About GLF Africa 2024

On 17 September, thousands of participants gathered at ‘GLAF Africa 2024: Greening the African Horizon’ in Nairobi, Kenya, and online for a global conference focused on forging a prosperous and sustainable future for Africa’s land- and seascapes, driven by local solutions.

About Betty Kibaara

Betty Kibaara is a Director in the Food Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation, Africa Regional Office. At the Foundation, Betty leads the Foundations investments in transforming food systems. These include increasing access to nutritious foods through school feeding programs. She is also advancing investments in regenerative agriculture through development of the frass fertilizers from insects such as the black soldier fly. She holds a Master of Science degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, USA and a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management, Egerton University, Kenya.

The post Creating Opportunities for African Entrepreneurs: A Rockefeller Foundation Perspective appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About GLF Africa 2024

On 17 September, thousands of participants gathered at ‘GLF Africa 2024: Greening the African Horizon’ in Nairobi, Kenya, and online for a global conference focused on forging a prosperous and sustainable future for Africa’s land- and seascapes, driven by local solutions.

Introducing PILA: A New Framework for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation and Landscape Management

A new framework to support countries in transforming agricultural systems by scaling up sustainable production, restoring ecosystems and alleviating pressure on forests to improve food value chains will soon be put to the test.

The Participatory Informed Landscape Approach, known as PILA, uses an integrated landscape management approach to accelerate the transformation of value chains at the landscape level. PILA, developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as part of the Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration (FOLUR) Impact Program, is now being piloted in India, Kenya, Nicaragua, Nigeria and Vietnam.

Hosted by FOLUR, this session brings together experts and landscape actors implementing PILA to discuss the role of integrated landscape management, how decisions across the value chain are made and the role of smallholder farmers.

Resources

• FOLUR Spring Update 2024: Lessons from the Landscape
• Integrated Landscape Management for Transformative Food Systems
• The Participatory Informed Landscape Approach (PILA)
• PILA Log in

The post Country voices: Creating a common vision for future landscapes appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About GLF Africa 2024

On 17 September, thousands of participants gathered at ‘GLF Africa 2024: Greening the African Horizon’ in Nairobi, Kenya, and online for a global conference focused on forging a prosperous and sustainable future for Africa’s land- and seascapes, driven by local solutions.

About this session

Africa’s food systems are being transformed by strategies like input intensification, advanced technologies, and AI. With smallholder farmers producing 80% of the continent’s food, what role will AI play in their future? This plenary explores two key questions: the balance between input-intensive agriculture and agroecology, and how AI can drive sustainable, resilient agrifood systems across Africa.

The post A green leap in the AI era: Pathways for scaling food systems in Africa appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About GLF Africa 2024

On 17 September, thousands of participants gathered at ‘GLF Africa 2024: Greening the African Horizon’ in Nairobi, Kenya, and online for a global conference focused on forging a prosperous and sustainable future for Africa’s land- and seascapes, driven by local solutions.

About this session

To reverse global ecosystem degradation, the UN has declared the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), led by FAO and UNEP. FAO is developing best practices and tools, while the Decade promotes moving from commitments to action through initiatives like the World Restoration Flagships.

In Africa, three Flagships—African Farmers Transforming Food Systems, the Great Green Wall, and Regreening Africa—have been recognized. This session, hosted by FAO and UNEP, will showcase tools and lessons from these projects to inspire and scale up restoration efforts across Africa.

Resources

• Standards of practice to guide ecosystem restoration
• Framework for Ecosystem Restoration Monitoring (FERM) user guide
• Capacity, Knowledge and Learning Action Plan for the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

The post Effective ecosystem restoration to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity: Scaling up through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

Food production drives climate change, deforestation, pollution, and biodiversity loss, contributing a third of global emissions. Unsustainable practices threaten key commodities like coffee, cocoa, and soy, worsening environmental degradation and rural poverty.

The FOLUR Impact Program, funded by the Global Environment Facility and led by the World Bank, reforms food systems and restores landscapes. Active in 27 countries since 2021, FOLUR promotes participatory approaches, involving local communities and Indigenous Peoples in resource management. The program uses tools like the Participatory Informed Landscape Approach (PILA) to connect projects with global knowledge and align with international regulations.

FOLUR aims for sustainable value chains by 2050, balancing high yields with conservation, and addressing the significant costs of food system inefficiencies estimated at $12.7 trillion by the FAO.

Download the spring update to learn more about FOLUR’s latest achievements.

Explore more resources on the GLF-FOLUR Partnership platform.

The post FOLUR Spring Update 2024: Lessons from the Landscape appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

The briefing identifies three main categories of constraints impacting gender equality within agrifood systems: structural barriers, land tenure, and resource access. Through case studies from Guatemala, Indonesia, and Kenya, it explores initiatives aimed at addressing these issues. The insights gleaned from these studies offer valuable lessons to understand what has worked to drive changes in behavior and practice.

Key messages

The post Advancing gender equality and agrifood systems: what’s working? appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About the FOLUR Annual Meeting

The FOLUR Impact Program brought together over 100 country projects and core partners in São Paulo, Brazil, to discuss topics surrounding land restoration and sustainable value chain implementation over the course of four days.

In this video, the GLF’s Eden Flaherty sits down with Valentine Ebua, Forest Lead, Africa Restoration Director, Conservation International.

Learn more about the FOLUR Impact Program

The post Valentine Ebua from Liberia at FOLUR Partner Meeting Brazil appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About the FOLUR Annual Meeting

The FOLUR Impact Program brought together over 100 country projects and core partners in São Paulo, Brazil, to discuss topics surrounding land restoration and sustainable value chain implementation over the course of four days.

In this video, the GLF’s Eden Flaherty sits down with Aziz Nurbekov, National Project Coordinator, FAO Uzbekistan.

Learn more about the FOLUR Impact Program

The post Aziz Nurbekov from Uzbekistan at FOLUR Partner Meeting Brazil appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About GLF Nairobi 2023: ‘A new Vision for Earth’

The GLF Nairobi 2023 Hybrid Conference, held on October 11 and 12, convened global thought leaders to set the stage for COP28, the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference. This pivotal event mobilised action on critical issues affecting humanity, biodiversity, and our planet.

The conference featured two focused days: Day 1 centered on “Africa’s Sovereign Solutions,” exploring pathways to a sustainable and prosperous future for the continent. Day 2, dedicated to climate, aimed to craft a “Survival Guide for a Planet in Crisis,” paving the way for a fairer world ahead of COP28.

GLF Nairobi brought together a diverse coalition of influential voices, ranging from scientists, activists, and Indigenous leaders to financiers, women, youth, policymakers, and private sector representatives. As a united front, we collectively championed change and passionately advocated for meaningful action in these pivotal times.

About this session

This session showcased an evidence-based approach to help Global South countries meet their Paris Agreement commitments economically. It focused on transforming low-emission food systems while ensuring sustainable livelihoods, featuring CGIAR’s Initiative on Low-Emission Food Systems, also known as Mitigate+. Emission analysis in Colombia, Vietnam, Kenya, and China identified food loss and waste reduction as a feasible solution.

The panel discussed circularity, livestock emissions, and a holistic value chain approach in Kenya’s agriculture sector. The meeting concluded with a call for a more equitable and sustainable food system.

The post Uncovering promising pathways toward low-emission food systems appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About GLF Nairobi 2023: ‘A new Vision for Earth’

The GLF Nairobi 2023 Hybrid Conference, held on October 11 and 12, convened global thought leaders to set the stage for COP28, the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference. This pivotal event mobilised action on critical issues affecting humanity, biodiversity, and our planet.

The conference featured two focused days: Day 1 centered on “Africa’s Sovereign Solutions,” exploring pathways to a sustainable and prosperous future for the continent. Day 2, dedicated to climate, aimed to craft a “Survival Guide for a Planet in Crisis,” paving the way for a fairer world ahead of COP28.

GLF Nairobi brought together a diverse coalition of influential voices, ranging from scientists, activists, and Indigenous leaders to financiers, women, youth, policymakers, and private sector representatives. As a united front, we collectively championed change and passionately advocated for meaningful action in these pivotal times.

About this session

In this insightful session, we explored the alignment of agroecology and ecosystem-based adaptation with three practical projects. The GIZ ProSoil project in Madagascar showcased the impact of agroecological practices on climate adaptation and food security. WWF Kenya highlighted capacity-building for ecosystem-based adaptation, and a GIZ Project spanning Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala illustrated how ecosystem-based adaptation can be scaled up in Latin America to foster more resilient rural landscapes.

This session aimed to strengthen the connections between these approaches, with a closing statement from Oliver Oliveros from the Agroecology Coalition.

Resources

• Agroecology, making ecosystem-based adaptation work in agricultural landscapes;
• Resilient landscapes – Five key messages on how to implement agroecology as a systemic adaptation response;
• Living Adaptation – Pathways to climate resilient agri-food systems

The post Linking agroecology and ecosystem-based adaptation for climate-resilient landscapes appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.