CCAFS Gender and Social Inclusion Strategy

The CCAFS Gender and Social Inclusion (GSI) Strategy is an update of the CCAFS 2012 Gender Strategy. The new strategy addresses gender as well as social inclusion for different social groups while bearing in mind that women are central to agriculture in developing countries. The CCAFS approach to GSI allies with the CGIAR objectives to create opportunities for women, young people and marginalized groups and to promote equitable access to resources, information and power in the agri-food system for men and women in order to close the gender gap by 2030

Supporting women farmers in a changing climate: five policy lessons

Policies, institutions and services to help farmers develop new approaches to deal with climate change will need to produce results for women farmers as well as men. This brief provides five policy lessons to support this process, based on evidence from research in low- and middle- income countries and offers guidelines for crafting gender-responsive climate policies at global and national levels. This research was presented in March 2015 at a seminar in Paris on ‘Closing the gender gap in farming under climate change’, co-organized by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and Future Earth

Apoyo a las mujeres agricultoras en un clima cambiante: cinco lecciones de políticas

Recientes investigaciones presentadas en un seminario en París, coorganizado por el Programa de Investigación de CGIAR en Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS), el Consejo Internacional de Ciencias Sociales (CICS) y Future Earth, dieron lugar a cinco recomendaciones de políticas clave para apoyar a las mujeres agricultoras en un clima cambiante. Los conocimientos y competencias técnicas únicos de las mujeres en materia de gestión ambiental pueden contribuir a hallar soluciones innovadoras que hagan frente a los problemas causados por el cambio climático. English version: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/68533/CCAFS%20PB10.pdf?sequence=

Aider les femmes agricultrices à vivre le changement climatique: cinq recommandations politique

Une recherche récente présentée lors d’une conférence à Paris co-organisée par le programme de recherche du CGIAR sur le changement climatique, l’agriculture et la sécurité alimentaire (CCAFS), le Conseil international des sciences sociales (CISS) et Future Earth a produit cinq recommandations politiques essentielles pour aider les femmes agricultrices à vivre le changement climatique. L’expertise unique des femmes concernant la gestion environnementale peut contribuer au développement des solutions innovantes pour répondre à l’urgence climatique. English version: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/68533/CCAFS%20PB10.pdf?sequence=

An easily implemented agro-hydrological procedure with dynamic root simulation for water transfer in the crop–soil system: validation and application

Models for water transfer in the crop–soil system are key components of agro-hydrological models for irrigation, fertilizer and pesticide practices. Many of the hydrological models for water transfer in the crop–soil system are either too approximate due to oversimplified algorithms or employ complex numerical schemes. In this paper we developed a simple and sufficiently accurate algorithm which can be easily adopted in agro-hydrological models for the simulation of water dynamics. We used a dual crop coefficient approach proposed by the FAO for estimating potential evaporation and transpiration, and a dynamic model for calculating relative root length distribution on a daily basis. In a small time step of 0.001 d, we implemented algorithms separately for actual evaporation, root water uptake and soil water content redistribution by decoupling these processes. The Richards equation describing soil water movement was solved using an integration strategy over the soil layers instead of complex numerical schemes. This drastically simplified the procedures of modeling soil water and led to much shorter computer codes. The validity of the proposed model was tested against data from field experiments on two contrasting soils cropped with wheat. Good agreement was achieved between measurement and simulation of soil water content in various depths collected at intervals during crop growth. This indicates that the model is satisfactory in simulating water transfer in the crop–soil system, and therefore can reliably be adopted in agro-hydrological models. Finally we demonstrated how the developed model could be used to study the effect of changes in the environment such as lowering the groundwater table caused by the construction of a motorway on crop transpiration

Climate change, policy change: Five policy lessons to support women farmers in a changing climate

Climate change demands new approaches to agriculture: farmers’ practices will need to change to adapt to and mitigate the effects of changing conditions. Addressing gender inequality is key to ensuring this outcome. Agriculture is a fundamental part of women’s livelihoods globally, most markedly in least developed countries, where four-fifths of economically active women report agriculture as their primary economic activity1 . More women are moving into agriculture as men move elsewhere for seasonal or paid labor. Yet women farmers have less access to inputs and resources that could improve their farming and meet climate change challenges2 . Policies, institutions and services aimed at helping farmers develop approaches to tackle climate change will need to produce results for men and women farmers. This brief provides five policy lessons to support this process, based on evidence from research in low- and middle-income countries

Developing a reliable strategy to infer the effective soil hydraulic properties from field evaporation experiments for agro-hydrological models

The Richards equation has been widely used for simulating soil water movement. However, the take-up of agro-hydrological models using the basic theory of soil water flow for optimizing irrigation, fertilizer and pesticide practices is still low. This is partly due to the difficulties in obtaining accurate values for soil hydraulic properties at a field scale. Here, we use an inverse technique to deduce the effective soil hydraulic properties, based on measuring the changes in the distribution of soil water with depth in a fallow field over a long period, subject to natural rainfall and evaporation using a robust micro Genetic Algorithm. A new optimized function was constructed from the soil water contents at different depths, and the soil water at field capacity. The deduced soil water retention curve was approximately parallel but higher than that derived from published pedo-tranfer functions for a given soil pressure head. The water contents calculated from the deduced soil hydraulic properties were in good agreement with the measured values. The reliability of the deduced soil hydraulic properties was tested in reproducing data measured from an independent experiment on the same soil cropped with leek. The calculation of root water uptake took account for both soil water potential and root density distribution. Results show that the predictions of soil water contents at various depths agree fairly well with the measurements, indicating that the inverse analysis is an effective and reliable approach to estimate soil hydraulic properties, and thus permits the simulation of soil water dynamics in both cropped and fallow soils in the field accurately

A compilation of observations from moored current meters and thermographs. Vol. 5. Oregon continental shelf 31 July-21 September 1969

Observations from an instrument array moored over the continental shelf off Oregon from 31 July to 21 September 1969 are presented. Temperature, current and wind observations were obtained every 20 minutes. First order statistics, histograms, progressive vector diagrams and time series plots are presented. Supplementary wind observations at Newport are also described. It is recommended that wind observations be part of a future coastal current observational program and that thermographs be placed in positions with a large temperature gradient

Seasonal renewal of the California Current: The spring transition off California

A pair of high-resolution oceanographic surveys in March and April 1995 revealed a large and rapid transition from late winter to spring conditions in the coastal zone off central and southern California. These data are unique in capturing the detailed three-dimensional physical structure of and biological response to the spring transition in the southern California Current System (CCS). Changes associated with the transition included a strong tilting of isopycnals, which lifted by up to 60 m near the coast and dropped 20–40 m offshore, a subsequent increase in cross-shore density gradients, the development of a strong nearshore equatorward jet, and an increase in net equatorward transport from the shelf break out to 300 km offshore. The most dramatic physical changes were confined to the shoreward 150 km and extended at least to the depth of the core of the California Undercurrent (300 m). In response to these physical changes, there was an apparent strong increase in primary productivity, as indicated by changes in nearshore vertically integrated fluorescence and beam attenuation coefficient. Atmospheric and oceanic conditions in the CCS were near seasonal norms in the winter and spring of 1995, implying that a transition of the magnitude and rapidity observed here may be an annual event. Furthermore, the development of the coastal upwelling jet was independent of the winter manifestation of the main core of the California Current, which was maintained well off shore. This suggests that the California Current is regenerated seasonally through the development and offshore evolution of the coastal upwelling jet. It is not known whether the new jet joins and strengthens or replaces the offshore core of the previous winter

Estrogen inhibits GH signaling by suppressing GH-induced JAK2 phosphorylation, an effect mediated by SOCS-2

Oral estrogen administration attenuates the metabolic action of growth hormone (GH) in humans. To investigate the mechanism involved, we studied the effects of estrogen on GH signaling through Janus kinase (JAK)2 and the signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) in HEK293 cells stably expressing the GH receptor (293GHR), HuH7 (hepatoma) and T-47D (breast cancer) cells. 293GHR cells were transiently transfected with an estrogen receptor-α expression plasmid and luciferase reporters with binding elements for STAT3 and STAT5 or the β-casein promoter. GH stimulated the reporter activities by four- to sixfold. Cotreatment with 17β-estradiol (E2) resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in the response of all three reporters to GH to a maximum of 49-66% of control at 100 nM (P < 0.05). No reduction was seen when E2 was added 1-2 h after GH treatment. Similar inhibitory effects were observed in HuH7 and T-47D cells. E2 suppressed GH-induced JAK2 phosphorylation, an effect attenuated by actinomycin D, suggesting a requirement for gene expression. Next, we investigated the role of the suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) in E2 inhibition. E2 increased the mRNA abundance of SOCS-2 but not SOCS-1 and SOCS-3 in HEK293 cells. The inhibitory effect of E2 was absent in cells lacking SOCS-2 but not in those lacking SOCS-1 and SOCS-3. In conclusion, estrogen inhibits GH signaling, an action mediated by SOCS-2. This paper provides evidence for regulatory interaction between a sex steroid and the GH/JAK/STAT pathway, in which SOCS-2 plays a central mechanistic role