During two sessions in Morelia and Florencia (Caquetá), suppliers of Lácteos del Hogar were trained in MyGeoFarm and ZDA MRV systems to certify deforestation-free dairy products and safeguard forests
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (3-6 February 2025) -- The Africa Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (ACSAM) wraps up with a shared practical vision for scaling sustainable mechanization on the continent. Climate-smart agriculture also became a constant topic of discussion, as delegates hammered home on the need to close yield gaps by transforming Africa’s agri-food systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable. The 3-day conference was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and hosted by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to build partnerships, address issues, and bolster successful models and future trends for more pronounced, scalable solutions for African farmers.
MoALD in collaboration with the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT under the CGIAR Climate Action Science Program , piloted a national NbS monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework in Kenya's Chyulu Hills to track ecosystem restoration and climate resilience. This was achieved as part of an Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) project, implemented with the support of UNEP-CCC.
With the global population projected to reach around 8.5 million by 2050, the pressure on land is intensifying. Rising demand for food, energy, and urban space, coupled with global challenges such as food security, climate change, and industrialization, is pushing today’s landscapes to their limits.
In May 2025 in Malawi, Mercy Phiri joined the Business Acceleration for Youth project expecting entrepreneurs to chase grants. Instead, working with 61 MSMEs, she discovered they were not lacking ambition, but systems and scale.
When floodwaters washed away Woudou Oumar’s home in northern Cameroon, he and his family lost not only shelter but hope. Then a government-supported cash transfer arrived.
As the global community grapples with a “polycrisis” of climate change, geopolitical instability, and rising food insecurity, the traditional tools of agricultural development are hitting a wall. For decades, the primary strategy of agricultural research for development (AR4D) has been a “hard” mechanistic approach: developing a high-tech solution and attempting to scale it linearly across the globe. However, a groundbreaking new study published in Agricultural Systems suggests that this reductionist mindset is no longer enough to transform our food systems.
When people think of West Africa, cocoa often comes to mind: a crop that shapes rural livelihoods, national economies, and the global chocolate industry. Across major producing countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Guinea, millions of families depend on the harvest each year. Together, these countries generate over 60% of global cocoa output, making the region the engine of global supply.