Tropical forests are usually associated with deforestation and exploitation. But this sustainable timber company settled in the countryside of Mozambique is hacking the way forward.

Many farmers have excellent produce. However, that's not enough.

REDD+ has been severely challenged in living up to its expectations. Can investing in sustainable entrepreneurship correct the flaws?

Practically speaking, bioeconomy is still in its infancy, but it’s already clear that moving into this direction will increase demand for forest-based products. How to avoid adverse impacts?

Biodiversity loss narrows down the possibilities we have to discover innovative solutions to a sustainable food system. It reduces our chances to succeed.

International deforestation curbing policy infrastructure is well developed. It includes the New York Declaration on Forests, the Bonn Challenge, Initiative 20x20, AFR100 and now also the UN Strategic Plan on Forests 2017-2030, just to mention a few of its components. These are all great, but throwing billions at conservation and afforestation won’t work without making agriculture sustainable and zero-deforestation.

Unlike oranges or apples, NUS species perform well under extreme weather conditions and adapt easily. Neglected species are insurance crops that will provide in difficult times, and apart from immediate effect on famine prevention, underutilized species are also donors of genes for future climate-proof plant breeding.

Droughts, heat, erratic rainfall and floods can leave cows, sheep and goats with little to graze on. Changing climate will affect production of feed for livestock too. Harsh and extreme weather conditions can also reduce reproductive ability and undermine health of animals.

In the next decade agricultural development in Africa will occur against a backdrop of dynamic changes in global, regional and national economies, driven by rapid globalization, increasing demand for strategic resources, instabilities affecting agro-food and energy systems and, not the least, by the growing population.

Four years ago in Bonn, world leaders set a goal of restoring 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded lands by 2020.