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The Trade Knowledge Network (TKN), coordinated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development since 1998, is a global collaboration of research institutions across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. It focuses on strengthening research capacity in developing countries to generate policy analysis on the impacts of trade and investment on sustainable development. The TKN operates through four pillars: strengthening Southern research capacity, generating innovative policy research, connecting with policy-makers, and building a global research network. Its approach is 'Southern-driven,' ensuring research is executed within the local contexts where it is applied. Recent projects have addressed regional trade integration, commodity price volatility, food security in Africa linked to climate change and land degradation, and foreign direct investment incentives in Southeast Asia. Since 1998, the TKN has partnered with over 35 institutions in 28 countries and published more than 80 reports.

The document describes how the conflict-sensitive conservation (CSC) approach was used to address the degradation of the Lake Edward fishery in Virunga National Park, which had been devastated by decades of violent conflict. By restructuring multistakeholder monitoring committees and implementing a support program involving awareness campaigns, law enforcement, and transboundary dialogue, the initiative improved cooperation among stakeholders, reduced illegal fishing, and increased fish yields. While not solving the broader regional conflicts, the project contributed to peacebuilding through environmental cooperation and strengthened local food security.

The document outlines the framework for the Private Sector Pledge for Zero Hunger, inviting companies to make non-binding financial commitments in high-impact areas and priority countries. It details four types of financial contributions—core commercial investments, subsidized contributions, cash, and in-kind contributions—and emphasizes alignment with national priorities and evidence-based interventions. The guide specifies that investments must be new and aligned with the Ceres2030 investment domains. It also establishes a reporting mechanism linked to the World Benchmarking Alliance's Food and Agriculture Benchmark (FAB) to track progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 2.

The document describes the Community-based Risk Screening Tool (CRiSTAL), a decision-support application used to integrate climate adaptation into local projects. It outlines the tool's objective to analyze how climate hazards affect livelihoods and project activities, its three-phase analytical approach, and the various training and consultancy services provided by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and its partners.

The IISD provides advisory services to developing countries on sustainable agricultural investment and voluntary sustainability standards. It has produced an analytical framework tracking agricultural economies in 117 countries and is pursuing goals for 2020 including gender equality in land-based investment, seed law analysis, and the Ceres2030 project to cost interventions for ending hunger.

The IISD provides advisory services to developing countries on sustainable agriculture investments and voluntary sustainability standards to protect rural livelihoods and land rights. The organization produces analytical frameworks to track agricultural transformation in Africa and Asia, promotes gender equality in land-based investments, and analyzes seed laws and intellectual property. Additionally, the IISD collaborates on trade policy analysis for the WTO and the Ceres2030 project, which estimates the public investment costs required to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger).

The IISD provides multidisciplinary research and participatory risk management to help governments and communities transition from crisis to sustainability. Its work focuses on integrating climate adaptation into decision-making, addressing environmental drivers of conflict in fragile states, and securing agricultural value chains against climate uncertainty.

The document asserts that a green economy is impossible without efficient water stewardship, proposing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as the primary entry point for solving linked water, energy, and food security challenges. It emphasizes the need for new water targets, polycentric governance to manage transboundary water flows, and the use of earth observations for monitoring. The Lake Winnipeg Bioeconomy Project is cited as a model for linking hydrologic and nutrient cycles to provide renewable feedstock and ecosystem benefits.

The paper examines the systemic vulnerabilities of pastoralists, who manage approximately 25 percent of the world's land area. It argues that conflict in these regions is driven by a combination of ecological shocks, the encroachment of agricultural frontiers, and the political marginalization of herding communities by state governments. Using a sustainable livelihoods framework, the authors identify threats to natural, financial, physical, human, social, and political capital. The document concludes that technical interventions alone are insufficient; sustainable peace requires integrating pastoralists into wider societal and political structures, protecting their mobility and resource access, and empowering their political representation.

The briefing describes the 'water-energy-food (WEF) nexus'—defined by quality, quantity, and sustainable access—and how mining operations can threaten these securities through water pollution, land competition, and energy demands. IISD proposes a framework combining participatory approaches, hydrological modelling, and the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to identify key indicators for monitoring WEF security. This approach is currently being applied to the Maripaston Gold Mine project in Suriname to safeguard the livelihoods of indigenous and maroon communities.

The briefing argues that traditional, siloed approaches to water, energy, and food security are unsustainable and can lead to unintended consequences. It advocates for the 'Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus' approach, which recognizes the critical interconnections between these three essentials. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) applies this framework through watershed-based management in Canada—specifically using cattail harvesting in the Lake Winnipeg watershed to provide bioenergy and reduce phosphorus—and by engaging stakeholders in Suriname to assess the impacts of mining on WEF systems using both outcome-based and process-based indicators.

The Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge is a non-binding initiative launched ahead of the September 2021 UN Food Systems Summit to align private sector operations and investments with evidence-based interventions to end hunger. Companies participating in the pledge must make financial commitments in specific high-impact areas and priority countries, comply with international human rights and agricultural principles, and agree to public progress tracking by the World Benchmarking Alliance. As of September 20, 2021, 42 companies have pledged over USD 345 million across 34 countries. The initiative focuses on three key pillars: empowering the excluded, investing in food producers, and reducing losses while supporting SMEs, with a planned sunset date in 2030.

Madagascar has implemented a national organic agriculture strategy and Law No. 2020-003 to transition traditional farming into a certified organic sector. Supported by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the government is piloting 'Organic Agricultural Territories' (TVAB) in the Diana, Sava, and Analanjirofo regions to achieve economies of scale and ensure product integrity for export. Between 2020 and 2024, organic farming area grew by over 60%, increasing from 103,817 to 169,893 hectares, while the number of organic producers rose to 62,000.

The 2022 WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, which entered into force in September 2025, prohibits subsidies for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and overexploited stocks. However, it does not address the broader structural causes of overcapacity. The upcoming MC14 in Yaoundé, Cameroon, is a critical juncture for negotiating 'Phase 2' disciplines. Failure to adopt these additional rules by September 2029 will trigger a sunset clause, potentially terminating the entire 2022 agreement.

The document outlines the framework for the Private Sector Commitment to "Zero Hunger," a non-binding initiative encouraging companies to align investments with science-based evidence to end hunger by 2030. It details four types of financial commitments—core commercial investments, subsidized contributions, cash, and in-kind contributions—and requires alignment with at least one of ten high-impact intervention areas and one priority country or region. The guide emphasizes national ownership, requiring companies to partner with governments or recommended international organizations like the FAO or WFP. Progress is monitored through annual reports and the World Benchmarking Alliance's Food and Agriculture Benchmark (FAB).

The document reports that Malawi is on track to meet five of the eight Millennium Development Goals, attributing this progress to the alignment of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) with the MDGs. Key successes include a shift from being a net food importer to a net exporter through targeted fertilizer and seed subsidies, as well as improvements in child health and immunization services. The paper emphasizes the role of political will and the contextualization of global goals into national poverty reduction strategies, while calling for development partners to better integrate their programming into Malawi's national frameworks.

The document asserts that Africa is vulnerable to the dual pressures of climate change and population growth due to its deep dependency on natural resources, entrenched poverty, and a history of agricultural failure during droughts. It calls for collaborative efforts to address deforestation, urban management, and food security.

The brief uses International Futures (IFs) software to model scenarios where Africa could become a net food exporter within 10 years through aggressive policy interventions. However, it warns that increasing production alone may lead to food exports benefiting rich countries while local hunger persists. To ensure human development, the authors argue that a green revolution must be coupled with programs to increase low-income consumption and improvements in water and sanitation to prevent diarrheal diseases from undermining health gains.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MoAFS) in Lesotho faces significant vulnerabilities due to HIV/AIDS, characterized by high attrition rates among professional and technical staff and a lack of a comprehensive internal response framework. While the government mandates a 2% budget allocation for HIV/AIDS activities, the MoAFS has struggled to utilize these funds effectively due to a lack of programming skills and coordination. The epidemic has increased the demand for food aid and nutritional services while simultaneously reducing the supply of agricultural services as illness and death deplete the specialized workforce. Despite the establishment of a coordinating committee in 2004, the ministry's response remains largely community-oriented, with limited focus on workplace prevention and support for its own employees.

The document examines the evolution of environmental security, critiquing 'statist' models that view environmental scarcity primarily as a threat to the state. It proposes a 'human security' framework, specifically applying a Sustainable Livelihoods approach to understand how land access and tenure systems in Africa influence poverty and conflict. The author highlights that in southern Africa, colonial legacies of land dispossession and current 'opportunistic land grabbing' by elites exacerbate insecurity. The paper concludes that sustainable security requires moving beyond technical fixes to address the underlying power imbalances, governance failures, and social injustices that drive environmental and human insecurity.