Environment health and infectious diseases
Land use and land cover change and system level analysis to guide sustainable intensification efforts in mixed crop-livestock farming system
Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are a major concern in Ethiopia. It has a significant impact on the environment, food and feed availability, and other ecosystem services and products for present and future generations.
Evaluating responses by ChatGPT to farmers’ questions on irrigated lowland rice cultivation in Nigeria
The limited number of agricultural extension agents (EAs) in sub-Saharan Africa limits farmers’ access to extension services. Artificial intelligence (AI) assistants could potentially aid in providing answers to farmers’ questions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of an AI chatbot assistant (ChatGPT) to provide quality responses to farmers’ questions.
Critical assessment of cocoa classification with limited reference data: A study in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana using sentinel-2 and random forest model
Cocoa is the economic backbone of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, making them the leading cocoa-producing countries in the world. However, cocoa farming has been a major driver of deforestation and landscape degradation in West Africa. Various stakeholders are striving for a zero-deforestation cocoa sector by implementing sustainable farming strategies and a more transparent supply chain.
Climate change and agriculture in eastern and southern Africa: An updated assessment based on the latest global climate models
In this paper we present analysis on the recent historical trend in agriculture in the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) region, along with analysis of recent historical trends in temperature and precipitation. We also present 5 climate models and describe the possible future climates associated with these.
Predicted changes in distribution and richness of wild edible plants under climate change scenarios in northwestern Kenya
Wild edible plants (WEPs) can provide diverse and nutrient-rich food sources that contribute to the health and well-being of communities worldwide. In northwestern Kenya, WEPs are vital dietary components for nomadic pastoral communities with limited access to diverse cultivated food crops.
Guidance note: Setting gender responsive sustainability standards
Tackling gender inequalities is becoming increasingly important for voluntary sustainability systems to address. More and more, sustainability systems are looking to integrate gender into their standards and the management of their organisations.
The importance and determinants of purchases in rural food consumption in Africa: implications for food security strategies
We analyze rural households’ purchases of food (cereals and non-cereals) in Sub-Saharan Africa using nationally representative data with 65,000 observations covering 7 countries over a decade. We distinguish between three strata of countries: lower stratum in income and urbanization, middle stratum, and upper stratum. The paper breaks ground by the breadth and time length of the sample.
Smallholder aquaculture diversifies livelihoods and diets thus improving food security status: evidence from northern Zambia
Much has been made of the potential for aquaculture to improve rural livelihoods and food and nutrition security in Africa, though little evidence exists to back such claims. This study, conducted in northern Zambia, assessed the benefits of adopting aquaculture by comparing a sample of households with (n = 177) and without fishponds (n = 174).
Evaluation of exclosures in restoring degraded landscapes in the semi-arid highlands of northwestern Ethiopia
Land degradation is a severe environmental problem in the northern and northwestern Ethiopian highlands. As a response to increasing land degradation, rehabilitation of degraded grazing lands through exclosures (exclusion of farmers and domestic animals) has been undertaken.
New podcast explores policy coherence and system transformation in food, land and water
Overcoming future sustainable development challenges will require significant transformations in food, land, and water systems. However, the challenges faced by countries are varied and complex. Produced by IWMI, the Policy Pathways podcast will examine the policy coherence of food, land, and water systems in six of the CGIAR’s National Policies and Strategies Initiative countries.