This booklet introduces the bioeconomy topic and its growing relevance also for youth. Global political and economic development agendas are placing more focus on developing and growing the bioeconomy to support the transformation to sustainable bio-based industries. Based on real cases of youth entrepreneurs in the bioeconomy from four different...

The interview with Cary Fowler, US Special Envoy for Food Security, underscores the urgency of shifting agricultural practices in Africa from monocultures to diverse, traditional crops to address food security and soil fertility challenges. Highlighting Africa's pressing need due to soil degradation and population growth, Fowler emphasizes the significance of...

This project introduced a range of renewable energy technologies to enhance the lives of rural people. Biogas digesters were coupled with latrines and slurry storage was developed. Sustainable bio slurry will replace chemical fertilizers, allowing households to save money and consume healthier foods. Biogas digesters also alleviate burdens on women...

The 'shell women' of the Pacific coast of Nariño have promoted sustainable harvesting and use of a native mollusk called piangua for the many generations. They are also at the forefront of mitigating climate change and leading mangrove conservation.

Problem Organic fruit growing often faces challenges like lack of water or nutrient availability, which in turn can have significant adverse effects on the health of the fruit tree and harvest. Solution Application of mycorrhizal fungi products to the soil during fruit growing can enable plants to absorb water and nutrients from the...

Agroecology and organ agriculture present promising alternatives to the current food system, supported by a growing body of evidence. Despite the potential of AE/O, their full benefits cannot be realised in most countries due to political and institutional barriers and lock-ins, including incentives and funding that favour “business as usual”...

Over the past 15 years, Zambia’s economic trajectory has fluctuated because of global and domestic factors. Despite its rich endowment in natural resources, Zambia has yet to fully leverage this potential for economic expansion. The agricultural sector, which engages over 70 per cent of the workforce, is recognized as a...

Agroecology is identified as an important solution to increase the sustainability of agricultural and food systems. Despite the increasing number of publications assessing the socio-economic outcomes of agroecology, very few studies have consolidated the scattered results obtained on various case studies. This paper provides new insights by consolidating evidence on...

Réduire l’écart entre les sexes sur le marché du travail, pour assurer l’émancipation économique des femmes. Bien qu’elles enregistrent l’un des taux de participation au marché du travail parmi les plus élevés, les femmes d’Afrique subsaharienne sont toujours confrontées à de nombreux obstacles qui limitent leur accès à un emploi...

In recent years, numerous examples of food system dashboards have been developed with the goal of offering users the opportunity to monitor or assess (their) national food systems. One of the many challenges faced by these initiatives has been to strike an acceptable balance between the complexity, local-specificity, and multi-sectoral...

Farmer-managed seed systems and the conservation of agrobiodiversity are increasingly recognized as important components of food and seed sovereignty. In contrast, hybrid, genetically modified (GM), and, increasingly, gene-edited crops continue to be promoted by Green Revolution proponents as a “climate smart” package that includes fertilizers, pesticides, purchased seeds, and links...

Les effets positifs de l’agroécologie dans le domaine agro-environnemental (santé des sols,biodiversité, lutte contre la crise climatique, non-contamination de l’environnement) sont souventmis en avant. Ils s’accompagnent d’effets positifs tout aussi importants dans le domainesocio-économique, comme en témoignent de nombreuses études réalisées dans divers pays duSud, dont plusieurs par des organisations...

Myanmar ranks as the world's third-largest pulse producer, following Canada and India, cultivating crops like black gram, pigeon pea, chickpea, and green gram. Green gram constitutes a third of total pulse exports. To enhance productivity, quality, market competitiveness, and exports, Myanmar can leverage improved crop production technologies and adopt good...

Overreliance on a few main crops, as well as poor soil health, reduce yields, hinder achievement of food security and nutrition objectives, and increase agricultural vulnerability to climate change. To address this, the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS), launched by the United States in partnership with FAO and...

Organic agriculture is practised in 188 countries, and more than 96 million hectares of agricultural land are managed organically by at least 4.5 million farmers. Global sales of organic food and drink reached almost 135 billion euros in 2022. The 25th edition of "The World of Organic Agriculture", published by the...

Climate-Smart Cocoa (CSC), a strategic offshoot of the wider Climate-Smart Agriculture, is gaining ground in Ghana, a cocoa export-dependent country. CSC is imperative, given the rapidly declining forests, prolonged periods of drought, pest and disease infestations, and fluctuating cocoa yields attributed to climate variability and change. Although many interventions are...

This ITPS soil letter emphasizes the urgent need for a comprehensive global soil monitoring system to address the challenges of increasing food demand due to population growth and soil degradation. With more than 800 million people suffering from malnutrition in 2021, and food production needing to increase significantly by 2050,...

The natural forest in southwest Ethiopia is progressively modified to coffee agroforest. To this effect forest composition and diversity is simplified to local preferred coffee shade trees. Woody plant species that are less managed require the conservation priority in coffee agroforest. The study aims at assessing diversity of plant species, investigating...

Developing policies to foster inclusive rural transformation processes requires better evidence on how climate change is affecting the livelihoods and economic behaviours of vulnerable rural people, including women, youths and people living in poverty. In particular, there is little comparative, multi-country and multi-region evidence to understand how exposure to weather...

The Women’s Empowerment Livestock Index (WELI) is tailored for areas where livestock farming is prominent, aiming to assess the impact of livestock interventions on women's empowerment. By identifying effective interventions, the index seeks to improve empowerment opportunities for women in the sector, thereby enhancing household livelihoods, nutrition, and gender equity....