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When properly managed, conservation agriculture can benefit both farmers and the environment. Conservation agriculture refers to the use of technologies and practices that enhance crop productivity while improving resource-use efficiency and soil health. As an alternative to conventional tillage for rainfed drylands, it not only saves time and labour, but also conserves water and nutrients in the soil to make crop production more resilient to climate change.

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has developed high-yielding wheat varieties with resistance to extreme heat, drought, salinity, insect pests and diseases. The varieties have been adopted throughout Central and West Asia, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, areas highly vulnerable to climate change. This solution aims to enhance productivity, raise farmers’ incomes, create jobs and increase value addition by encouraging higher levels of wheat self-sufficiency.

The Sustainable Rangeland Management (SRM) toolkit, tested in Tunisia, lays out a scalable, holistic and multidisciplinary approach for addressing the biophysical and socio-economic trade-offs among different land uses. The toolkit helps communities, policymakers and development actors apply key sustainable rangeland management practices to targeted regions. It can play a major role in achieving a neutral level of land degradation, increased forage production and enhanced ecosystem services.

Kumé is an IFAD-supported platform created by Fundación ACUA (Afro-descendant Cultural Assets Foundation). By commercializing gastronomic products and services that promote culture, traditional knowledge and local crops, ACUA enhances the visibility of rural Afro-descendant communities in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Through the platform, chefs in rural territories offer live online cooking classes for participants in major cities. Using traditional recipes, the chefs showcase their cultures, territories and traditional practices.

Mechanized raised-bed (MRB) irrigation is a field-configuration technology that enhances water use efficiency in dryland conditions. This technology, along with improved crop varieties and agronomic practices, is part of a MRB production package that improves farm productivity and income. For wheat in Egypt, MRB led to an average 25 percent increase in yield, more than 60 percent increase in water productivity and about 20 percent in farming cost reduction.

Reducing poverty with better infrastructure in county with scarce arable land

Building food security with an agribusiness e-finance system.

Participatory fora for dialogue and decision-making among civil society and public institutions.

An inclusive methodology to promote sustainable access to natural resources.

Helping hard-to-reach smallholder famers improve household food security and generate income.

Collective planning and action results in more ownership, better skills and higher incomes.

Charcoal produced as a by-product of daily cooking becomes a livelihood opportunity.

Tackling malnutrition through knowledge sharing and practical demonstrations among farmers

A collective approach to commercializing small-scale agriculture.

New data measurement capabilities could hold the key to building climate change resilience.

Promoting equality within family units to support broader social change.