences.

The Agroecology Initiative (AEI) aims to contribute to achieving Agroecological Transitions (AET) through developing and scaling a range of innovations (technical, social, economic, and political) in 8 countries across three continents. It proposes to do so by using a participatory action-research approach involving the key stakeholders of the Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALLs), multi-stakeholder territorial spaces in each country on which the Initiative targets its transformation and innovation efforts.

The report highlights challenges faced by the agricultural sector in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Zambia, including productivity issues and food security concerns due to factors such as limited inputs, market access, and climate-related vulnerabilities. Post-harvest losses (PHL) are identified as a major obstacle for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) processors, stemming from inadequate infrastructure and poor handling methods.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the least mechanized agriculture in the world due to various reasons including low effective demand at farm level, low policy attention, and ineffective mechanization strategies. However, the situation has changed since recently in favor of mechanization while limited empirical evidence is available on how mechanization can be enhanced among smallholder farmers.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture collaborated with The Rallying Cry to understand the challenges faced by women- and youth-led agribusinesses in Zambia. As such, two workshops were previously held in September and December 2022 with the target group to obtain an understanding of their challenges and identify possible solutions. These challenges were categorised into themes: (a) Environmental constraints; (b) Network; (c) Climate change response; (d) Capacity Building; and (e) Social and cultural norms.

As a central component of the 2022-2026 UNHCR Strategic Directions, UNHCR has globally identified eight focus areas that require renewed attention and accelerated effort. One of these is climate action. In 2021, UNHCR published its Strategic Framework for Climate Action and, in 2022, its Operational Strategy for Climate Resilience and Environmental Sustainability
(2022-2025).

This manual is a product of the Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and the University of Kassel, as part of the outputs of the Innovation for Africa Climate Risk Insurance (InACRI) project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The InACRI project addresses the current poor performance and uptake of index-based crop insurance products in Kenya.