Forest Tenure

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Key messages:
• Seven agriculture and agrifood value chain innovations are found to improve employment and income opportunities in the agrifood value chains.

A wealth of publicly available satellite data and open-source models allowed researchers to measure carbon stocks in a watershed in India, despite a paucity of on-the-ground data. They found that despite rapid urbanization over the last 20 years, carbon stocks remained relatively stable – possibly due to successful reforestation activities.

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.

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.

Agriculture consumes the largest share of freshwater globally; therefore, distinguishing between rainfed and irrigated croplands is essential for agricultural water management and food security.

Confronting sustainable development challenges requires system transformation in Food, Land, and Water! Policy Pathways invites policymakers and sustainable development stakeholders to share their expertise on the policy solutions that can advance system transformation across the globe.