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The document establishes a taxonomy of sectors and subsectors to categorize where innovative financial instruments can be applied to increase climate resilience. It lists sectors including crop and food production, ecological services, water supply, coastal and riverine protection, disaster risk reduction, energy and transport infrastructure, other built environments, social infrastructure, and industry and manufacturing.

Benin has significantly increased the ambition of its NDCs between 2015 and 2021, targeting a 20.15% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 across the energy, agricultural, forestry, and waste sectors. While these goals align with national priorities like food security and electricity access, the paper finds a lack of integration between the NDCs and the government's COVID-19 macroeconomic recovery response. The author recommends aligning monetary policy and credit expansion with climate goals to leverage private sector investment and ensure long-term sustainable growth.

The Community Action Plan (CAP) for Wetlar Inn and Nar Myittar village focuses on preserving a 6.0 ha permanent swamp wetland in the Upper Chindwin Basin of Myanmar. The plan addresses threats such as deforestation, land use change, and biological resource overexploitation by implementing a community-led governance framework through Village Working Committees (VWC). Key strategies include the creation of conservation zones, the promotion of sustainable livelihoods like pig farming and groundnut cultivation to reduce dependence on wetland resources, and a comprehensive Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness (CEPA) programme. The plan includes a detailed monitoring framework to track water quality, biodiversity, and land use changes to ensure the long-term ecological integrity of the site.

The Community Action Plan (CAP) for Hman Pin village and Hman Pin inn aims to balance biodiversity conservation with local development in the Upper Chindwin Basin of Myanmar. The plan identifies high-priority threats to the 4-acre wetland, including gold mining, logging, and overfishing driven by cultural festivals. To mitigate these pressures, the CAP proposes a three-pronged approach: habitat conservation through the demarcation of zones and local regulations; the promotion of sustainable livelihoods such as groundnut cultivation, pig farming, and fish farming; and a Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness (CEPA) programme. Implementation is led by a Village Working Committee (VWC) with support from the Stockholm Environment Institute and other partners, utilizing a monitoring framework to track water quality, biodiversity, and land-use changes.

Chad's updated NDC aims for a 19.3% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to a business-as-usual scenario, primarily through energy efficiency and reforestation. The plan identifies agriculture as the dominant emission source (95%) and emphasizes extreme vulnerability to droughts and floods. Implementation requires an estimated 6.7 billion USD for mitigation and between 5 and 14 billion USD for adaptation, with a heavy reliance on international financial support.

The report assesses conservation agriculture (CA) in Niger, focusing on techniques like Assisted Natural Regeneration (RNA), Zaï, and mulching. It highlights the positive impacts of RNA on crop yields and soil fertility, particularly in the Maradi region, while identifying constraints such as limited crop residue availability and land-use conflicts.

The Community Action Plan (CAP) for Tharyarkone village focuses on the conservation of the Naung Sa Pin/Naung Salein wetland, a permanent swamp of approximately 1.1 hectares in the Upper Chindwin Basin. The plan addresses high-level threats including mining, logging, and overfishing by promoting sustainable livelihood alternatives such as groundnut cultivation, pig farming, and fish farming. It outlines a governance structure led by a Village Working Committee (VWC) to implement habitat conservation, boundary demarcation, and a Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness (CEPA) program. The plan includes a monitoring framework to track water quality, biodiversity, and land-use changes to ensure the long-term ecological integrity of the wetland.

The document evaluates Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), identifying successful practices such as agroforestry, mangrove rehabilitation, and circular farming. It highlights significant policy gaps in water resources and disaster risk management (DRM), alongside barriers including poverty, tenure insecurity, and a preference for 'grey' infrastructure. The study emphasizes the need for cross-sectoral coordination, innovative financing like Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), and the integration of local and indigenous knowledge to scale resilience.

The report examines the energy-agriculture nexus in Africa, focusing on five case study countries: Cameroon, Mali, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. It develops three primary scenarios—Reference, Moderate Improvement, and Accelerated Growth—to project energy needs for on-farm activities, crop processing, and transport. The analysis highlights that while high-input mechanized farming significantly increases commercial energy intensity, food security gains in some contexts, such as Sudan, can be achieved without proportional increases in energy consumption. The document also explores the role of agro-industries and the potential for energy efficiency improvements in irrigation and crop curing.

The report examines how gender inequalities in sub-Saharan Africa hinder agricultural productivity and proposes an 'empowerment pathway' focusing on agency, structure, and relations. It provides evidence that closing the gender gap in resource access could increase farm yields by 20-30%. Through case studies in countries like Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Uganda, the document illustrates successful strategies including gender-responsive budgeting, household-level gender analysis, and the engagement of traditional leaders to secure women's land rights and improve value chain participation. It also addresses the specific intersection of gender and 'climate-smart' agriculture, emphasizing that women's vulnerability to climate change is exacerbated by existing structural inequalities.

The report argues that climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is only effective when it addresses gender inequalities that make women more vulnerable to climate change and hinder their adoption of sustainable practices. It highlights that women often face barriers such as insecure land tenure, limited capital, and restrictive social norms. Through case studies in countries like Kenya, Ghana, and Uganda, the document demonstrates that successful interventions require a combination of enhancing women's agency (through training and knowledge networks), reforming institutional structures (securing land and credit rights), and transforming gender relations (encouraging male support and shared decision-making). Specific examples include the use of biogas digesters to reduce women's domestic workloads and the implementation of 'climate analogue' visits to share adaptation strategies.

The document argues that agroforestry provides a viable alternative to monoculture reforestation and intensified agriculture by creating multi-functional land-use systems. It highlights that 'land-sharing' through agroforestry can actually support 'land-sparing' by reducing the pressure to deforest for agricultural expansion. Using case studies from Sri Lanka and Vietnam, the brief demonstrates how home gardens and forest gardens increase tree cover and improve rural resilience. It also notes the success of nitrogen-fixing species in Africa and the use of rubber and cocoa agroforests in Indonesia and globally. The authors conclude that successful implementation requires secure land tenure, local context-specific choices, and inter-agency collaboration.

The document argues that multi-layered home gardens incorporating trees, shrubs, and crops enhance food security, nutrition, and climate resilience. It identifies key barriers to their development, such as insecure land tenure and water scarcity, and suggests that integrating home gardens into climate finance mechanisms like REDD+ could provide new opportunities for expansion.

The document critiques the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry's plan to allocate 20 million hectares of forest for 'food and energy estates'. It argues that this plan constitutes a 'legalization of deforestation' that contradicts Indonesia's global climate commitments (NDC, CBD) and its own FoLU Net Sink 2030 target. The brief highlights the risk of corporate capture, the displacement of Indigenous peoples, and the potential for severe human rights abuses, particularly if the projects are designated as National Strategic Projects (PSN). It emphasizes that food and energy should be treated as human rights rather than business commodities, advocating for local food sovereignty and community-led energy solutions over large-scale industrial estates.

Indonesian civil society organizations argue that the EUDR is an insufficient unilateral measure that fails to address the root causes of deforestation, lacks strong human rights protections, and risks marginalizing smallholders while ignoring the role of financial institutions.

The report advocates for the reinvestment of global agricultural subsidies—which have grown to $619 billion annually—into land restoration practices such as agroforestry and silvopasture. It argues that current subsidy misallocation drives deforestation and ecosystem degradation, threatening the ability to feed a projected global population of 10 billion by 2050. By shifting these funds, governments can achieve returns of $7-30 for every $1 invested, supporting the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).

Patrick Assumpção is implementing agroforestry systems in the Paraíba Valley, Brazil, to reverse centuries of soil degradation caused by unsustainable agriculture. By combining native hardwoods like guanandi with food crops and unconventional food plants (PANCs), he aims to restore 40,000 hectares of land. Supported by a 2018 study using the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), the initiative suggests that full restoration could increase the region's agricultural GDP by 32% and reduce soil erosion by 19%. To ensure economic viability, Assumpção is developing markets for these sustainable products by partnering with chefs and processing perishable native fruits into value-added goods.

The document outlines a roadmap for expanding trees outside forests (ToF) in India, highlighting the potential for 80 million hectares of such trees to sequester 3.4 Gt CO2e by 2040. By analyzing policy incentives in Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, and Telangana, the paper identifies barriers and enabling conditions for agroforestry and other ToF approaches. It recommends landscape-level restoration strategies, the protection of traditional ToF systems, targeted support for women and marginalized groups, and an improved enabling environment to motivate practitioners.

The document identifies agroforestry, conservation agriculture, rainwater harvesting, and integrated soil fertility management as key practices to combat land degradation and water stress in Sub-Saharan Africa's drylands. It argues that these practices increase crop yields, income, and climate resilience, and outlines seven strategic pathways—including policy reform, knowledge management, and private sector engagement—to accelerate their adoption.

In the semiarid Caatinga region of Brazil, farmers are adopting agroforestry by integrating native trees, specifically the umbu (Spondias tuberosa), into livestock pastures. This transition is driven by severe climate impacts, including a 50% decline in rainfall in the Jacuípe Drainage Basin since 1962 and increasing desertification. The establishment of the Ser do Sertão cooperative and its Delícias do Jacuípe factory has created a commercial market for umbu pulp, providing farmers with supplemental income that can exceed dairy revenues during the harvest season. Beyond economic gains, these practices help retain soil moisture and provide animal feed during droughts, offering a scalable model for restoring degraded landscapes and ensuring the livelihoods of subsistence farmers.