Inadequate and poor-quality feed resources constrain livestock production that compromises the livelihoods dependent on livestock in low- and middle-income countries. Several forage varieties have been developed, targeting smallholder farmers in developing countries, yet the level of adoption remains low, particularly among women farmers. Adoption of varieties could enhance livelihoods by increasing livestock productivity and by providing income from the sale of surplus forage. Evidence on gendered barriers to, and incentives for, adoption of forage varieties is scarce.

Research on gender inequality in seed systems has underscored the need to build more inclusive interventions. For gender-transformative (GT) interventions in seed systems to succeed, there is urgent need to test new models which should be guided by empirical evidence. We present findings from research that unraveled the underlying causes that prevent women and youth from actively participating and benefiting as cassava seed entrepreneurs (CSEs). This study underpins the designing and testing of GT interventions as part of the Muhogo Bora cassava seed systems project in Tanzania.

Women play an important role in agriculture and account for around 50% of the agricultural labor force in Asia. Strong evidence exists to prove that women farmers have less access to land, inputs, labor and information compared to men, which, in turn, can influence technical efficiency in farms, that is the effectiveness with which a given set of inputs is used to produce output. Strong reasons indicate that women’s empowerment may contribute to enhancing technical efficiency, most notably through improvements in women’s access to human, physical, and social capital.

Enhancing the productivity of crops through the adoption and uptake of technologies improves farmers' socio-economic status through increased market participation. However, smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) face a myriad of challenges that make it difficult for them to access and participate in the output markets. Like most SSA countries, the uptake of improved technologies is still low in Malawi. This paper examines the relationship between uptake of improved potato seed and donor-funded training on market participation.

Cassava's storage roots represent one of the most important sources of nutritional carbohydrates worldwide. Particularly, smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa depend on this crop plant, where resilient and yield-improved varieties are of vital importance to support steadily increasing populations. Aided by a growing understanding of the plant's metabolism and physiology, targeted improvement concepts already led to visible gains in recent years.

In the framework of the EU-RBA Joint Programme on Gender Transformative Approaches for Food Security and Nutrition (JP GTA), FAO, IFAD, WFP and the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform developed “Guidelines for measuring gender transformative change in the context of food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture” aimed at enhancing the capacity of research and development partners to design, implement, monitor and evaluate gender transformative interventions.

Food system transformation requires efforts from diverse stakeholders. It involves clarifying roles and relationships, as well as mobilizing and connecting them.
On 20 February 2023, farmers, community leaders and representatives from the government, civil society and the private sector met in Kapsabet, a town in Nandi county, Kenya, to jointly develop a vision for the county’s food systems and share perspectives on entry points for initiating system change.

Indigenous Peoples lands cover over a fifth of the world's land surface and support high levels of biodiversity. However, for centuries Indigenous Peoples have suffered from deprivation, often dispossession, and even cultural genocide, a process continuing today in some regions. Biodiversity hotspots, global areas of high endemicity that are heavily threatened by habitat loss and other human activities are also affected by conflict. Although covering only 2.4 % of the world's surface, over 80 % of armed conflicts occurred in biodiversity hotspots between 1950 and 2000.

Environmental policies ought to be integrated into economic sectors for successful outcomes. We assess to what extent Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD +) is integrated into land-use sectors driving deforestation in Cameroon. REDD + governance has been extensively examined, including the challenges of a multisectoral approach to tackle the drivers of deforestation, especially those lying outside the forestry sector.