This report explores the potential to diversify intra-regional trade in Eastern and Southern Africa countries (Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Burundi), with special reference to the COMESA regional market. More specifically, three critical issues were analyzed.

Land degradation, declining soil fertility, and erosion continue to plague agricultural production in many developing countries. In response to these farm production constraints and environmental challenges, a range of soil conservation technologies and practices have been developed and disseminated to tackle soil nutrient and fertility declines.

Achieving gender and social equality in agri-food systems can result in greater food security and better nutrition for all—and transform food systems to be more just, resilient and sustainable. Equitable food systems are essential to achieving SDG 5, whose gender equality goal is intrinsically valuable and whose achievement supports progress across all other SDGs.

Climate change affects every aspect of the food system, including all nodes along agrifood value chains from production to consumption, the food environments in which people live, and outcomes, such as diets and livelihoods.

A third of the land on the Earth is composed of grasslands, mainly used for forage. Much effort is being conducted to develop tools to estimate grassland productivity (GP) at different extents, concentrating on spatial and seasonal variability pertaining to climate change.

Climate variability and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts continue to increase due to climate change. These changes will have significant impacts on low- and middle-income countries. Without transformative climate adaptation solutions, millions of smallholder farmers will face severe losses because of increased climate variability.

"Shamba Shape Up" is a popular television show in East Africa that focuses on agricultural education and improvement. The show features a team of experts who visit different farms, providing practical demonstrations and advice to farmers on various aspects of agriculture, such as livestock rearing, crop cultivation, farm management techniques, and sustainable practices.

The workshop provided overview on the food systems landscape in Kenya, and to identify opportunities to inform inputs on crop diversification, livestock, land use expansion, and irrigation. It also contributed immensely into policy and stakeholder mapping exercise in Kenya.

Plant genetic resources (PGR), including collections held in national and international gene banks, provide access to a wide array of genetic diversity and are critical to genomics research, conservation efforts, and applied breeding.

This perspective describes the opportunities and challenges of data-driven approaches for crop diversity management (genebanks and breeding) in the context of agricultural research for sustainable development in the Global South. Data-driven approaches build on larger volumes of data and flexible analyses that link different datasets across domains and disciplines. This can lead