This year's theme of the Africa Food Systems Forum in Dakar, Senegal was “Africa’s Youth: Leading Collaboration, Innovation, and the Implementation of Agri-Food Systems Transformation”
Pastoralist communities across the Horn of Africa live and work in some of the world’s most challenging environments. Their livelihoods depend on adapting to shifting climate patterns, navigating cross-border mobility, and sustaining livestock-based economies that feed millions. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), with the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT as a technical partner, is working to strengthen the tools,
A land once forgotten For decades, the plains of Nyando told a story of hardship. The soil was exhausted, the rains unpredictable, and the land lay idle or left only for grazing for over 30 years. Farmers tried to grow maize, but floods stagnate on topsoil during the rainy season creating water logging, and in the dry months, the earth
The Alliance’s Nairobi office recently hosted a delegation from the Nature Conservancy (TNC) including Ginya Truitt Nakata (Director, Global Agriculture and Food Systems Policy) Michael Misiko (Agriculture Director, Africa), Horacio Rodriguez Vazquez (Food Systems Policy Manager, Mexico) and Wangui Gitau (Agriculture Program Manager, Africa). The team was welcomed by Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg (the Alliance’s Managing Director for Africa) and a team
When one of tech’s most influential voices, Astro Teller – CEO of Google X and Captain of Moonshots – spotlights agriculture, the world takes notice. In a recent episode of X, The Moonshot Factory’s podcast, David Guerena – Alliance Scientist – joined Teller in a conversation that became one of the series’ most popular releases, drawing tens of thousands of listeners
Durum wheat is a staple of Moroccan diets and crucial for national food security. Although Moroccan farmers have managed to produce cereal with limited water for centuries, repeated droughts over the past decade have made it increasingly difficult for cereal farming families to grow enough. A Jewel from the Wild Jawahir, Arabic for “jewels,” is a durum wheat variety bred
By Abena Ofosu, Senior Research Officer – Innovation Scaling, International Water Management Institute (IWMI) ; Mahlatse Nkosi, Research Officer – Inclusive Agricultural Finance, International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Youth-owned agribusinesses in Africa face a host of structural challenges that limit their growth and resilience. These include, but not limited to, constrained access to affordable finance, land tenure insecurity, and weak
The recent UNFSS+4 Intergovernmental Roundtable, ‘Pastoralism: A Sustainable Food System,’ brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to address the critical role of pastoralism in global food security and sustainable development. The event, hosted by the UNFSS Coalition on Pastoralism a Sustainable Food System, focused on elevating the importance of this often-overlooked food system and mobilizing support for its future.