News Overview

Los Baños, Philippines (24 October 2025) — The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has announced the appointment of Ms. Xi Cao as the new Head of the Clearing House Facility on Scaling of Agricultural Innovations for Development. In this role, she will lead efforts to design, implement, and scale transformative agricultural innovations that improve livelihoods, enhance food security, and foster

Africa’s aquaculture production has grown 5.6-fold in just two decades, yet the continent produces less than 2 percent of the world’s farmed fish, while Asia accounts for more than 90 percent global production. Africa, the storied land of rivers and lakes, has an opportunity to not just catch up but leapfrog its fisheries sector, so it can unlock its vast

At October’s Africa Grain Trade Summit, leaders urged for investment in SMEs to scale regenerative agriculture, strengthening Africa’s fragile grain markets for food security. “We need to invest in SMEs that are scaling regenerative practices. They are the link between farmers and consumers, and the future of African grain trade.” Arnaud Petit, Executive Director, International Grains Council. This powerful call

The Growing Together program empowers Tanzanian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and smallholder farmers with regenerative agriculture and business skills to build climate-resilient, profitable food systems. Across Tanzania’s agricultural heartlands—from Iringa to Mbeya, Morogoro, and Dodoma—smallholder farmers are the cornerstone of national food security. Yet, for years, their potential has been constrained by climate unpredictability, declining soil health, and

The Global Imperative for Climate Adaptation  Climate change is causing increasingly severe and widespread negative impacts, especially on food and water security and vulnerable, marginalized communities. With each fraction of a degree of warming, risks to agriculture and livelihoods escalate, underscoring that adapting our agrifood systems is both a moral and economic imperative. Extreme droughts, heatwaves, and floods are disrupting

By Nicola Cenacchi October 30, 2025 Agricultural landscapes are evolving rapidly, and embracing complexity in their design is key to tackling global challenges like food security, climate change, and biodiversity loss. With the help of data-driven modeling tools, we can better understand and guide the transformations needed to shape these landscapes for a more resilient and sustainable future. Take a

This is Part 2 of this blog series on Building Local Research Capacity through Time, Trust, and Knowledge Transfer. Read part 1 here. In this edition, we unpack the real costs and inputs of mentorship and how these investments translate into measurable outcomes, giving a clear picture of the “cost curve” from mentorship to impact. If you want more policy-relevant

Seven youth and women from the Tany Cooperative, based on Inhaca Island off the coast of Maputo Bay, Mozambique, participated in a six-day learning visit to Zanzibar, Tanzania from September 14-19, 2025. The learning visit, organized by Asia–Africa BlueTech SuperHighway (AABS) project as part of its South-South collaboration activities, aimed to strengthen the capacity of the cooperative members in seaweed