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The authors examine Uganda's agricultural subsidy landscape, noting that while initiatives like NAADS and insurance subsidies have increased input access and risk mitigation, they are often hampered by top-down design, poor implementation, and a lack of extension services. The paper argues that current subsidies often benefit large-scale farmers over smallholders and can cause environmental harm through the promotion of monoculture and agrochemicals. It recommends a value-chain approach to subsidy design with greater stakeholder participation and improved funding and monitoring.

The report examines Uganda's agricultural subsidy landscape, highlighting a gap between the government's development priorities and its actual budget allocation, which falls below the 10% public spending target set in the Malabo Declaration. While initiatives like NAADS and Operation Wealth Creation have improved access to inputs and increased coffee exports, the authors argue that subsidies are often poorly timed, top-down, and favor large-scale farmers. Environmental concerns are raised regarding the promotion of monocultures and agrochemicals, and the authors recommend a value-chain approach to subsidy design that includes stakeholder participation and better extension services.

The paper examines Uganda's agricultural subsidy landscape, highlighting a gap between government priorities and actual budget allocations. While initiatives like NAADS and insurance subsidies have increased production—notably in coffee—the authors argue that subsidies often benefit large-scale farmers over smallholders, suffer from poor implementation, and encourage environmentally harmful practices like monoculture and chemical use. They recommend a bottom-up redesign of subsidies that supports entire value chains and simplifies access for small farmers.

The paper analyzes India's agricultural subsidy regime, focusing on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and input subsidies for fertilizers, electricity, and irrigation. It highlights their role in ensuring food security and supporting small farmers while acknowledging criticisms regarding inefficiency, market distortion, and environmental degradation. The author argues that while rationalization is needed, abrupt removal of these subsidies—which represent 21% of agricultural income—could exacerbate rural poverty.

The document discusses the need for lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) and low-income countries (LICs) to optimize their limited public spending on food and agriculture. It highlights that many sub-Saharan African nations fail to meet the Maputo goal of allocating 10% of national budgets to these sectors and often employ trade policies that implicitly penalize farmers to protect poor consumers. To address this, the FAO's Policy Monitoring and Analysis of Food and Agriculture (SAPAA) program uses a Pareto-optimality tool to help governments reallocate budgets across measures such as irrigation, seed subsidies, and rural electrification. A study of six sub-Saharan African countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Uganda) suggests that optimizing budgets for 2025-2030 could create nearly one million non-farm rural jobs, lift 2.8 million people out of poverty, and enable 16 million more people to afford a healthy diet by 2030 without increasing total spending.

The paper examines India's agricultural subsidy regime, highlighting the role of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the Public Distribution System (PDS) in ensuring food security for millions. It details the growth of input subsidies for fertilizers, electricity, and irrigation, which reached USD 48 billion in 2022-2023. While acknowledging criticisms regarding market distortion, budget pressure, and environmental degradation, the author argues that these subsidies are vital for small farmers and rural stability, especially given the pressures of global trade and the limitations of current banking infrastructure for direct income transfers.

Egypt is increasingly a destination and transit point for migrants from Africa and the MENA region, while simultaneously seeing a surge in its own citizens emigrating to the EU due to severe economic instability. The document details how Egypt leverages its geopolitical position to secure EU financial support and strategic partnerships, primarily focusing on curbing irregular migration and managing refugees. It highlights the critical impact of IMF-mandated austerity, currency devaluation, and climate change—specifically sea-level rise in the Nile Delta and water security threats from Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam—as primary drivers of displacement and emigration.

The policy brief argues that CARICOM lacks a cohesive trade strategy aligned with the global 'Sustainability and Inclusiveness' (S&I) agenda. It analyzes the region's economic vulnerabilities—including small market size, dependence on fossil fuels, and climate risk—and evaluates existing trade agreements like the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and the CARIFORUM-EU EPA. The authors recommend a regional approach that integrates trade with policies on energy, climate change, the blue economy, and food security, while increasing the participation of non-traditional stakeholders such as MSMEs and civil society.

President Cyril Ramaphosa accepted the G20 Presidency for South Africa, announcing the theme 'Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability'. He committed to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals and the Pact for the Future, while prioritizing inclusive economic growth, food security, and AI for sustainable development. Ramaphosa emphasized the need to address wealth disparities, specifically noting the lack of sustainable financing for climate action and the burden of national debt in developing countries.

The LoCAL+ programme aims to increase the climate resilience of approximately 3.49 million people across 85 local governments in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Niger. The initiative combines a performance-based climate resilience grant (PBCRG) system for public investments with Blended Finance Facilities to support local SMEs and producers' organisations. The programme focuses on seven key intervention areas: climate-adapted agriculture, forestry and ecosystem conservation, agroforestry, water and health, energy efficiencies and renewables, climate-resilient infrastructure, and coastal areas in Ivory Coast. It is implemented by the West African Development Bank (BOAD) as the Accredited Entity, with UNCDF as an implementing partner and various national agencies as executing entities.

The SRVALI project aims to address acute water scarcity and energy deficits in Southern Iraq. It proposes converting 68 km of open irrigation canals to closed piped systems, installing 1 MWp of solar photovoltaic systems on canals to power water pumps, and training 10,000 farmers in climate-resilient agriculture. The project also focuses on empowering women through a 'Climate Wise Women' cadre and developing national strategies for water allocation and rural solar electrification.

The South Coast Water Reclamation Project (SCWRP) in Barbados aims to transform the existing South Coast Sewage Treatment Plant (SCSTP) into a modern Water Resource Recovery Facility (SCWRRF). The project focuses on producing high-quality reclaimed water to reduce dependence on potable groundwater, which is under threat from droughts and seawater intrusion. Key infrastructure includes a 25 km irrigation pipeline for 160 hectares of farmland and a system of injection wells for aquifer recharge in the Christ Church aquifer. The project also includes the restoration of the 33-hectare Graeme Hall Swamp and the installation of a 7 MW solar PV plant with battery storage to provide energy redundancy and reduce GHG emissions. Financially, the project employs an innovative 'Debt-for-Climate Conversion' (DfCC) mechanism, using savings from restructured sovereign debt to fund the investment. The total financing is USD 110 million, with USD 70 million requested from the Green Climate Fund (USD 40 million grant and USD 30 million loan) and USD 40 million in co-financing from the Inter-American Development Bank.

The report analyzes the impact of the Projet d'Aquaculture Durable à Madagascar (PADM) across six regions, comparing extensive rice-fish farming with intensive aquaculture systems. It finds that extensive systems outperform intensive ones by 36% when negative externalities are included in the valuation.

The document examines how discrepancies between NDC accounting and IPCC standards lead to an overestimation of land-based carbon sequestration, potentially reducing the global carbon budget by 15-18%. It highlights that current NDC pledges for land-based removal involve approximately 1 billion hectares, which the author claims is impossible without threatening food security and biodiversity. Furthermore, the briefing critiques IPCC Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) for ignoring land tenure, human rights, and the declining ability of natural sinks to store carbon under rising temperatures, suggesting that sustainable removal potential is up to 79% lower than IPCC estimates.

The document outlines how overfishing undermines food security, livelihoods, and spiritual practices, while contributing to climate change and human rights abuses. It advocates for stronger international fisheries management, the elimination of harmful subsidies, and the expansion of marine protected areas.

The document argues that carbon markets can fill a critical funding gap for African smallholder farmers, who received only 0.8% of climate finance in 2023. It highlights that soil carbon interventions provide dual benefits of climate mitigation and adaptation by improving soil health, water retention, and crop yields. However, the briefing notes that African agriculture remains underrepresented in carbon markets, with only 12 identified projects across the continent. Barriers include high soil sampling costs, strict evidence requirements for baselines, and a lack of localised research. The author recommends that policymakers avoid 'one-size-fits-all' regulations and instead prioritise projects that deliver non-carbon co-benefits like food security and nutrition.

The document analyzes the global distribution of agricultural methane emissions, highlighting that while low- and middle-income countries produce the most, high-income countries have higher per capita emissions due to consumption patterns. It proposes a transition toward climate-smart agriculture through technology, policy reform, and targeted finance, particularly for smallholder farmers in Africa, to meet global reduction targets by 2030.

The report details Brazil's recent efforts to institutionalize the bioeconomy under President Lula da Silva, highlighted by the creation of the National Secretariat of Bioeconomy (SNB) and the 2024 National Bioeconomy Strategy. It analyzes the bioeconomy through three lenses: biotechnological, bioresources, and bioecological, noting that the current national strategy primarily aligns with the bioecological vision. The document maps the roles of multiple ministries—including the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA), the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC), and the Ministry of Finance (MF)—in implementing this framework. It also identifies complementary regulations such as the Fuel of the Future Law and the Productive Forests National Program, while emphasizing the upcoming National Bioeconomy Development Plan (PNDBIO) as a key opportunity for cross-sectoral coordination.

The document analyzes the shift in Brazil's bioeconomy governance since 2023, highlighted by the creation of the National Bioeconomy Strategy and the National Bioeconomy Secretariat within the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA). It categorizes bioeconomy into three visions—biotechnological, bio-resources, and bio-ecological—noting that the current national strategy primarily aligns with the bio-ecological vision. The report details new regulatory frameworks such as the 'Fuel of the Future' law and various sustainable production programs, while mapping the transversal roles of multiple ministries (including MDIC, Fazenda, and MCTI) in coordinating the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Namibia is developing a sectoral MEL system for agriculture as a pilot for its broader National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process. The approach involved establishing indicator baselines in 2023, revising indicators for adaptation specificity in 2024, and conducting capacity building for national and regional stakeholders. The system relies on a data flow from regional extension officers to national ministries, with the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) providing oversight and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) handling implementation and reporting. Key challenges identified include skills gaps, budgetary constraints, and data fragmentation, while the document emphasizes the necessity of mainstreaming gender-specific indicators to address systemic inequalities.