This project aimed to improve fish production in Rwanda to meet the increasing rate of consumption, which is one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa. By strengthening aquaculture development through capacity-building activities and technical and material support to farmers, more fish will be available for purchase and consumption.

In Seychelles, a move of agricultural production from flat to hill areas is expected for the next years, bringing a risk of both a decrease in food production and degradation of the forests. A development of appropriate agroforestry systems, adapted to local land capacities and markets, is the most appropriate response to counter this trend, while providing a sustainable system of agricultural production based on soil conservation, ensuring food security, improving land use and environmental services, minimizing wildfire hazards and combating invasive species.

Most countries in Asia and the Pacific are struggling to address issues related to forest tenure, above all inadequate regulatory frameworks and lack of institutional capacity. Systems of tenure define how people and communities gain access to land, forests and other resources. In the three project pilot countries (Cambodia, Nepal and Viet Nam) forest tenure systems are weak, not pro-poor, and contested. The access of forest-dependent communities to forest resources and land is not adequately protected by policies, policy implementation and laws. Unless this issue is addressed there is little hope for those communities to benefit from forests in the long term. The aim of the project was to strengthen the regulatory frameworks and institutional capacity of the pilot countries with regard to forest tenure, contributing to improving the livelihoods and income of forest-dependent communities.

The project set out to improve key agricultural inputs, especially seed and good agricultural production practices, in order to improve food and nutrition security, increase rural employment, and empower women, who would be involved in various activities of improved seed production.

Africa is the world’s youngest continent, with more than half of the population under 25 years of age. Unleashing the capacity of young women and men to effectively participate in the modernization of the agricultural sector is imperative for enhanced resilience, improved food security and poverty reduction. Rural youth employment has been identified as a major national and regional priority in Eastern Africa. Aquaculture and poultry production are agricultural areas with the potential to boost nutritious food production, livelihood diversification and income generation. Sustainable, integrated and innovative practices to enhance youth entrepreneurship were needed, as well as supporting mechanisms to enable farmers to produce nutrient-dense foods for schoolchildren, the community at large and domestic and regional markets. Against this background, the project aimed to promote greater diversity and intensification of the poultry and aquaculture value chains, to improve nutrition and offer better job prospects for young people in four recipient countries in Eastern Africa: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Lessons learned and good practices derived from the four baby projects were shared with other countries in the subregion: Djibouti, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia and United Republic of Tanzania.