On the occasion of Africa Day 2026, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) emphasized the growing importance of water access, sanitation and water governance for human development, peace and stability across Africa. The communication highlights Swiss-supported activities in Sudan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the Blue Peace water diplomacy initiative. Against the backdrop of climate change, rapid urbanisation and conflict, the SDC stresses that water scarcity increasingly contributes to food insecurity, disease outbreaks, displacement and social tensions, particularly in fragile regions such as the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.

This review highlights the global importance of rangelands, which cover 54% of the terrestrial area and support pastoralist livelihoods, while facing growing threats from degradation and land conversion. It argues that achieving Land Degradation Neutrality requires stronger governance, secure land tenure, better cross-sectoral policies, appropriate monitoring indicators and greater investment in sustainable rangeland management. The article underlines the need to recognize pastoralist mobility and communal tenure as key elements of resilient rangeland systems.

This article examines how sustainability governance in coffee and cocoa value chains is diversifying beyond certification. Based on survey data from 112 organizations in Switzerland and Peru, the study compares six governance strategies, including corporate sustainability programmes, certification, direct trade, mission-driven businesses, solidarity economy and producer-led upgrading. The findings show that value chain actors often combine different approaches, highlighting the importance of actor position, mission and ownership in shaping sustainability governance.

A Biovision-supported initiative in the Morogoro region of Tanzania is helping Maasai communities strengthen climate resilience and rural livelihoods through sustainable livestock management, agroecological farming and cooperative dairy systems. Implemented together with the local organization Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT), the project combines improved breeding practices, farmer training and local milk processing to stabilize incomes and improve food security under increasingly severe drought conditions. The initiative also supports diversification into fruit and vegetable production, agroecological practices and community-based financial mechanisms, illustrating how locally embedded approaches can reinforce both environmental sustainability and economic resilience in pastoral and agropastoral systems.

This study shows that diverse forage grassland mixtures can outperform conventional high-input systems while requiring less nitrogen fertilizer. Based on a 26-site international experiment, the authors find that mixtures combining grasses, legumes and herbs achieved consistently high yields, exceeding both high-nitrogen grass monocultures and common two-species grass–legume systems. The yield advantage was especially strong in warmer locations, suggesting that well-designed multispecies grasslands could support more sustainable forage production and improve climate adaptation in livestock systems.