With a little help: Young women farmers’ experiences in India

We present four case studies of young women farmers in India, two each from Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. As outlined in the previous chapter, the case studies offer an in-depth view into how young women become farmers, their experiences as farmers and the challenges they face. They highlight similarities but also differences across the respondents. The concluding section draws implications from the four case studies to reflect on experiences of other young women farmers in this study but also what they illustrate of young women farmers’ experiences more broadly

Seasonal pastoral climate advisory for Ethiopia: MAM Season (Mar-May 2025)

The March to May (MAM) 2025 seasonal forecast for Ethiopia's pastoral regions anticipates below-normal rainfall across most southern, southeastern, and eastern areas, except for the southwest zones and western parts of Borana and Guji. March is expected to be particularly dry, compounding the impacts of the OND 2024 rainfall deficit. Although some rainfall recovery is likely in April and May for southern agro-pastoral zones, the Somali and Afar regions are projected to remain significantly dry, posing serious risks to pastoral activities and livelihoods. Poor pasture conditions are expected in Afar, Eastern Borana, South Omo, and Northeastern Somali, with moderate availability in southeastern Borana and parts of the Somali region. These conditions threaten livestock health, increase the risk of disease outbreaks, and complicate forage transportation. Heat stress is likely to be more severe in Afar and Somali regions than in Borana. This Seasonal Pastoral Advisory is intended to support timely, informed decision-making by pastoral communities, local authorities, humanitarian agencies, and development partners. It serves as a critical planning tool for guiding early action, resource allocation, risk management, and conflict prevention. Communities are strongly advised to adopt proactive measures, including water conservation, sustainable land management, forage cultivation, and heat stress mitigation practices. Furthermore, the advisory highlights the need for strengthened community dialogue through platforms such as the Pastoral Community of Practice Alliance (PCoPs-Alliance) to address potential resource-based conflicts and migration pressures in advance

What do we know about the future of diets and nutrition?

Diets continue to evolve and nutrition challenges are changing as diets shift from traditional to more modern ones that are higher in animal-source foods, refined grains, and processed and ultra-processed foods; high in saturated fats, sugar, and salt; and low in fiber. Important progress, though uneven, has been made over several decades in improving diets and nutrition, but these trends have reversed or slowed since 2010. Undernutrition has decreased over time, while micronutrient deficiencies have not. Overweight and obesity are rapidly rising in all low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and remain high in high-income countries. Multiple burdens of malnutrition coexist within countries, regions, communities, households, and individuals. Nutrition literature increasingly highlights the multiple burdens of malnutrition but rarely looks explicitly at future trajectories for nutritional indicators. Simulation studies explore alternative futures explicitly and give a good indication regarding dietary trends but are limited with respect to nutritional outcome trends. A critical need and opportunity exist for more work that combines nutrition with foresight modeling, particularly with a focus on LMICs

Classification of land for its use capability and conservation requirements

The intensification of agriculture on land used for shifting cultivation requires in most cases a thorough knowledge of the edaphlc and other attributes of such land* Modern techniques such as mechanization, higher-yielding varieties and the use of fertilizers can transform the extensive form of land use under shifting cultivation to a more intensive one with a considerably higher agricultural output per unit area. Introduction of such techniques can, however, lead to failure if soil conditions are not suitable or if other environmental factors are adverse. Many examples of failure to use shifting cultivation land for a high input, temperate zone type of agriculture can be cited from various countries in the lowland tropics. Determination of correct intensified land use thus requires a study in depth of the land and evaluation of factors which are limiting in view of such intensification

Governing informality: Drivers of service provision in Nigeria's food wholesale markets

How does governance affect service provision in Nigeria's wholesale food markets? Sufficient services, such as water, waste collection, and toilet access, are essential for enhancing the safety of healthy and nutritious foods, such as vegetables and fish, and improving the welfare of those who depend on informal trade for their livelihoods. However, these are often substandard in many informal markets, exposing traders and consumers who rely on such markets to higher levels of foodborne hazards and undermining the efficacy of other food safety interventions. Using data from 299 wholesale markets across seven states and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, this paper examines how four governance mechanisms-incentives, information, authority, and capacity-are associated with five services: waste collection, market toilet access, water provision, electricity, and security. We find that having an elected, rather than appointed, market chairperson positively influences waste collection and provision of security. By contrast, larger utility investments, such as water and electricity, are less influenced by governance structures within the markets. Markets located in local government areas (LGAs) under appointed rather than elected governments are associated with worse performance across all services, demonstrating that efforts to address market service delivery need to be embedded in a holistic understanding of multi-level governance dynamics. The findings emphasize that improving food safety and traders' welfare via better service delivery requires empowering stakeholders in informal market governance who not only hold the authority to deliver a diverse set of services but also possess the political incentives to do so

Genetic diversity and population structure analyses using hypervariable microsatellite markers in foxtail millets (Setaria species): future smart nutri-cereal crop

Knowledge of genetic diversity in germplasm resources is a prerequisite for crop improvement and successful breeding programs. Foxtail millet (Setaria species), a staple food in certain regions, stands out for its rich content of carbohydrates, proteins, dietary fiber, and essential minerals, contributing to a well-balanced diet. The genetic diversity and population structure of a foxtail millet collection consisting of 107 accessions were measured using 31 class I hypervariable SSR markers (>24 bp). 106 polymorphic alleles were detected, ranging from 2 to 8 alleles per locus, across the entire collection with an average of 3.42 alleles per locus. The average polymorphism information content (PIC), gene diversity (GD) and major allelic frequency (MAF) were 0.49, 0.56 and 0.53, respectively. Unweighted neighbor-joining based cluster analysis classified all the genotypes into four distinct major clusters I, II, III and IV, with 25, 40, 21 and 21 genotypes, respectively. Pair-wise estimates of dissimilarity values ranged from 0.094 to 0.931, with a mean of 0.719. The population structure analysis categorized the entries into four sub-populations, namely SP1, SP2, SP3 and SP4, which have 44, 26, 22, and 15 accessions, respectively. The standardized population distance (Fst) within the populations ranged from SP1 (0.604) to SP4 (0.207) with an average Fst of 0.384. The present study identified eight genotypes based on their genetic distance and favorable phenotypic traits for potential use in future breeding programs. These genotypes include four accessions of Setaria italica (ISe 1387, ISe 1234, ISe 1286, ISe 375), one accession of Setaria viridis (GS 40), one accession of Setaria faberi (SIA 2745), and two landraces (SC 13685 and SC 13653). The genetic insights presented in this study are valuable for the utilization of foxtail millet germplasm in future breeding endeavours

Интегрированные действия по земле-биоразнообразию-климату: использование синергии посредством восстановления экосистем в Центральной Азии. Исследование в рамках инициативы ЭДЗ

This is the English counterpart of the Central Asia case study. It provides comprehensive analysis of degradation patterns, investment needs, and governance frameworks across the five Central Asian countries. It shows that coordinated land restoration could reduce implementation costs by up to USD 6.2 billion. Policy recommendations focus on MRV harmonization, regional learning exchanges, and private sector mobilization

Agrobiodiversity and diets: food access and seasonality in Solomon Islands

Presented at the 3rd International Agrobiodiversity Congress, Kunming, China, May 20-22, 2025. Agrobiodiversity is vital for food security and resilience in Pacific Island states, which face food insecurity, triple burdens of malnutrition, and climate change impacts. Understanding food access and seasonality can inform utilization of local agrobiodiversity to improve diets and food system resilience. This was explored in a mixed methods study, survey of 122 households and twelve focus group discussions (97 men, 86 women) from 10 communities in Malaita, Solomon Islands. Women’s diets were inadequate with an average consumption of 2.3 food groups. The most consumed groups were starchy staples (87%), dark green leafy vegetables (51%), and meat and fish (33%), largely sourced from own production (67%, 86%, and 61%, respectively). Main food groups bought included legumes (100%), animal sourced foods (34%) and starchy staples (28%). Level of food availability and sourcing varied with food item and community. Across food groups, households were more likely to maintain the same level of purchase or reduce it, if income increased, except for grains. Household food purchase was influenced by food needs, convenience, and preference. Seasonal food calendars for 3 regions of Malaita reflected a wide range of foods, fruits, vegetables and animal source foods had the highest diversity, while grains had the least diversity within a food group, and nuts had the largest availability gaps. A variety of foods is available to create a diverse food basket, yet current consumption is inadequate. Understanding barriers to food access and consumption is essential for designing effective agrobiodiversity interventions and nutrition behavior change strategies that enhance dietary diversity and health outcomes