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The brief examines how transboundary climate risks and globalized supply chains create vulnerabilities in Europe, drawing parallels between the disruptions caused by COVID-19 and potential climate-driven chain reactions. It aims to inform the EU Adaptation Strategy and the EU Trade Policy Review by advocating for increased resilience in global trade and production to protect food security, livelihoods, and health.

The document highlights how a gender-responsive approach and the introduction of 'women-friendly' tools accelerated the adoption of climate-smart agriculture in Nepal's Gandaki province. It identifies key barriers to implementation, such as government staff's lack of technical knowledge and male bias in technology design, and outlines strategies to overcome them, including 'travelling seminars' for political leaders and site-specific agricultural plans.

The document examines the tension between international intellectual property (IP) regimes, such as UPOV and TRIPS, and frameworks protecting farmers' rights and biodiversity, such as the ITPGRFA and the Nagoya Protocol. It argues that the lack of a single comprehensive framework creates legal confusion for developing countries, which are often pressured to adopt strict IP protections that may marginalize small-scale producers and Indigenous communities. The brief suggests that governments can utilize 'sui generis' systems to create tiered levels of protection that safeguard both commercial innovation and traditional seed-sharing practices.

The report contends that mainstream development models, which predict growth through a shift from agriculture to industrial manufacturing, have failed in Africa. It identifies five dynamic trends—climate change, rapid urbanisation, infrastructure deficits, epidemics/pandemics, and lawlessness—that interact to increase instability. These trends are exacerbated by three structural realities: pervasive informality, weak land management, and the proliferation of organised crime, often led by state actors. The authors argue that because the state is frequently compromised by criminal networks, development strategies should move away from state-centric models and instead focus on enhancing the resilience and resource control of local neighbourhoods and communities.

The report details an Integrated Vulnerability Assessment (IVA) for the Funafuti community, identifying critical vulnerabilities in water security, coastal erosion, and income security. It employs a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) to align community-identified 'lived' experiences with technical 'learned' perspectives from a Technical Working Group (TWG). Key findings highlight the inadequacy of household water tanks and the severe impact of coastal erosion on housing. The document serves as a foundational input for Tuvalu's National Adaptation Plan (NAP), emphasizing the need for hard shoreline protection, enforcement of building codes for water storage, and improved disaster evacuation facilities.

The document argues that the USDA's scientific integrity and research capacity were damaged between 2017 and 2020 through political suppression of research and the relocation of key agencies. It proposes a roadmap for recovery, including returning leadership to Washington, DC, implementing a suppressed climate resilience plan, and strengthening protections for scientists' communication with the public.

The report identifies the COVID-19 pandemic as a 'dress rehearsal' for climate change impacts on the global food system, highlighting the vulnerability of producers and the informal food sector. While essential services and large retailers maintained operations, the crisis exposed systemic inequalities and the brittleness of efficient supply chains, leading to increased food waste. The document emphasizes the need for a post-pandemic 'new norm' characterized by pre-competitive collaboration, integrated sustainability, and a shift toward e-commerce to ensure food security and resilience.

The Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) argues that South Africa's land reform programs have failed poor black women, leaving them marginalized and vulnerable. The letter highlights a stark gap between women's roles in the agricultural workforce and their actual land ownership, noting that this landlessness increases women's susceptibility to food insecurity and domestic violence, a situation worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The PEARL project aims to protect the livelihoods of approximately 550,000 farmers and value-chain actors in Cambodia's Northern Tonle Sap Basin (NTSB) from climate-driven droughts and floods. By shifting focus from conventional rice to high-value, drought-tolerant crops like cashew, mango, organic rice, and vegetables, the project seeks to increase adaptive capacity and income. The strategy employs Public-Social-Private Partnerships (PSPPs) to remove barriers to premium markets, utilizing certification schemes (e.g., CamGAP, GI, organic) and introducing advanced agro-hydrometeorological early warning systems. The project is budgeted at US$ 40.635 million, with US$ 34.485 million requested as a grant from the Green Climate Fund.

The document highlights the 'value-addition gap' in African agriculture, where low productivity and lack of post-harvest processing limit economic growth. Using Uganda as a case study, it argues that the deployment of solar mini-grids can displace inefficient diesel mills and enable village-level agro-processing. To succeed, the author recommends that the AU-EU partnership focus on reforming cooperative structures to aggregate produce, increasing access to micro- and commercial finance for smallholders, and providing accessible micro-enterprise training to reduce post-harvest losses and improve rural employment.

This report examines how disruptive technologies, specifically renewable energy and ICT, can address global food security, environmental degradation, and economic vulnerability in low- and middle-income countries, with a specific case study on solar-powered electric cookers in Kenya.

The document analyzes the impact of COVID-19-related food export restrictions on low-income importing countries, focusing on vulnerability indicators such as undernourishment and calorie import dependency, and urges countries to avoid banning food staples to prevent worsening hunger.

The document notes that 22 countries have implemented or announced food export restrictions during the COVID-19 crisis, raising concerns about food access in low-income, food-importing nations similar to the 2007/08 and 2010/11 price spikes.

The paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in India's environmental governance, noting that while lockdowns temporarily improved air and water quality, the period also saw a rise in industrial disasters and the dilution of environmental impact assessment rules. It highlights the intersection of environmental degradation—such as deforestation and pollution—with increased vulnerability to pandemics and climate-driven extreme weather events. The author concludes that India's economic recovery packages lack long-term environmental vision and calls for the stringent implementation of environmental laws to build socio-ecological resilience.

On 7 July 2020, the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and the Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO) convened a meeting with the Botswana APRM Civil Society Working Group. The primary goal was to collapse a broad list of governance concerns into 12 concise issues to facilitate a coherent civil society submission. Participants debated the interrelation of topics such as human rights, foreign policy, and sustainable development, eventually assigning specific organisations to draft sections on these themes. A total of R84,000 was allocated to be divided among the organisations responsible for the drafting process, with a target submission date in the first week of August.

The document describes a participatory research project in Kitulu, Kenya, where community members used backcasting to imagine a 2030 scenario of universal electric cooking. Participants linked electric cooking to broader development gains, such as improved infrastructure and food security, while emphasizing a stepwise transition through 'stacking' different cooking technologies. The study highlights the importance of building community social capacity and civic engagement to demand public services and manage the transition.

The briefing analyzes the intersection of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, economic instability, deteriorating governance, and nuclear-armed geopolitical tensions in South Asia. It argues that these converging risks create non-linear dynamics that could lead to a systemic collapse or 'regime shift,' posing significant spillover risks to the global international system.

The report concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to reverse recent progress in poverty reduction and hinder the achievement of the 2030 SDGs and Agenda 2063. While health impacts are expected to worsen, the primary driver of suffering in Africa is projected to be the economic consequences of the pandemic. To prevent a 'lost decade', the author recommends strengthening health systems, improving water and sanitation, leveraging digital technologies for economic transformation, and securing substantial debt relief.

The report analyses Tunisia's socio-economic challenges, including stagnant growth, high youth unemployment, and a large informal sector, while projecting development pathways to 2040. It highlights the country's strong human capital but warns that poor governance and an opaque economic system hinder progress. The analysis compares a 'Current Path' with three scenarios: 'Going for Growth', 'Leapfrogging', and 'Sustainability & Equality', concluding that substantive governance reform is essential for any successful transition.

The report finds that Postmasburg experienced severe food insecurity exacerbated by the COVID-19 lockdown, with significant drops in formal and informal employment and a high dependency on social grants. It highlights that 60% of surveyed households were below the food poverty line even before the pandemic, and that food aid distribution was insufficient and plagued by a lack of transparency.