The integration of gender concerns in crop breeding programs aims to improve the suitability and appeal of new varieties to both women and men, in response to concerns about unequal adoption of improved seed. However, few conventional breeding programs have sought to center social inclusion concerns. This community case study documents efforts to integrate gender into the maize-focused Seed Production Technology for Africa (SPTA) project using innovation history analysis drawing on project documents and the authors’ experiences.

The Agroecology Initiative (AEI) aims to contribute to achieving Agroecological Transitions (AET) through developing and scaling a range of innovations (technical, social, economic, and political) in 8 countries across three continents. It proposes to do so by using a participatory action-research approach involving the key stakeholders of the Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALLs), multi-stakeholder territorial spaces in each country on which the Initiative targets its transformation and innovation efforts.

The report highlights challenges faced by the agricultural sector in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Zambia, including productivity issues and food security concerns due to factors such as limited inputs, market access, and climate-related vulnerabilities. Post-harvest losses (PHL) are identified as a major obstacle for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) processors, stemming from inadequate infrastructure and poor handling methods.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the least mechanized agriculture in the world due to various reasons including low effective demand at farm level, low policy attention, and ineffective mechanization strategies. However, the situation has changed since recently in favor of mechanization while limited empirical evidence is available on how mechanization can be enhanced among smallholder farmers.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture collaborated with The Rallying Cry to understand the challenges faced by women- and youth-led agribusinesses in Zambia. As such, two workshops were previously held in September and December 2022 with the target group to obtain an understanding of their challenges and identify possible solutions. These challenges were categorised into themes: (a) Environmental constraints; (b) Network; (c) Climate change response; (d) Capacity Building; and (e) Social and cultural norms.

As a central component of the 2022-2026 UNHCR Strategic Directions, UNHCR has globally identified eight focus areas that require renewed attention and accelerated effort. One of these is climate action. In 2021, UNHCR published its Strategic Framework for Climate Action and, in 2022, its Operational Strategy for Climate Resilience and Environmental Sustainability
(2022-2025).

This manual is a product of the Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and the University of Kassel, as part of the outputs of the Innovation for Africa Climate Risk Insurance (InACRI) project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The InACRI project addresses the current poor performance and uptake of index-based crop insurance products in Kenya.

IFPRI is participating in the 2023 annual CGIAR Gender Research Conference. This conference is co-hosted by the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and will take place in New Delhi, India, on October 9-12, 2023.
Presentation and poster titles:
Cultural and economic barriers and opportunities for the participation of women in agricultural production systems: A case study in Guatemala
Armed conflict and gendered participation in agrifood systems: Survey evidence from 29 African countries

Despite increased attention toward the links between climate, human mobility and conflict, the pathways
through which resulting human insecurity may lead to violence are poorly understood. Although there
is no inherent link between climate-related mobility and conflict, a coherent understanding of the triple
nexus is needed to address the impact of intersecting crises on millions of lives and livelihoods. To
achieve this, an in-depth literature review is employed to identify and explore four pathways that connect