News Overview

Over the past five years, the Department of Cooperative and Rural Development (DCRD), under Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, has collaborated closely with the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) to advance the integration of nutrition-sensitive agri-food systems (NSAF) into national policy frameworks.

After Cyclone Idai, women in rural Zimbabwe carry the hidden cost of recovery. This blog reveals how unpaid care work expands under climate stress, shaping food security, time poverty, and women’s everyday survival.

Climate security is shaped by complex, local interactions. Drawing on leading researchers, this blog explores how climate stress, conflict, data gaps, and system dynamics are reshaping how we study risk, resilience, and peace.

India stands at a critical juncture in its agricultural transformation. With over 60% of the population dependent on agrifood systems for their livelihoods and the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector accounting for 14% of the country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the challenge is no longer a choice between agricultural and economic growth and sustainability, but the need to find a pathway that ensures agricultural growth and livelihoods while increasing the sustainability of the country’s food production systems.

Five-day hands-on training equips scientists from Asia and Africa with practical genomics skills to improve the use of germplasm for breeding and food security.

Many studies have demonstrated that low application of productivity-enhancing inputs such as inorganic fertilizer and improved seeds is a key constraint to low agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria.

The Government of Nepal is scaling CIMMYT’s Maize Commercial Model (MCM)—an inclusive, market-based approach that turns spring and winter rice fallows into a productive 90–120-day maize window, backed by bundled climate-smart practices, services, and coordinated value-chain partnerships. Since 2022, MCM expanded maize area from 548 to 2,032 ha and lifted yields to 6.5 t/ha (about double the national average), while farmgate prices and incomes rose alongside ~USD 3M in public–private investment. In 2025, MoALD integrated MCM into its annual program, issued national implementation guidelines, and is scaling from Western Terai to Koshi Province—linking municipalities, cooperatives, and feed mills to strengthen input supply, mechanization, storage, and market access under the CGIAR Scaling for Impact Program.

Prof. Roel Merckx has been appointed as the new Chair of the Integrated Partnership Board (IPB), effective 1 January 2026.