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This report argues that transforming gender relations in sub-Saharan African agriculture is essential for improving agricultural productivity, food security, and overall human development. It posits a causal link between gender equality in households and communities and better agricultural outcomes, asserting that standard development interventions cannot fully succeed unless women and men are on equal footing.

The text outlines a strategy for gender transformation in Sub-Saharan African agriculture by moving away from "power over" dynamics toward "power with," "power to," and "power within." It introduces a conceptual framework based on three interconnected dimensions: agency (the ability to make and act on choices), structure (the visible laws and invisible cultural norms), and relations (the networks and partnerships individuals form). The author argues that targeted projects for women often fail if they do not simultaneously address access to productive assets and the broader social structures that restrict women's decision-making power. The framework emphasizes that sustainable change requires engaging men as allies and coordinating actions across individual, household, community, and institutional levels.

The report examines how household methodologies that address gender inequalities can improve agricultural outcomes and household resilience in sub-Saharan Africa. It details three specific case studies: the Agricultural Support Programme (ASP) in Zambia, which focused on 'Farming as a Business'; the Household Gender Analysis for Gender Transformation in Ethiopia, which used participatory tools to visualize labor and privilege; and the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) in Uganda, which integrated individual visioning with coffee value chain development. The findings indicate that while these approaches successfully shift intra-household roles and improve joint decision-making, they often struggle to address structural inequalities such as land ownership and wider cultural norms without complementary external interventions.

The text examines the barriers women face in accessing land in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically the limitations of customary land tenure and 'gender-neutral' reforms. It highlights that direct land access improves household food security and provides essential collateral for credit. Through case studies in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, the document demonstrates how legal reforms, grassroots activism, and community-level 'Watchdog Groups' can secure women's land rights, while emphasizing that legal changes must be accompanied by shifts in social norms and provision of agricultural inputs to be effective.

The document serves as a guide for designing agricultural development efforts that empower both women and men in Sub-Saharan Africa. It originated from a process initiated by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative (SIANI) to move beyond the analysis of gender roles toward devising mechanisms for changing attitudes and roles to support food security, agricultural sector growth, and poverty alleviation. The report includes analytical frameworks and case studies covering topics such as land rights, value chains, household methodologies, and 'climate-smart' agriculture.

The document outlines revisions made to a systematic review protocol following stakeholder consultation in late 2020. Key changes include narrowing the geographic focus to sub-Saharan Africa, refining the set of analyzed funders to include specific bilateral and multilateral sources, and updating the search strategy to prioritize project names over specific climate hazards. The review team also introduced a causal-process-tracing theory of change (pToC) to better visualize links between interventions and outcomes, while clarifying that only projects with adaptation as a principal objective will be included.

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 analyzes how rigid gender norms, lack of capital, and limited asset ownership prevent women from benefiting from agricultural commercialization in Sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights that women often perform the bulk of the labor but lack control over the resulting income, which can lead to poor product quality and reduced household nutrition. The document provides a strategic framework for interventions, ranging from professionalizing traditional 'women's crops' to redistributive actions that challenge male-dominated chains. Case studies from Kenya (SHEP) and Zimbabwe (ZOPPA) demonstrate that combining gender awareness training with technical capacity building and organic certification can improve income parity and market access for women farmers.

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.

Dr. Juan Declet-Barreto highlights that nations with the lowest contributions to the climate crisis, particularly in the Global South and Small Islands, suffer disproportionately due to exposure and inequitable development. He asserts that marginalized groups based on income, race, ethnicity, gender, or colonization will continue to face the most severe losses and damages. He calls for policymakers to prioritize equitable solutions, integrate Indigenous and local knowledge, and demands that wealthy nations, specifically the United States, provide financial reparations for historic emissions.

To meet projected global demand, aquaculture production must increase from 67 million tons in 2012 to approximately 140 million tons by 2050. While this growth could provide 14 percent of the additional animal protein needed by 2050, it poses significant environmental challenges. The report finds that 'business as usual' growth would likely double most environmental impacts, though specific scenarios involving renewable energy and improved efficiency could mitigate these effects. The authors recommend a combination of technological innovation in breeding and feeds, spatial planning, shifted incentives, advanced information technology for monitoring, and a dietary shift toward low-trophic species like tilapia and carp to ensure sustainable intensification.

The document examines the role of local financial institutions (LFIs) in East Africa in financing the productive use of renewable energy (PURE), particularly for SMEs and the agricultural sector. While there is strong interest in expanding PURE lending, LFIs face constraints such as limited staff capacity, credit risks, and insufficient funding. The paper suggests that 17 surveyed LFIs require $174 million to expand their lending and recommends a shift toward more direct lending from balance sheets, the use of green bonds, and collaboration with development partners for de-risking instruments.

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.

The analysis identifies 105 cities with populations over one million across 34 Global South countries where electrification is currently a viable low-carbon strategy. Suitability is determined by a minimum 90 percent urban electricity access rate and a carbon intensity of electricity supply below 600 tCO2e/GWh. While all South American cities meet these criteria, suitability is significantly lower in sub-Saharan Africa (3 out of 40 cities) and South and East Asia (26 out of 202 cities).

The document outlines a methodology for tracking nature-based solutions (NBS) investments in sub-Saharan Africa by scanning multilateral development bank portfolios. Between 2012 and 2021, the World Bank and African Development Bank led 85 NBS-related projects with combined total budgets of $12.1 billion, of which $4.5 billion was specifically for NBS components. The research identifies Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the countries with the highest project counts and notes that NBS are being used to address urban flooding, coastal flooding, and water security while providing co-benefits for biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

The document highlights that Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where fertility rates remain significantly above replacement level, with a projected population increase to 2.1 billion by 2050. It argues that accelerating the decline to a replacement level of 2.1 children per woman would reduce the 2050 population by approximately 390 million people, thereby easing food demand, reducing the need for cropland expansion, and creating a 'demographic dividend' for economic growth. The paper advocates for non-coercive strategies, specifically improving girls' education, reproductive health access, and child mortality rates.

The report finds that public international funding for nature-based solutions for adaptation (NbSA) is relatively small, totaling US$3.88.7 billion in 2018. This amount represents only 0.61.4 percent of total climate finance flows. Funding is dominated by grants and a small number of bilateral donors, with Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Central Asia receiving about 50 percent of the total. Key barriers to scaling NbSA include the lack of common definitions, a dearth of metrics to value benefits, and a misalignment between donor funding instruments and the long-term operational costs of projects. The authors recommend scaling and better tracking ODA, aligning funding with project needs, developing standardized valuation metrics, and supporting the development of project pipelines in developing countries.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) provides an analysis of global adaptation finance based on the Global Landscape of Climate Finance. It examines the sources, instruments, and sectoral distribution of adaptation funding for 2015-2016, identifies significant data gaps in private and domestic public sector reporting, and offers recommendations to improve tracking methodologies to better align investments with climate vulnerabilities.

The African Cities Water Adaptation Fund (ACWA Fund) aims to leverage $5 billion by 2032 to implement urban water resilience projects in 100 African cities. The fund employs a blended finance model—combining grants, concessional loans, equity, and debt—to support the full project lifecycle, from risk-based city water plans to the creation of standardized toolkits for scalable solutions. It focuses on an 'investment menu' of low-cost, replicable solutions such as nature-based solutions for flood and wastewater management, rainwater harvesting, and on-site sanitation.

The roadmap argues that average annual solar investment must more than double between 2021 and 2030 to meet Paris climate goals and net zero targets. It identifies three primary barriers to scaling: a lack of enabling policies and regulations, inadequate bankable project pipelines, and risk-management challenges. To address these, the report recommends that governments partner with financial institutions to improve investment readiness and that international bodies—such as the International Solar Alliance and IRENA—coordinate on risk mitigation, regulatory best practices, and the standardization of solar finance tracking.