For World Meteorological Day, we’re looking at how seasonal climate forecasts have been developed in East Africa and how that process is evolving. In 1997-1998, Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs) were established throughout Africa to reduce drought impacts on smallholder agriculture. However, gaps between farmers’ needs and how RCOF seasonal forecasts are presented have limited their usability. The Regional Climate
Watch our latest video to learn what goes on behind the scenes to conserve of some of the world’s most diverse collections of beans, cassava, forages and bananas
The month of March hosts several gender-based celebrations, including International Women’s Day (IWD). IITA is a gender-inclusive Institute that sees gender equality as very important in improving livelihoods in society and creating an enabling work environment for staff. Knowing that achieving this goal is improbable in unequal, marginalized, and vulnerable groups, IITA developed a policy to ensure a gender-balanced workplace and formed
SANO Foods Limited and IITA, through the Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Cassava Seed System, Phase 2 (BASICS-II) project, have embarked on a public-private sector partnership to promote the cultivation of improved cassava varieties and the consumption of locally processed products in Nigeria. The initiative recently kicked off with a “Joint public exhibition of fortified foods and cassava varietal display” at
Saint Louis – Senegal, 23 March 2021 To support the government of Senegal’s efforts in mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on vulnerable farming households, AfricaRice and the Mastercard Foundation have joined forces to roll out a youth-focused intervention, called the Rice Agripreneurship Project (RAP). Over two years RAP will boost the resilience of the rice value chain
The [Uttarakhand flood] disaster last month in India demonstrated the risks from rising temperatures to the eight countries in the region. More than 1bn people “rely on the waters coming from the Himalayas”, says Izabella Koziell of the International Water Management Institute in Sri Lanka. “[Receding glaciers] can mean increased flooding. It can mean more variable water flows .
For millennia, storing water has been a cornerstone of survival for many societies, especially in dry areas or areas with large climatic variability. In periods of plenty such as monsoons, rainy seasons, and springtime snowmelt, water storage has ensured water availability for drinking, irrigation and, more recently, hydropower generation. It has helped communities to manage not only predictable variation in
A recent study from the International Potato Center (CIP) calls attention to downward trends in varietal diversity in major cropping systems in Asia and Africa. As climate change impacts continue to affect agriculture, these trends have significant (potentially worrying) implications for ensuring future yields and food system resilience around the world. Published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, and co-authored with scientists from the International… The post Trends in Varietal