Financing Universal Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Under the Sustainable Development Goals: UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) 2017 Report

This GLAAS 2017 report is the fourth periodic report, and first thematic report, following on from earlier reports in 2010, 2012, and 2014. It presents an analysis of the most reliable and up-to-date data from 75 countries and 25 external support agencies (ESAs) on the issues related to WASH financing and other elements of the enabling environment, including plans, targets, data availability and measures to reach vulnerable populations

Off-track, Off-target: Why Investment in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Is Not Reaching Those Who Need It Most

This report explores why resources are not reaching those who need it most and why progress is slow, uneven, and unjust. Among the reasons mentioned in the report: political priorities lead governments to favor other sectors, improve places already served, or exclude poor and marginalized groups. Furthermore, aid is not well-coordinated, is only loosely targeted according to need, and its effectiveness is constrained by red tape and lack of alignment with government systems. The report recommends key actions for national governments, donors, international agencies and civil society to break the vicious cycle of low investment and poor performance and get off-track countries back on-track to meet the MDGs

Biomass production and management practices in mixed crop-livestock systems in the west African Sahel: Opportunities and constraints

The Sahel is characterized by a marked inter-annual climate variability and has experienced a number of food security crises following the severe droughts during the 1970s and 1980s. Due to recent challenges such as rapid population growth, climate change, environmental concerns and market changes which cause major impacts to their production systems, the sahelian people have been shifting and adapting their production systems and the way they live to cope with uncertainties. The objective of the present report is to review the various biomass production and management issues in the mixed crop-livestock systems in West African Sahel. An elaborated literature survey of peer reviewed papers mostly, was conducted. The studies were based on the Sahel scale research, more specifically research that had been published on the West African Sahel, including studies published between 1990s and 2016. Results show that many factors have contributed to the changes, among which, rainfall variability, population growth, human induced-activities, land tenure systems and the effects of globalization. Various biomass production and management practices are employed in West African Sahel for both on-farm and off-farm biomass improvements. Some of the best practices are mulching, soil and water conservation techniques, composting, farmer managed natural regeneration, agroforestry, etc. These practices have overall contributed to increase agricultural productivity, ecosystem services provisioning and have sometime deepened the difference between men and women, rich and poor, young and old people. Most of the constraints associated with large adoption of the best practices in the Sahel are land tenure systems, the huge gap between inputs and output investment costs but, the climate conventions are offering new opportunities that will ultimately contribute to positive changes. This will be possible only when land tenure systems in the region are reinforced, institutional linkages are strengthened, and new information systems are used to inform farmers on climate issues and new agricultural practices

Jatropha Assessment. Agronomy, socio-economic issues, and ecology. Facts from literature.

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) has been promoted as a potential renewable energy source for many of its advantageous properties in comparison to other biomass feedstock. This report summarises the agronomy, socio-economic issues, and ecology facts from literature on Jatropha. Such an overview is essential to formulate recommendations and policy guidelines to stimulate best project practices and also help to avoid the promotion of unviable or unsustainable practices

The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019

An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains

Towards Responsive Schools Supporting Better Schooling for Disadvantaged Children

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,