Africa

This research brief by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) highlights specific action research and capacity development interventions to address identified challenges and generate evidence for wider applicability along the pig value chain in Uganda. The smallholder pig value chain in Uganda was identified by the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish as a sector where research investment was most likely to make a major difference to the livelihoods of poor people. »

This chapter in the book “Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development” focuses on the evaluation of adaptive capacities of community-level human systems related to agriculture and food security. It highlights findings regarding approaches and domains to monitor and evaluate behavioral changes from CGIAR’s research program on climate change, agriculture and food security (CCAFS). »

This working paper elaborates on the importance of food remittance for analyzing rural-urban linkages and food security in Africa. The transfer of funds by migrants to their home countries is at an all-time high and food remitting also has a role to play in urban and rural food security. Yet despite its importance, researchers and policymakers tend to ignore food remitting. »

Social learning approaches can catalyse knowledge co-creation and action, so have the potential to help solve complex ‘wicked’ problems such as climate change and food insecurity. This working paper by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) synthesises evidence from five diverse initiatives employing social learning approaches in response to such problems using the Climate Change and Social Learning initiative’s monitoring and evaluation framework. »

This factsheet discusses the Kiziba seedbank in Uganda, established in June 2010. The seedbank was part of a project to improve the productivity and resilience of seeds for farmers through enhanced use of crop varietal diversity, focusing on common bean and banana. The project aimed to fill the gap in seed diversity and good seed quality. The project built on the intraspecific diversity that was available on farm to reduce the pressure of pests and diseases, and on farmers’ knowledge to develop new low-cost and sustainable methods and management practices to increase diversity. »

This article demonstrates the potential to track smallholder maize yield variation in western Kenya, using a combination of 1-m imagery and intensive field sampling on thousands of fields over 2 years. The emergence of satellite sensors that can routinely observe millions of individual smallholder farms raises possibilities for monitoring and understanding agricultural productivity in many regions of the world. »