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The document provides a data visualization of the top 15 coffee-producing countries in 2016, comparing their harvest areas and the prevalence of VSS-compliant production areas.

The document lists the top 15 oil palm-producing countries as of 2016, including major producers such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea, while categorizing them based on harvest area and VSS compliance.

The briefing examines the 2012 Senegalese presidential election, highlighting how electoral integrity and a neutral military prevented the violence often associated with third-term bids in West Africa. Despite President Abdoulaye Wade's attempts to secure a third term through constitutional manipulation, he received only 34.8% of the vote in the first round, while the opposition collectively secured approximately 60%. The author identifies voter dissatisfaction with systemic corruption, power failures, and social inequality as primary drivers for change, and suggests that the Senegalese experience provides a lesson for the rest of Africa on the importance of transparent electoral bodies in ensuring peaceful power transitions.

The briefing examines the paradigm of humanitarian intervention and the 'responsibility to protect' (R2P) in post-cold war Africa. The author contends that these interventions often fail to address deep-seated inequalities and may inadvertently prolong conflicts by creating truces that allow weaker parties to rearm. The text suggests that non-intervention—allowing a conflict to reach a military conclusion—or targeted political and credible protection missions may be more effective alternatives for achieving durable peace.

The Mano River Basin, comprising Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Guinea, faces fragile peace threatened by the movement of displaced people, failed post-conflict reintegration, and illicit trade. While UN peacekeeping missions in Sierra Leone and Liberia have seen success with DDR processes, the region remains a concern for the West due to links between resource trade and terrorism, such as Al Qaeda's diamond trade with the RUF. The author argues that sustainable peace requires a shift in focus toward the dynamics of displacement and international trade rather than solely reacting to terrorist threats.

This research paper by the Institute for Security Studies provides updated scenarios regarding the deteriorating security situation in Angola, focusing on the failure of the Lusaka Peace Accords and the economic instability caused by falling oil prices.

The author argues that DDR processes often fail because they prioritize the visible technical aspects of disarmament and demobilisation over the difficult task of reintegration. In West Africa and the Great Lakes region, 'conflict economies' and the desire of local actors to retain power undermine peace accords. The document suggests that without transitioning from a conflict economy to a peace economy and addressing political grievances, DDR cannot prevent a return to violence.

The report details the outcomes of a conference held in Jinja, Uganda, from 11 to 13 March 2009, focusing on the impact of HIV and AIDS on African armed forces. It argues that the pandemic threatens regional security and development, specifically noting that recruitment policies based on health factors can lead to "grossly diminished soldier’s combat readiness." The participants recommend the creation of an African Network on HIV and AIDS in the military to spearhead a unified policy (CCAAHM) covering recruitment, the care of HIV-positive soldiers, and guidelines for peacekeeping deployments. Key proposed actions include adopting a common policy for control and prevention, integrating voluntary counseling and testing (VCCT) in pre-deployment, and conducting human rights assessments of HIV-related military policies.

The research identifies a cycle of instability in the Mano River Basin driven by extreme poverty, porous borders, and the failure to effectively reintegrate ex-combatants. It highlights how natural resources like diamonds and timber are leveraged by warlords and terror networks to fund conflict, and how the lack of economic opportunities for youth makes them susceptible to recruitment as mercenaries. The document argues that sustainable peace requires coordinated sub-regional efforts in disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR), alongside the economic empowerment of youth and the regulation of the extractive industries to prevent corporate security forces from becoming new militias.

The document serves as a teaching module on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the domestic prosecution of international crimes. It details the ICC's evolution, its four primary organs, and the complex jurisdictional triggers and admissibility requirements, specifically the principle of complementarity. It further analyzes the tension between the ICC's mandate and state immunities, particularly regarding the Rome Statute's Articles 27 and 98. Finally, it compares how South Africa, Botswana, and Malawi incorporate international crimes into their national laws, highlighting South Africa's more comprehensive implementing legislation compared to the limited Geneva Conventions Acts in Botswana and Malawi.

The monograph examines the transition of private military and security companies (PMSCs) from combat-oriented 'markets for force' to support-oriented 'markets for peace' in Africa. It analyzes the legal ambiguities surrounding PMSC status under international humanitarian law, the challenges of accountability and transparency in hybrid missions in countries like Liberia and Sudan, and the tension between the pragmatic need for private capacity and the moral concerns regarding the privatization of state security functions. The authors propose a 'steering and rowing' framework to ensure that the UN and AU maintain strategic control while utilizing private firms for non-core technical and logistical support.

Mighty Earth's report characterizes Cargill as a primary driver of environmental and human rights catastrophes globally. The document details the company's failure to meet its own sustainability commitments, specifically regarding deforestation in the Amazon, Cerrado, and Gran Chaco, as well as the use of child labor in West African cocoa production. It further highlights Cargill's pollution of US air and water and its history of food safety negligence, while urging major clients like McDonald's and Ahold Delhaize to sever ties with the company to force systemic change.

The report by Mighty Earth characterizes Cargill as a major contributor to global deforestation, climate change, and human rights violations. It details the company's role in destroying the Amazon and Gran Chaco ecosystems for soy production, the use of child labor in West African cocoa production, and significant pollution of air and water in the United States. The document highlights a pattern of 'misleading' corporate pledges by CEO David MacLennan, noting that the company often resists expanding sustainability protections to new regions like the Brazilian Cerrado. It specifically criticizes major clients such as Ahold Delhaize, McDonald's, and Sysco for continuing to support Cargill despite their own public sustainability commitments.

The report by Mighty Earth characterizes Cargill as a major contributor to global environmental and human rights crises. It details the company's role in the deforestation of the Amazon, Cerrado, and Gran Chaco for soy production, as well as illegal deforestation in West African national parks for cocoa. The document alleges systemic failures in Cargill's sustainability promises, citing continued use of child slave labor in cocoa harvests and severe water and air pollution in the United States. It concludes that corporate customers like McDonald's and Ahold Delhaize are complicit by continuing to source from Cargill despite the company's documented record of deception and ecological damage.

The report details how the cashew boom in Côte d'Ivoire has transformed diverse savannas into 'green deserts,' leading to significant primary forest loss and threatening endangered species like the Western chimpanzee. It highlights a dangerous trade-off where increased cash income from cashews has replaced traditional food crops, leaving rural households vulnerable to market crashes and food insecurity. Additionally, it documents health risks for factory workers, primarily women, who suffer caustic burns from cashew nut shell oil. The authors call for full supply chain traceability and stricter regulations in consuming markets like the US and EU to prevent deforestation-linked imports.

The NAP Global Network has partnered with 13 countries since 2017 to integrate gender considerations into National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes, supporting the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan. The network provides support through targeted gender analysis, the development of gender-responsive strategies, increasing participation in decision-making, and establishing institutional arrangements. Specific examples of progress include gender and human rights analysis in the Marshall Islands, a gender integration strategy for Ghana's Green Climate Fund NAP readiness project, a Memorandum of Understanding between gender and climate ministries in Côte d’Ivoire, and storytelling training for women in Kenya.

Between 2018 and 2020, Côte d'Ivoire implemented several measures to mainstream gender into climate action, including the creation of a National Gender and Climate Change Strategy 2020–2024 and the inclusion of gender as a cross-cutting theme in the revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). These efforts were supported by an assessment for a Green Climate Fund (GCF) funding proposal for the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process and the provision of national gender advisors to the Ministry of Environment.

The document examines the gap between the IUCN's formal commitment to protect environmental defenders via Resolution 115 and the actual implementation of a global policy and action plan. It highlights the extreme risks faced by defenders globally and specifically in Africa, including gender-based violence against women defenders and the criminalization of activists. While noting a few regional projects and the importance of IUCN's public statements, the report argues that the organization remains largely reactive and lacks a systematic strategy, funding, and reporting mechanism to address the structural drivers of violence against those protecting nature.

The research finds that while Libyan arms significantly enhanced the military capacity of insurgents in Mali and the Sinai, the overall proliferation was less destabilizing and widespread than initially feared, abating after 2013 due to international interventions and increased domestic demand within Libya.

The research evaluates three dimensions of state capacity—coercion (revenue extraction), co-optation (government spending), and cooperation (trust in institutions)—to determine their impact on the onset of civil war. Using a global dataset, the authors find that high government spending and trustworthy institutions (proxied by contract-intensive money) are significant predictors of civil peace, whereas coercive capacity (relative political capacity) has little predictive power when controlling for other factors. The findings suggest that civil peace is co-produced through social cooperation and the provision of public goods rather than through state repression.