News Overview

Young Malawian researchers are being trained in crop modeling to tackle land, water and climate related challenges facing agriculture and smallholder farmers. During a recently-held training program, 11 researchers from Malawi’s national research organizations learned to model agricultural systems with the Agricultural Production Simulator Model (APSIM) under the aegis of the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research. Crop modeling is

Could legumes be the key to food production sustainability and climate change resilience? They consume less than half the non-renewable energy of traditional cereals, they can survive harsh conditions like drought and they improve soil health by fixing nitrogen. On this, World Pulses Day, February 10, Dr Christopher Ochieng Ojiewo, principal scientist at ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the

The world of water management is replete with stories about traditional systems that break down, such as the one we reported in November from Karnataka, South India. Age-old, decentralized approaches to managing water and watersheds do fall apart, leaving farmers high and dry. However, a remarkable study published in the Journal of Hydrology documents just how rapidly farmers can reap

“Farmers thought we were coming to steal their money!” Microfinance specialist Lamine Sountoura remembers the first time he tried convincing farmers in Mali to warehouse their produce a decade ago. Sountoura and his colleagues from Soroyiriwaso Microfinance Institute were trekking through villages and hamlets in Sikasso region on a mission to help farmers understand that well-stored, quality grain can be

This is something we needed to know about, support, promote and make better known at the national level in order to benefit to the maximum,” said Minister Mohamed Ould Mahmoud while on a visit to the ICRISAT research station in Samanko with a group of high-level members of the Malian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. The Minister commended the

Simple agricultural innovations, such as soil probes to detect water and salinity levels at different depths, have not only helped smallholder farmers conserve scarce resources, they’ve reduced conflict within communities and fostered harmony in families. Interventions in Zimbabwe have demonstrated that returns on investment in R&D go far beyond increased yields and productivity. The emerging language from Europe uses the

The economics of hunger and agriculture in Africa. According to the United Nations, the Covid-19 pandemic has the potential to double (to an estimated 265 million) the number of people without access to nutritious food, heightening the risk of malnutrition, hunger and social unrest in the near future. But the deeper truth of the matter is that Covid-19 only acts

In a new paper in the journal Sustainability, ICRISAT researchers analyzed the double burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on farmers in a leading groundnut producing state in South India. Results showed that farm production and marketing disruptions led to an average 50% drop in household incomes, an added average 23% rise in farm input costs and increased food prices drove