Environmental Defense Fund’s latest blog post examines why reducing livestock methane is considered one of the most significant near-term opportunities for climate action. The article discusses available methane-reduction solutions, the need for approaches tailored to different farming systems, and the support farmers need to adopt these practices successfully.
We are excited to announce the Round 7 recipients of Climate, Food and Farming – Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Development Scholarships (CLIFF-GRADS). These PhD candidates from low- and middle-income countries have been selected from a large and highly competitive applicant pool, reflecting their outstanding qualifications and strong potential to advance agricultural climate research.
During 2026 and 2027, these fellows will undertake applied research focused on quantifying and mitigating agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to more sustainable food systems.
The 40 Round 7 CLIFF-GRADS fellows represent 21 countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. They will carry out research placements at 33 host institutions worldwide.
CLIFF-GRADS offers short-term research placements of 4 to 6 months. These placements give early-career scientists access to specialized equipment, software, and international expertise not available at their home institutions. Fellows contribute to cutting-edge research in areas such as enteric methane, rice systems, soil emissions, and blue carbon ecosystems.
Please follow this LINK to learn about the scholars and research projects they’ll be part of.
One Health in agrifood systems: Recognition for good practices, success stories and innovations in applying the One Health approach
As part of this year’s Global Conference for Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems, FAO will celebrate best practices and outstanding innovations advancing the One Health approach across agrifood systems. Through this recognition, we will shine a spotlight on pioneering efforts from stakeholders across agrifood systems – showcasing impactful solutions and inspiring future action toward integrated, inclusive, sustainable, and health-oriented agrifood systems.
Objectives
This recognition aims to promote successfully implemented good practices and outstanding innovations in One Health in agrifood systems that have demonstrated significant measurable impact, and to inspire continued innovation through global stakeholder collaboration.
Scope
The Global Conference will recognize practices, success stories and solutions that represent significant advancements or innovations in One Health approaches and sustainable livestock transformation across the entire value chain, successfully implemented at scale in villages, communities, and cities across the world.
These may include new technologies, systems, practices, or solutions that improve efficiency and support action on One Health in agrifood systems and the sustainable transformation of the livestock value chain, encompassing food security, greenhouse gas mitigation, animal health and welfare, antimicrobial resistance, sustainable livestock farming systems, Indigenous Peoples and pastoralist knowledge systems, women and girls empowerment, capacity development for small-scale producers, finance, post-processing, and policy support.
Eligibility
The conference welcomes applications from institutions, international and regional organizations, academic or research entities, civil society groups, and private sector entities. Applications from women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples are particularly encouraged. FAO employees are not eligible to apply.
Selection process
An international panel of experts nominated by FAO will assess the applications, with attention to inclusive and balanced representation across regions, genders, expertise fields, disciplines, and stakeholder groups.
Evaluations will be based on the following criteria:
Impact and practical application: Demonstrated real-world results and effectiveness.
Innovation and originality: Novelty and uniqueness of the proposed approach.
Inclusivity and social impact: Contribution to gender equality, youth engagement, Indigenous communities’ involvement.
Scalability and replicability: Potential for adoption and implementation across diverse contexts and regions.
Sustainability: Contribution to long-term resilience in agrifood systems.
Recognition, demonstration and ceremony
Recipients will receive official recognition at the FAO Global Conference for Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems, to be held from 21–23 September 2026 at FAO headquarters. A dedicated technical presentation session and innovation pitch talk will be organized as a special event.
The Global Research Alliance (GRA), the African Climate Action Partnership (AfCAP), and the Government of New Zealand co-hosted this webinar to showcase the achievements of the New Zealand Climate Smart Agriculture (NZCSA) Initiative. The session highlights the initiatives key capability-building efforts across Africa focused on improving agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, and the important role of the AfCAP Livestock Community of Practice. Through the NZCSA Initiative, technical work in ten countries has progressed beyond default emissions estimates to more advanced Tier 2 methodologies, enabling more accurate and country-specific data.
The Speakers
Moderator: Sinead Leahy (Livestock Research Group Co-Chair, GRA) Opening remarks and Context setting
Speaker 1: Andreas Wilkes (Independent consultant, Values for Development Ltd) NZCSA inventory improvement approach and impact across 10 countries
Speaker 2: Walter Svinurai (University of Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe’s progress, policy relevance and regional connections
Speaker 3: Séga Ndao (Director of ISRA/CRZ Dahra – AfCAP/Livestock CoP) Regional Inventory improvement and bilateral exchanges in West Africa
Speaker 4: Roy Bouwer (Programme Lead, South South North) Regional collaboration in Southern and Eastern Africa and the AfCAP Livestock CoP
A video recording of the webinar are now available to view HERE
We’re proud to share the session recordings from the 2026 New Zealand Agriculture and Climate Change Conference!
The recordings cover a wide range of topics, from the latest research and innovation to practical conversations about the opportunities and challenges ahead for reducing agricultural emissions in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Global Research Alliance (GRA) & the African Climate Action Partnership (AfCAP) cordially invite you to register for our upcoming webinar on “Strengthening livestock GHG inventories in Africa: Lessons from the NZ CSA Initiative”. This engaging session will bring together inventory and livestock experts, national inventory compilers, researchers, government officials, and development partners involved in agricultural GHG measurement and reporting to gain practical insights into how African countries are strengthening agricultural GHG inventories through Tier 2 approaches. Attendees will also learn about the benefits and challenges of these transitions, their policy relevance, the value of regional collaboration, and hear directly from Zimbabwe’s experience.
Webinar Overview:
This session will showcase key capability-building activities in Africa, centred on improving agricultural GHG inventories, and the role of the AFCAP Livestock Community of Practice. Under the NZ Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Initiative, technical work in ten countries has moved beyond default emissions estimates to full Tier 2 approaches. The webinar will highlight the practical benefits and challenges of Tier upgrades, their policy relevance, the value of regional collaboration through AFCAP, and insights from the Zimbabwean government.
Event Details
Title: Strengthening livestock GHG inventories in Africa: Lessons from the NZ CSA Initiative
The HoloRuminant Joint Dissemination Network (JDN) consists of 5 projects representing a complementary effort to reduce the environmental and climate footprint of livestock production - while guaranteeing genetic diversity and efficient production in a more constrained environment - by focusing on the mitigation of GHG emissions improving the health and welfare of farmed animals and increasing the sustainability of animal production systems. The project group joins forces to provide an environment to optimize and share efforts. The network will host a webinar series to showcase the different…
This webinar is being organised by the FAO Technical Network on Sustainable Crop Production and Agroecology. Organic Matter Management Webinar Series: Options to contribute to sustainable production systems and the SDGs The consensus on the urgent need for a global transition to agrifood systems that ensure food and nutrition security for all, while reversing environmental degradation and adapting to climate change was ratified at the UN food systems summit in 2021. It was also recognized that tackling such transitions requires…
This webinar is being organised by the Scientific and Technical Committee of "4per1000" The International 4per1000 initiative presents Soil Carbon Science Webinar Series. Join us for an insightful webinar on the role of soil organic carbon (SOC) in maintaining soil functions and mitigating climate change. SOC plays a vital role in crop production, nutrient and water cycling, carbon storage, and habitat for soil biodiversity. Recent developments have defined SOC into two operational fractions: particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic…
Managing organic resources in a changing environmentThe 18th international RAMIRAN conference will be held in the historic university city of Cambridge, UK, from 12–14 September 2023. Recycling of Agricultural, Municipal and Industrial Residues in Agriculture Network (RAMIRAN) is a research and expertise network that was set up more than 25 years ago to improve nutrient utilisation and minimise the environmental impact of livestock manure and other organic material used in agricultural systems. This conference was last held in 2017 and…
This virtual session is part of the Science Summit at UNGA78. Climate-smart Approaches to enhance Ruminant/Livestock production efficiency and Food production systems The state of Africa’s livestock agriculture and its vulnerability to climate risk is an ongoing matter of importance, not only for the continent but also for the global world. Climate change is a reality that will result in higher temperatures and more extreme events such as droughts, floods, higher temperatures and more heat waves, which will affect the…
SAVE THE DATE! The Circular Food Systems Network is organising a webinar this coming September on indications for circular food systems. On September 15th, we would like to discuss with you the questions: can we measure circularity? How would we do that? And what are the limitations of using indicators? Indicators are a way to measure circularity of a food system, but are there alternatives? How important is it to measure circularity? How important is it to make circularity measurable…
The HoloRuminant Joint Dissemination Network (JDN) consists of 5 projects representing a complementary effort to reduce the environmental and climate footprint of livestock production - while guaranteeing genetic diversity and efficient production in a more constrained environment - by focusing on the mitigation of GHG emissions improving the health and welfare of farmed animals and increasing the sustainability of animal production systems. The project group joins forces to provide an environment to optimize and share efforts. Registration details for all webinars can be found HERE.
FAO is organizing the first ever Global Conference on Sustainable Livestock Transformation from 25 to 27 September 2023 at FAO headquarters, Rome. The event will provide a neutral forum for representatives of FAO Members, producer organizations, research and academic institutions, development agencies, civil society organizations and private sector bodies to engage in dialogues on innovations and pathways to efficiently produce more nutritious, safe and accessible animal source foods with a reduced environmental footprint, and contribute to vibrant local and diversified…
FAO are pleased to invite you to the launch event of the FAO report “Methane emissions in livestock and rice systems: Sources, quantification, mitigation and metrics”. This highly anticipated event is organized within the framework of the FAO Global Conference on Sustainable Livestock Transformation and marks a historic moment as FAO, in collaboration with its Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership, unveils an exhaustive report that delves into methane emissions within livestock and rice systems. During the event, the…
The African Paddy Rice Research Group (PRRG) is holding its introductory annual meeting on 26 September 2023. The meeting‘s theme is "Overview of rice production practices for low emission outcomes". The discussions will focus on how African countries can work together by sharing experiences of good practices for rice cultivation to reduce emissions. This meeting is invitation only. However, the APRRG welcomes new members with expertise in this area. Please email [email protected] if you are interested in attending this meeting,…
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ANAPRI welcomes you to a Webinar on Fertiliser and Soil Health in the context of Shocks and Policy Responses (SPR). Date: 28th September 2023 at 3pm CAT. In collaboration with: ACTESA-COMESA and MSU FtF PRCI IL
