Africa

This article in the Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology highlights an important challenge that is threatening agriculture in Africa: the difficulty in collecting timely data on disease spread and effectiveness of on-farm control methods. This study served as a case study for assessing the viability of a participatory GIS (Geographic Information System) to enable a plant diagnostics network with fieldworkers. »

This factsheet by Nordic Co-opearation takes stock of key regional and global initiatives related to agriculture and climate change, which have been launched in the period from 2005 to 2016. It identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats across these, as well as highlighting success factors. Many countries across the region face similar challenges for agricultural adaptation and mitigation, and sharing best practices, on policies as well as on projects on the ground, can help increase success rates and cut cost. »

This book by KIT and SNV aims to identify the trends affecting pastoralism and pastoral productivity, which helps to understand the current changes in the performance of value chains which play a key role in pastoral adaptation. The book puts into perspective the conditions for sustainable growth of production that supports entrepreneurial performance and competitiveness of local actors in dynamic markets. The authors observe a clear move towardslivestock production becoming more market-oriented, which influences the position of all actors in the various value chains. »

The workshop on “Landscape approaches for mountain community sustainable development in a time of climate change: Policy consultation and South-South exchange” was organised by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP, China), Asociación ANDES (Peru) and IIED, on 19-22 May 2016, in Lijiang and the Stone Village, Yunnan, China. The workshop brought together different stakeholders from China, Peru, the Albertine Rift region in Africa and UN agencies to explore the role of different community-led landscape approaches in agrobiodiversity conservation, climate resilience, with a particular focus on mountains. »

This briefing by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) highlights how farmer organisations and government agencies managing large scale irrigation systems in West Africa need to collaborate to agree on a vision for agricultural services that increases scheme viability while meeting the needs of different types of farmers. »

This report by FAO targets agricultural water extension agents and technical experts, providing them with clear indications on how to improve water harvesting capacity for agricultural production as well as how to select feasible and suited water harvesting techniques for different geographical areas. The assessment outlined in this report forms part of the ‘Strengthening Agricultural Water Efficiency and Productivity on the African and Global Level’ project. »