Blog

To explore whether certain agricultural interventions may be a win-win to simultaneously meet both climate and food security goals, USAID leveraged the ongoing Feed the Future Kenya Crops and Dairy Activity  to determine the impact of the project’s dairy value chain activities on methane emissions intensity in any geographic zone being assessed, as well as the impact of improved dairy practices on smallholder dairy productivity.

• 11/18/2022
• Judy Odongo, Tracy Mitchell

The story of Mrs. Rabi Abora from the Mazamni village in Niger is a stunning example of the devastating impact climate change is having on women's livelihoods, nutrition, and health. Her story also demonstrates concrete actions to help mitigate these impacts.

• 05/18/2022
• Shawn Baker

With agriculture driving deforestation, global climate protection and biodiversity conservation goals seem to collide with the drive to produce more food. Researchers warn of an impending “food security-biodiversity-climate” crisis and “looming land scarcity.”

• 10/12/2021
• Daniel Evans

In the dairy sector, low-emissions development (LED) often utilizes intensification practices that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase yield. However, LED focuses on technical practices and outcomes, seldom considering the subsequent impacts on women’s and men's social distribution of burdens and benefits.

• 08/04/2021
• Sadie Shelton

Cocoa certification may not be doing its job. The expansion of the international cocoa industry across the world’s tropical regions has caused significant destruction of tropical forests, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and destroying habitat.

• 03/11/2021
• David Miller

Uptake of low emissions agriculture research outputs by policymakers and other stakeholders requires time. Even when researchers are interested in pursuing the scaling and use of research outputs, most are not incentivized to take this on. Allocating targeted resources and donor support, while involving science communicators and outreach specialists can be effective in overcoming constraints to delivering low emission development research to policymakers.

• 10/21/2020
• Arun Khatri-Chhetri

Research suggests that dairy farmers can reduce their carbon footprint by improving animal and herd management. The growing global population and increasing consumption of meat and dairy will increase global animal protein demand by 60 percent by 2030.

• 10/15/2020
• CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security CCAFS

In a crowded banquet hall in Niamey, a dozen people gather around a large piece of paper, chatting excitedly in Hausa and French. They are a diverse group - farmers from hours outside the capital, radio broadcasters, extension agents, meteorologists, government officials and a smattering of NGO workers.

• 09/25/2019
• Kristin Lambert, Amanda Lewis, Mary Allen

“The water is pushing very hard on our islands and communities,” recounted the Bonthe Deputy Mayor, during a recent meeting with USAID staff in the southwestern district of Sierra Leone. His description captures the profound impacts that climate change is having on coastal communities.

• 04/29/2019
• Julia Bradley-Cook

In the West Gonja and Sene districts of northern and central Ghana, respectively, deforestation caused by charcoal production is affecting sustainable livelihoods.

• 10/18/2018
• SERVIR

The asymmetry between men’s and women’s participation in forestry decision-making is often rooted in two inter-related issues. First, forestry institutions and forest resources are generally male-dominated and second, village-level decision-making takes place in the public sphere. Women are traditionally associated with the private sphere of home and family life.

• 03/08/2018
• Christi Hang

USAID is building mutually beneficial partnerships with private sector actors that leverage their respective expertise, assets, technologies, networks and resources to achieve greater development impact.

• 02/26/2018
• Climatelinks

An Analysis of Nine USAID Agricultural Development Projects Shows How Low-emission Practices Contribute to Food Security and Mitigate Climate Change.

• 10/12/2017
• Julie Nash, Julianna White

A recent assessment of non-climate funded USAID programs found that including climate change in solicitations resulted in actions to manage climate risk or address climate change during program implementation about half the time.

• 10/10/2017
• Climatelinks