Dear AgriFoSe2030 friends,

A very warm welcome to this newsletter covering the first quarter of 2024 in which we will inform you on the latest AgriFoSe2030 updates! I strongly belief that strategic partnerships and efficient resource mobilisation are crucial for achieving the main objective of promoting sustainable agricultural transformation and rural development throughout Africa, and South and South East Asia.

As the second phase of AgriFoSe2030 draws to a close, it is evident that the programme is producing encouraging outcomes and that the manner of operation is working. A number of change stories have been reported, some of which you can read in this newsletter, and the programme has effectively engaged the media in disseminating effective interventions/solution to problems facing smallholder farmers. Worth noting is The East African Standard, a newspaper that covers happenings in the East African region, featured the subject of traditional vegetables in Kenya as one example of a transformation project on the governance of urban food systems. Published in this kind of print media, the work attracted a sizable readership in the region.

This newsletter also covers a wide range of other topics: Media engagement event, Change stories focusing on goats in Laos, promotion of sorghum-cowpea intercropping systems in South Africa, and transformative rangeland management practices in Kenya.

I would like to encourage you to visit our website: www.slu.se/agrifose if you have missed any of our earlier newsletter and the updates on AgriFoSe2030 programme.

For now, I wish you lots of reading pleasure!

Assoc Prof Cecilia Onyango

Deputy Progamme Director

Why does science communication matter?

AgriFoSe2030 project boosts livestock management and environmental conservation

The AgriFoSe2030 project "TRAMAP" within Challenge 2 has been a successful collaborative effort between pastoralists, agro-pastoralists, scientists, and local authorities in Samburu County, Kenya, and shown promising results to empower agricultural productivity and develop sustainable rangeland management.

The native land grabber – Vachellia reficiens's proliferation in rangelands

One of the main focuses in the TRAMAP project is to reduce the spread of the species Vachellia Reficiens to be able to increase biodiversity. The V reficiens is a native species in most part of Samburu East. The local community described V. reficiens as a ‘land grabber’ because where the species grow, there are no pastures for livestock and wildlife and creates soil surface crusting  which exacerbates flooding, soil erosion and low herbaceous plant biodiversity.