Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and transitioning the planet to an equitable climate and nature-positive future by 2050 will require systemic shifts in how food is produced and consumed.
With the current realities of the food systems, the fusion of innovation with purpose becomes not just a choice but a necessity.
Agriculture is a vital sector that will feed a projected global population of 9.5 billion by 2050. Smallholder farmers produce more than 70 percent of the world's food. Globally, there are approximately 570 million smallholder farmers, who own less than two hectares of land. However, smallholders in most developing countries face challenges such as access to finance and insurance, unfair wages, access to agricultural resources and lack of market access.
Water is scarce and pivotal for the Sahel, not only for increasing the productivity for millions of small-scale farmers but also for countering loss of arable land resulting from erosion and warming temperatures. A major barrier to the use of water in the Sahel is the lack of infrastructure and technologies – 45 percent of the population do not have access to water, and only 2 percent of arable land is irrigated (OECD, 2022).
This collection of posters from the TAP-AIS project illustrates key achievements of the project towards strengthening national agricultural innovation systems (AIS) in Africa (Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal), Latin America (Colombia), Asia and the Pacific (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Pakistan). For each of these nine countries, and for their respective regions, the posters provide: i) thematic focus and context; ii) constraints in the AIS; iii) capacity development interventions; iv) outcomes; v) the way forward.
This research note explains the results of social experiment designed with three primary objectives. These include (1) to mitigate the digital divide concerning the accessibility of forecasted weather information and crop advisories for women farmers in Bangladesh and (2) to assess the potential impact of a digital climate advisory tool on the agricultural practices of climate-smart agriculture facilitated by digital advisory tools for stakeholders in the value chain, such as microfinance institutions offering crop loans in areas facing higher weather-related risks.
In Nepal, the Plantwise programme, in collaboration with International Development Enterprises (iDE), has established networks of locally owned plant clinics, run by community business facilitators (CBFs) trained as plant doctors, who provide practical plant health advice. This study examines how gender is integrated into this programme in three purposively selected study districts. It presents the experiences of farmers, the challenges they faced in accessing plant health services through a gender and social inclusion lens.
Providing farmers with essential agricultural information and training in the era of COVID-19 has been a challenge that has prompted a renewed interest in digital extension services. There is a distinct gender gap, however, between men’s and women’s access to, use of, and ability to benefit from information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Livestock have strong empowerment potential, particularly for women. They offer millions of women in the Global South the opportunity to provide protein-rich foods for home consumption and sale. Livestock provide women with income and opportunities to expand their livelihood portfolios and can strengthen women’s decision-making power. Fully realizing livestock’s empowerment potential for women is necessary for sustainable livestock development. It requires, though, that gender-equitable dynamics and norms are supported in rural communities.
Local banks, NGOs and public institutions worked closely to ensure that women could access loans, join associations and have their voices be heard in collective decision-making processes. It also allowed these women and their communities to make collective investments that would increase their production, stabilize and diversify their nutrition, and ultimately achieve a better life.
Now the journey takes Alphonsine 30 minutes. She and other rural women now have access to clean water to irrigate their crops and to use at home. With the cooperation of the UN's joint project 'Rural Women Economic Empowerment '(Rwee), implememted by four UN agencies, FAO built a spring catchment tap for the Nkabikorera Cooperative in the Ngoma district which significantly decreased the amount of time to collect water for nine surrounding villages.