GIS targeting, combining a range of different datasets including climate, topography, population, protected areas, road networks, agricultural production, and markets, is becoming an important tool in planning agricultural research for development. The impact of agricultural investments can be maximized by targeting them to areas where biophysical conditions are optimal for selected crops, and where population densities and market access maximize the economic possibilities. Targeting can be tailored to specific institutional requirements, for example, to emphasize improved nutrition or export-orientated cash crops.Tanzania is the fifth most populous country in Africa, with a very high percentage of its population dependent on agriculture. The incidence of poverty and child malnutrition is high, but large areas of potentially productive agricultural land are only partly developed. There is great scope for increased agricultural production through the introduction of improved crop varieties and novel farming systems, but these must be concentrated in the areas where they will have the greatest impact. Areas of cultivable land were identified by combining topographic data (slopes and altitude) with climate data (eliminating arid areas) and maps of protected areas (no farming in national parks). These were then further processed to remove those areas where predictions of climate change indicate a significant reduction in rainfall by 2025. Relative ease of access to markets (settlements with populations in excess of 20 000) was calculated using maps of land cover, road networks, and slope maps. A combination of cultivable land with ease of access to markets and medium-to-high population densities defines prime targets for agricultural development. For each target area, crop suitabilities were assessed, based on biophysical parameters.

The chapter examines whether contract farming confers benefits primarily to large farmers in practice and how we may be able to make smallholders significantly better off by introducing new profitable crops and livestock products. More often than not, agriculture does not provide ample employment opportunities, largely due to land constraints on production expansion. One solution is to develop nonfarm sectors so as to provide more lucrative employment opportunities, in which working members of farm households increasingly find jobs. The chapter demonstrates the critical importance of increasing nonfarm income to improve the income of rural households and examines the roles of infrastructure and human capital in raising nonfarm income.

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In 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development started implementing A4NH-informed nutrition-sensitive agriculture approaches in 11 provinces as part of their Zero Hunger initiative.

In Lithuania, as well as throughout Europe, the areas of natural meadows and pastures are gradually decreasing due to the intensification of agriculture, leading to the plowing of meadows and the consequent loss of valuable biodiversity, a crucial component of the landscape. The problems associated with meadow and pasture reduction is essential for informed decisionmaking, sustainable land management, the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Various methods, including comparative, analytical, statistical, and logical analysis, were employed in the investigation. The comparative study employed information from the Land Fund of the Republic of Lithuania covering the period from 2003 to 2023. The article also analyzes the reasons and perspectives of the decrease in meadow and natural pasture areas. In 2023, meadows and natural pastures in the Republic of Lithuania covered 362,351.79 ha, constituting 5.55% of the countryʼs territory. From 2003 to 2023, the total area of meadows and natural pastures decreased by 135,439.55 hectares or 27.21%. From 2003 to 2023, in nine out of ten Lithuanian counties, the areas of meadows and pastures decreased. The most significant loss of these areas occurred in Siauliai County (36,828.33 ha or 59.02%), while the least loss was in Klaipeda County (141.05 ha or 0.34%). The decrease in meadow and natural pasture areas can be attributed to various factors: changes in land use, urbanization, climate change and other influencing factors. The area of meadows and pastures in Lithuania should increase by 87,000 hectares, and meadows and pastures in country would cover an area of 449,351.79 ha or 6.88% of the total area of the Republic of Lithuania.