Researchers of ICARDA are slowly improving towards participatory and community-based approaches to incorporate users’ perspectives. This not only increases the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural research, but delivers what farmers want. Development of integrated crop-livestock production systems in the low-rainfall areas of West Asia and North Africa has shown the importance of the community approach in the sustainable management of collective property resources, such as rangelands and water. This approach has been widely adopted by national programs in dry areas.

There are real needs and opportunities for well-targeted research and development to improve the livelihoods of farmers while at the same time addressing natural resource constraints. The suitability and adoption of interventions depends on a variety of bio-physical and socio- economic factors. While their impacts -when adopted and out-scaled- are likely to be highly heterogeneous, not only spatially and temporally but also in terms of the stakeholders affected.

Taking a gender-responsive approach to Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) means that the particular needs, priorities, and realities of men and women are recognized and adequately addressed in the design and application of CSA so that both men and women can equally benefit.

The gender gap in agriculture affects how men and women access and benefit from CSA.

A gender-responsive approach to CSA addresses this gap by recognizing the specific needs and capabilities of women and men.

The main objective of the Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) in Nepal is to identify opportunities for enhancing the overall performance of select environmental management systems through improvements in the effectiveness of institutions, policies, and processes.

Climate change presents a profound challenge to food security and development. Negative impacts from climate change are likely to be greatest in regions that are currently food insecure and may even be significant in those regions that have made large gains in reducing food insecurity over the past half-century. Adaptation in the agricultural sector is being given a high priority within this effort because of the inherent sensitivity of food production to climate and the strong inter-linkages that exist between climate, agriculture, and economic growth and development.

This strategic framework serves to guide and support the operational response of the World Bank Group (WBG) to new development challenges posed by global climate change. Unabated, climate change threatens to reverse hard-earned development gains. The poorest countries and communities will suffer the earliest and the most. Yet they depend on actions by other nations, developed and developing. While climate change is an added cost and risk to development, a well-designed and implemented global climate policy can also bring new economic opportunities to developing countries.

The purpose of this report is to examine development trends in the Southern Gobi Region (SGR) as they affect livestock and wildlife. It provides an overview of the environment and natural resources of the region, discusses existing relationships and interactions among humans, livestock, large herbivore wildlife, and the natural resources on which they are dependent. It then explores the impact that economic development of the region is likely to have if that development does not consider the needs of the current users.

Reforestation measures for degraded lands, strategies for the sustainable management of forest resources, and agroforestry practices that incorporate trees into farming systems are increasingly demonstrating their promise for producing commercialized tree products. Although the level of investment so far has remained modest, the challenge is to find ways to scale up promising investments in a way that will have a clear impact at the landscape level.

Dzud is the Mongolian term for a winter weather disaster in which deep snow, severe cold, or other conditions render forage unavailable or inaccessible and lead to high livestock mortality. Dzud is a regular occurrence in Mongolia, and plays an important role in regulating livestock populations. However, dzud, especially when combined with other environmental or socio-economic stresses and changes, can have a significant impact on household well-being as well as local and national economies.

In the future scenario for livestock development, there is a continuing role for smallholder producers, particular for dairy and small ruminants, relying heavily on grass and crop-residues, however in a growth mode, intensifying production, and enhancing the efficiency of resource use (less land, labor and feed resources per unit product). In particular improving the efficiency of converting feed into milk and meat will be critical to increase their income.