Micronutrient deficiency remains an enormous problem in refugee settings. Transforming refugees’ food systems through the scaling up of kitchen gardening and fortifying relief food crops with minor food components including nutrient-dense spices can help improve the quality of staple foods. Globally, spices are indispensable in the daily diet and play an important role in the socio-cultural setting of different communities. Forty turmeric and curry powder samples were collected from different market establishments and geographic locations in East Africa.

Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in food systems can result in greater food security and better nutrition, as well as more just, resilient and sustainable food systems for all. This chapter uses a scoping review to assess the current evidence on pathways between gender equality, women’s empowerment and food systems. The chapter uses an adaptation of the food system framework to organize the evidence and identify where evidence is strong, and where gaps remain.

Livestock are a critically important component of the food system, although the sector needs a profound transformation to ensure that it contributes to a rapid transition towards sustainable food systems. This chapter reviews and synthesises the evidence available on changes in demand for livestock products in the last few decades, and the multiple socio-economic roles that livestock have around the world. We also describe the nutrition, health, and environmental impacts for which the sector is responsible.

This report is part of a study series offering insights into the potential of Excellence in Agronomy (EiA) Use Cases to adjust the
agronomic solutions offered through the Minimum Viable Products (MVP) to better Reach, Benefit, and Empower women and
youth, and to Transform gender and generational norms. The analysis covers the study area of two Use Cases in Ethiopia: Digital
Green Ethiopia (DGE), and Fertilizer Ethiopia (FE), focusing on Ethiopia’s Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP regions. DGE focuses on

The study aims to analyse key determinants of urban and peri-urban youth employment in agribusiness in Malawi to support youth policies. A mixed-methods approach is used, which combines both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The quantitative method involved a Bivariate Logit Model and Multinomial Logit Model to analyse nationally representative survey data from the Fourth Integrated Household Survey in 2016–2017.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important crop in Africa, especially to women who rely on it as a household staple food and source of income. In Tanzania, a recent move toward commercializing the cassava seed system resulted in significantly fewer women than men farmers, known as Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs (CSEs), producing improved seed for sale to fellow farmers.

ICRISAT organized a training for county extension officers and Trainer of Trainers (ToTs) with the primary objective of increasing production and productivity of Drought Tolerant Crops (DTC) in the arid regions of Kenya. This training held from 8th to 30th August 2023, was conducted across Kitui, Makueni and Taita Taveta Counties. The main focus of the training was to enhance participants' understanding of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), quality seed production and post-harvest handling of DTCs, while also providing insights into climate information systems.

This study describes what did and did not work in the prioritization of preferred traits within the value chain of yam and associated food products (boiled and pounded yam) in Nigeria. Demand-led breeding protocols have enhanced participatory methods along gender lines to increase the clarity of information on the yam traits preferred by farmers and other end users.

Background
An understanding of farmers' preferences of new banana cultivars and their characteristics is critical for developing and selecting cultivars that meet consumer needs. Therefore, phenotypic selection in a genetically variable population remains an important aspect of plant breeding.
Methods

Gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in many agri-food systems (AFS), limiting the potential of women—especially those from agriculture-dependent communities—to be empowered and to build social and economic resilience to climate change challenges. The Harnessing Gender and Social Equality for Resilience in Agri-food Systems (HER+) initiative will generate learning and evidence on where and how to intervene at a deeper level to disrupt the foundations of inequality in AFS. This effort requires high-quality data.

There is a push toward natural, chemical-free farming in India, reflected in the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF). Working to promote on-farm bio-input preparations and agro-ecological practices, the NMNF notably prioritizes working among “traditionally low or no fertilizer input users… generally confined to hilly, tribal, high forestland districts,” ostensibly viewing these areas as more amenable to chemical-free farming.