The 2021 report draws on research funded by A4NH on food system transformation and promising consumer- and food-environment- oriented policy options to include in the food systems transformation agenda in low- and middle income countries. It provides analysis to inform policies, programs and investments to promote inclusive food system transformation.

Within the frame of the Nordic/Baltic public-private partnership ’PPP for pre-breeding in perennial ryegrass’ various activities were performed, including assessment of L. perenne (Lp) genotypes under agro-ecological conditions of Latvia. This article summarizes the data obtained in two harvest years for 19 intermediate tetraploid (4x) Lp genotypes. In order to compare the results obtained in ryegrass with performance of grass interspecies hybrids (Fl), which become especially relevant in the recent years, two varieties, developed in Latvia – Lolium × boucheanum Kunth. ‘Saikava’ and × Festulolium ‘Vizule’ were included in the experiment. Various scores were performed, including evaluation of regrowth, intensity of culm development, sward cover, crown rust (Puccinia coronata) susceptibility, etc. The dry matter yield (DMY) and fodder quality were also determined. It can be concluded that the genotypes showed relatively good results in the first two harvest years. Wintering conditions were favourable. Despite the intensified drought and heat in the 1st ley year, relatively high DMY, which ranged from 9.30 to 12.15 t haE−1, for Lp were harvested in three cuts. In the 2nd ley year, under more favourable humidity conditions, Lp in four cuts provided similar DMY, which ranged from 8.81 to 11.50 t haE−1. If we compare the average DMY of Lp and Fl genotypes, it can be concluded that in the first two harvest years no significant differences were found, the average DMY was 10.30 and 10.64 t haE−1, respectively. No significant differences were found between Lp and Fl in terms of forage quality.

Feeding livestock a balanced diet with a differentiated crude protein (CP) content, depending on the lactation phase, can reduce nitrogen emissions from livestock excrement and urine. A higher content of non-starch polysaccharides in livestock diets improves feed absorption in the livestock body and, consequently, nitrogen is emitted more from protein present in livestock manure than from urea acid present in livestock urine. The aim of the study is to calculate the ammonia emission reduction potential in Latvia by optimizing the feeding of dairy cows and ensuring life longevity, as well as provide justification for ammonia emission reduction in dairy farms. Calculations made by using the NorFor Model for optimization of dairy cow (Bos primigenius f. taurus) diets revealed that compared with lowyielding cows, a higher CP content diet fed to high-yielding cows at the beginning of lactation increased the amount of nitrogen (N) in their excrement and urine by 90–180 g dE−1. Reducing the CP content in the cow diet by an average of 10 g kgE−1 dry matter (DM) during mid-lactation resulted in the same trend. Reducing the CP content in the cow diet during late lactation and the dry period by another 20–30 g kgE−1 of DM, N emissions from excrement and urine significantly decreased. Increasing the lifespan of dairy cows also means reducing ammonia emissions from the farm. By increasing the number of lactations per cow on dairy farm, it is possible to reduce the number of heifers per cow. The total reduction of ammonia emissions in Latvia was calculated based on a long-term projection of a decrease of 0.1 heifer per dairy cow. Ammonia emissions could be reduced by 0.051 kt by decreasing the number of heifers by 12.54 thou. at the planned increase in the lifespan of dairy cows by 2030.

Fire has been a part of natural disturbance regime in boreal and to some extent also hemiboreal forests, affecting soil and light conditions, seedbanks, trees and ground vegetation. The most significant factors affecting occurrence, severity and size of forest fires are anthropogenic, weather and the environment, all of which are changing due to human-caused climate change. This paper discusses medium term (25 years) vegetation development in five different biotopes after fire disturbance. Sample plots were established in Slitere Reserve (now National park) in north-western Latvia on areas affected by large fire in 1992. Data were collected in 1993, 2002 and 2017. The aim of the study was to characterize the regeneration and succession of ground vegetation after the fire. In 1993, species such as bog-rosemary (C) were observed in the ground vegetation a year after the fire. In 2002 liverworts appeared, indicating that the bog has acquired more stable and wetter conditions, but in 2017, liverwort mosses were no longer present and the percentage cover of Rubus chamaemorus decreased significantly and Calluna vulgaris, sphagnum sp., and Betula pendula were present in large quantities in the bog. Comparing these studied years, it can be concluded that all these years the biotopes and species have continuously developed and are regenerating.

26 March 2021, Ha Noi, Vietnam — the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) held the first workshop in support of planning the implementation of Vietnam's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in the rice sector. Aiming at setting priorities for NDC implementation in rice production, the workshop highlighted different NDC scenarios to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while gaining economic, social, and environmental benefits sustainably.

Our understanding of decision-making within rural households has changed substantially since interest in intrahousehold decision-making emerged in the 1980s. Conventional wisdom, rooted in the unitary theory of the household, held that households are groups of individuals who have the same preferences and fully pool their resources (Becker 1981). Accumulating empirical evidence has shifted this concept of the household in which households decide “as one” to a “collective” model in which individual household members may have different preferences, may not completely pool resources, and may bargain over outcomes in both production and consumption (Haddad, Hoddinott, and Alderman 1997).

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.

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.