Muzna Alvi

Market remoteness and the production–diet association in smallholder food systems: Evidence from rural Nepal

Evidence of the multifunctional performance of the Akole Landscape in Maharashtra, India

This report presents evidence on the multifunctional performance of the Akole landscape in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India, located in the ecologically significant Western Ghats. Drawing on assessments conducted between 2022 and 2024, the study evaluates agronomic, economic, environmental, and social dimensions to understand landscape-level sustainability and resilience. Akole, situated in the Sahyadri ranges, is predominantly inhabited by tribal and rural communities dependent on agriculture and forest resources. Despite its rich biodiversity and traditional knowledge systems, the landscape faces mounting pressures from soil erosion, declining water retention, deforestation, monocropping, excessive tillage, and high fertilizer use. Increasing climatic variability—marked by erratic rainfall, droughts, and pest outbreaks—further exacerbates vulnerability. Limited livelihood diversification, high poverty levels, and malnutrition intensify socio-economic risks, while critical data gaps persist, particularly in assessing human health and well-being. The report identifies key bottlenecks and synthesizes available data to evaluate early outcomes of targeted nature-positive and agroecological interventions. It advocates a transition from production-centric agriculture to a Multifunctional Landscape approach that integrates diversified livelihoods, sustainable resource management, and equity. Such a shift is essential to enhance long-term resilience, ecological integrity, and economic sustainability under changing climatic conditions.

Divergent energy transitions: Agricultural mechanization and domestic energy poverty among farming households in rural Pakistan

According to the food-energy-water nexus framework, energy choices in both agriculture and household domains are connected, and affect water access, agricultural production, household consumption patterns, and ultimately food security. This study examines dual energy portfolios among farming households in Rahim Yar Khan district, in Punjab, Pakistan. Using cross-sectional data from 1018 households, we analyze how the distinct but interconnected energy domains onfarm and at-home, relate to household wealth and location, but follow fundamentally different transition trajectories. We find that a majority of households use mechanization on farms, including the use of irrigation pumps, threshers and tractors. Mechanization increases with household wealth and farm size, confirming the energy ladder hypothesis. However, for the same households, domestic clean energy access remains limited across all wealth categories and farm sizes, with only 6% using clean cooking and heating energy. The findings reveal that agricultural and domestic energy transitions are proceeding at different paces among the same households, with implications for integrated energy policy. Our study highlights the need for policies that address both agricultural and domestic energy needs simultaneously while considering the trade-offs and synergies between these domains within household resource constraints.