This report, from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), highlights the results of research into what drives and inhibits the uptake of new crop-livestock farming techniques by small-scale cattle farms in Asian countries. The authors describe five farming systems in China, Indonesia and Vietnam that have attempted to increase beef production and profitability by integrating new farming knowledge and technology with help from ACIAR. Using these case studies, the authors draw out lessons learned for future initiatives. Key findings include the importance of partnering with local people who have a good understanding of the farming system, and having a realistic expectation of the scale of improvements that can be made with new technologies.

This report synthesises the results of a review of 104 studies on gender and the adoption of agroforestry in Africa, and aims to identify strategies that challenge gender imbalances in development initiatives. It explores women's participation in agroforestry, including their ability to manage agroforestry practices, access to agroforestry information, and how they benefit from agroforestry.

The results highlight the substantial benefits that agroforestry can offer to rural women in Africa, mainly because it requires fewer resources than alternative enterprises. But women's participation is low, with limited access to information and markets, and a mixed record of successful management of agroforestry technologies.

The report provides several technological, policy and institutional recommendations for improving the efficiency of women's participation in agroforestry. They include domesticating important tree species, and ensuring that women have access to market information and microfinance. The report concludes by suggesting further research in areas such as measuring the income that women generate from agroforestry, and identifying the key ingredients of success stories across Africa.

This report highlights advances in the use of climate information to predict and prepare for climate-related natural disasters. It draws together 17 case studies that capture the current state of knowledge within the humanitarian community, and identifies research innovations. It presents the challenges and opportunities that disaster risk managers face in using climate science with a three step approach: indentifying the problem, developing tools, and taking action.

The results show that effective partnerships are crucial and can help to build the information needed for effective response. They also suggest how the use of this information can be improved — for example by focusing on immediate opportunities for action in countries and regions more likely to benefit. Recommendations also include developing realistic expectations, in order to maintain trust in the information and those who provide it, and encouraging national meteorological services to tailor their information to the problem at hand.

This guide aims to outline key actions and considerations towards developing a successful and sustainable forest carbon project that produces emissions reductions marketable under the most widely used carbon standards. It complements existing guidance by drawing on specific tools and resources already available to project developers, and indicating where specialised advice might be necessary.

The document provides guidance on how forest carbon project developers can navigate the challenges involved in complying with standards of analysing and documenting carbon benefits; working through legal, business, and community relationships; and carrying out forest and land management activities.

It includes a comprehensive discussion around technical aspects of quantifying carbon benefits using rigorous methodologies detailed in a Project Design Document, as well as subsequent steps needed to independently validate and verify these benefits so that certified carbon credits can be issued.

This report explores whether solutions for biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction can reinforce each other. Working through diverse opinions on whether these links can be made, it provides answers to ten frequently asked questions around the issue and highlights their implications for policy.

The questions include which components of biodiversity are important to poor people; whether people living in poverty rely more on biodiversity than other people; how the poor can reap the benefits of biodiversity conservation; and whether poverty or poverty reduction contribute to biodiversity loss.

The report concludes with a list of ten policy implications, including the need to clarify the different definitions of poverty, biodiversity and conservation to ensure that complex issues are not confused and misrepresented; the value of giving greater policy attention to how biodiversity can prevent poverty; and the importance of including safeguards in the design of conservation policy and projects, to ensure that poor people do not end up worse off.

This report details the proceedings of the 2nd World Seed Conference, held on 8–10 September 2009 at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters, to investigate the role of plant breeding in improving seed quality and crop varieties that are crucial for food security.

The proceedings contain the presentations, discussions and conclusions from a one-day policy forum and the five sessions of the two-day expert forum. Areas covered include the importance of genetic resources for plant breeding, access and benefit sharing; plant variety protection; and the importance of seed quality in agriculture.

The conclusions emphasised the importance of encouraging plant breeding to enable the production and distribution of high-quality seed. Participants highlighted the International Treaty on Plant and Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture as an innovative instrument for achieving food security through conservation and access to genetic resources, and the importance of protecting intellectual property. They also recommended that countries develop the capabilities needed to determine seed quality and certify seed varieties.

The conference was organised by the FAO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, the International Seed Federation and the International Seed Testing Association.

This report documents the proceedings of the AfricaAdapt 2011 Climate Change Symposium that include research, experiences and knowledge about how to coordinate efforts to address climate change in Africa in anticipation of negotiations at COP-17 to be held in Durban, South Africa.

It includes summaries of and links to presentations, experience notes and comments offered by participants, as well as photos, videos and reports from the symposium's interactive plenary sessions. The topics covered include community-led responses to climate change and the role of media in translating and sharing information about climate change.

The report highlights ten overarching conclusions and lessons learned from the research presented. These include the need for improved research into indigenous knowledge and deeper links between adaptation, mitigation and low-carbon development; creating more African forums for knowledge sharing; and strengthening the availability of non-Anglophone researchers and practitioners.

AfricaAdapt is a network dedicated to promoting and facilitating the sharing of knowledge on climate change adaptation in Africa.

This report aims to identify strategies that the agricultural sector can adopt to mitigate and adapt to climate change, ensure food security, and improve the livelihoods of poor smallholder producers.

Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for poor people in developing countries, and improving agricultural productivity is key to achieving food security and meeting most targets set as part of the Millennium Development Goals. In Sub-Saharan Africa, climate change is adding to existing development challenges, making it essential that mitigation, adaptation and rural development strategies are developed together.

By focusing on the example of smallholder farmers in Kenya, the authors suggest "triple win" agricultural practices that promise the greatest payoff in terms of increased resilience of the agriculture sector to climate change mitigation, adaptation, productivity and profitability. They include irrigation, soil and water conservation, integrated soil fertility management and improved livestock feeding.

This report aims at encouraging increased trans-boundary cooperation in water resource management in Afghanistan and Central Asia, through a bottom-up, basin-based approach that adheres to the principles of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)

The largest river in the region, Amu Darya, is crucial for the 43 million people who live in the Aral Sea Basin — but river flow and water availability are becoming increasingly unreliable because of the impact of climate change and inefficient water management. This is a security threat heightened by an expected 50 per cent increase in the region's population by 2025, says the report.

It calls for countries that rely on the Amu Darya — Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — to follow the IWRM approach to balancing competing demands for water, build trust and share practices at the local level by training experts from different countries in joint forums, and avoid multilateral agreements that involve management mechanisms too broad to be effective.

This report examines economic factors that drive deforestation and forest degradation: soybeans, beef cattle, palm oil, timber and pulp, wood for fuel and small farmers. It investigates the impact of population growth and changing diets, both of which fuel the demand for tropical commodities that causes deforestation.

The report finds that the drivers of deforestation vary significantly between continents: cattle and soy play an important role only in Latin America, for example, while palm oil plantations are found almost exclusively in Indonesia and Malaysia.

It describes examples of successful management of deforestation and other factors behind forest degradation, and concludes by suggesting agricultural and forest management policies that can help promote development without increasing deforestation.

This paper aims to identify key components of effective renewable energy policy in developing countries. It draws from published research and case studies in 12 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to provide recommendations on how countries can maximise international support for the development and deployment of renewable energies.

The authors argue that the global energy system needs to change, and that developing countries are at the forefront of this challenge because they are expected to contribute 80 per cent of the world's capacity for new electricity generation over the next two decades. The authors conclude that donors should move beyond funding individual projects to support nationwide initiatives for renewable energy.

The report looks at what developing countries are already doing to deploy renewable energy; gives an overview of key principles of renewable energy policy; discusses lessons learned from existing initiatives; and identifies areas where international support could help.

This technical report provides policymakers with a framework for action to address the underlying causes for the science and technology (S&T) gender gap, and aims to promote discussion about gender in the scientific and academic communities.

The report provides an overview of S&T for development and discusses how gender can be incorporated into S&T education, research and policy. It incorporates empirical data and research contributed by institutions involved in science, technology and gender studies and policy around the world. It highlights the need to increase women's participation in S&T research, foster awareness about science, technology and gender among the general public, and collect more data for research.

The full report is available in English but Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Russian versions are being prepared. An executive summary is available in English, French, Arabic and Chinese. It is the first of several planned thematic reports to be produced by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

This booklet, published by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), aims to inform policymakers about how Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE) — an educational tool that uses learners' experiences for practical teaching — can encourage girls to participate in science and mathematics. It addresses current misconceptions about girls' aptitude for science, and ineffective teaching methods at primary schools in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The report provides an overview of girls' education in Sub-Saharan Africa and describes IBSE, its features, and where it has been implemented. It suggests that integrating IBSE into the school curricula can help to increase girls' participation in science and mathematics. The Academy urges policymakers to endorse IBSE and offers guidance on how they can support pilot projects to implement it in primary schools.

This training manual aims to help science educators, career advisers and school staff to encourage more girls to pursue science and technology (S&T) careers in Africa. Specific objectives include promoting a positive image of women in science, making educators aware of gender stereotypes related to science careers, improving girls' access to science education and ensuring that teachers have the tools they need.

The manual is divided into six main units, each targeting a different audience. For each unit, the manual describes the purpose, target groups, learning outcomes and course content, together with suggested workshop activities for each topic. The workshops enable educators to explore gender issues around science and technology in depth. This manual is available in English, French and Portuguese.

This training manual focuses on helping scientists, policymakers, government bodies and human resource departments improve their leadership capabilities in science, technology and gender (STG) issues. By building the capacity of government organisations to implement policies on gender equality, it aims to empower women, especially those who are marginalised.

The manual contains four modules that describe gender equality studies and training, address why and how this should be introduced, and outline key issues set to become more relevant in the future, such as globalisation and intellectual property. Each module includes a summary of key aims, activities and case studies from Asia-Pacific countries. The manual offers tips and guidelines in conducting training sessions, and encourages the modification of workshops to suit users' needs.

This report presents gender-differentiated statistical data on higher education student enrolments and graduations, human resources for science and technology (S&T), publication output, funding allocation, and scientific ratings given to individual researchers by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

The study finds that South African women's participation in science education has increased, and gender parity in funding for higher education and research has improved, even in the fields of engineering and applied technologies. But women are still a minority, particularly at higher postgraduate levels, and remain behind their male counterparts in access to S&T employment, scientific publications, and NRF ratings. The report recommends action such as promoting research on 'gender responsiveness' and tackling the unequal distribution of public resources.

This study evaluates the extent to which gender perspectives have been integrated into science and technology policy in six Asian countries: China, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. It aims to assess the existing level of support for the integration of gender perspectives into national and regional policy, and to identify steps that could be taken in that direction.

The paper outlines each country's situation on science, technology and gender (STG) using statistical data and information about existing laws and policies related to gender, government programmes, key institutions and current STG problems.

A comparison of the findings suggests differences in the legal and policy frameworks that countries use to ensure gender equality in science and technology (S&T). The study recommends addressing regional concerns by prioritising the collection of S&T data by gender, for example, and ensuring that the scientific community is committed to gender equality.

This report provides information on the development of the solar energy sector in Asia and the Pacific, including investment opportunities and challenges. It also gives an overview of how the Asia Solar Energy Initiative (ASEI), set up by the Asia Development Bank, aims to facilitate the development and deployment of 3,000 megawatts of solar power generation projects in the region by 2013.

Challenges outlined in the report include limited energy distribution technology that can help transmit power to populated areas; the high costs of solar energy development and lack of access to long-term financing; weak institutional capacity; and limited knowledge sharing.

The report concludes that the ASEI can drive down costs, act as a catalyst for solar innovation and serve as a model for other regions that hold similar solar energy potential, such as northern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. It highlights the Asia Accelerated Solar Energy Development Fund, a financing mechanism set up specifically to support the preparation of solar power projects in Asian countries.

This paper aims to assess the suitability of using self-reported food security indicators to assess the welfare impact of the 2007–2008 global food crisis. It tests the usefulness of data from the Gallup World Poll (GWP) — a survey of self-reported food insecurity conducted before, during, and after the crisis — as an alternative to modelling estimates produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the US Department of Agriculture, and the World Bank.

The results suggest that although trends vary across countries, global self-reported food insecurity fell between 2005 and 2008, with the most reasonable estimate indicating 60–250 million fewer food-insecure people over that period. This trend contrasts with what was estimated by modelling-based methods. It is driven by rapid economic growth and limited food price inflation in China and India, among other heavily populated countries.

This series of factsheets publishes information on clean development mechanism (CDM) activities for Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, the Philippines and Thailand. CDM projects involve the use of clean technologies such as solar panels to generate emission reduction credits that can be counted towards meeting targets of the Kyoto Protocol.

The factsheets provide an overview of CDM project developments in Asia. They offer country-specific information, including domestic greenhouse gas emissions and useful references. They also outline national legislations, processes and criteria required for project approval. Some of the factsheets list examples of approved projects and contact details of the relevant authorities. The Indonesia report is available in Indonesian and the booklet is available in Japanese.