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This focus note explores opportunities and emerging models in digital value chain finance. Particularly it looks at new technologies that can break down barriers to delivering financial services to a greater number of smallholder farmers. The authors identify three key use cases for digitizing financial services in agricultural value chains. »

This action plan brief illustrates the type of strategic knowledge sharing in gender research, with the example of the integration of gender into animal and plant breeding. Many breeders in CGIAR are aware of how gender differences can influence variety adoption and the impact of plant and animal breeding programs. »

The Practitioner Hub for Inclusive Business and The Partnering Initiative, with support from the UK’s Department for International Development, developed a series which focused on the role of partnerships in delivering inclusive business. They explored why and when partnerships are necessary, why they can be so challenging, and how those challenges can be overcome. »

This research on the Royal Society shows how the origins of food plants has led to the recognition that specific geographical regions around the world have been of particular importance to the development of agricultural crops. Yet the relative contributions of these different regions in the context of current food systems have not been quantified. The authors determine the origins (‘primary regions of diversity’) of the crops comprising the food supplies and agricultural production of countries world. »

In 2015 we celebrated the “International Year of Soils”. Soil sustains all our agricultural and livestock food production, wood for fuel production, filters water so that we can drink it and fish can live in it. We also use it for construction – therefore it sustains our homes and infrastructure. The FAO highlighted here are the six essentials to take away. »

Aquaculture production remains low in sub-Saharan Africa, with per capita consumption of only 9.1 kg/year. But there is great potential to expand the sector on the African continent, particularly through the use of south-south cooperation programmes. This project is finding innovative ways to produce fish in remote areas. »