The greater horn of Africa is one of the least developed regions in Africa. Livestock are an important economic resource and an essential asset for poor farmers in this region. Climate variability, population growth, low economic development, limited market integration, and low fertilizer use, amongst others put serious pressure on livestock production. The sustainability of the livestock production in the rangelands and the integrated crop-livestock systems is further jeopardised by climate change.

Characterization of the Short-eared Somali goat population around Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, was undertaken in a community-based and participatory approach. Range of participatory tools, including Focal Group Discussions, participatory mappings and transect walks, were employed to study the local community's Indigenous knowledge and practices in animal breeding. The breeding objective was defined in a participatory manner through own-flock ranking experiments.

The imGoats project (imgoats.org) seeks to investigate how best goat value chains can be used to increase food security and reduce poverty among smallholders in India and Mozambique. Funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Research (IFAD), the project is led by researchers from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in collaboration with the BAIF Development Research Foundation in India and CARE International in Mozambique. On 2-6 July 2012, the imGoats project held a learning and reflection workshop in Udaipur, India.

This field manual provides guidance to support, mapping, planning and management in rangelands. It is based on experiences in Tanzania, but the tools presented can be useful for other contexts too.

SBSTA 45 in Marrakech represents a unique opportunity for Parties to decide on the future of agriculture within the UNFCCC. The process of discussions on issues related to agriculture initiated at COP17 in Durban 2011 culminates at COP22 in Marrakech 2016. The explicit reference to food security in the preamble of the Paris Agreement and the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions which prioritize agriculture as a sector for adaptation and mitigation actions, provide a foundation for Parties to develop appropriate frameworks to support

Various authors have identified the potential relevance of innovation system approaches for inclusive innovation, i.e. the means by which new goods and services are developed for and by the poor. However, it is still a question how best to operationalize this. Innovation platforms are a way of operationalizing interaction and learning among actors, and enable reshaping of relations and institutions.