News Overview

By Katrina Kosec October 14, 2025 The International Day of Rural Women (October 15) highlights the essential roles that rural women play in sustaining households, managing natural resources, and contributing to rural economies. Yet even as they participate extensively in agriculture and local organizations, women’s ability to influence the policies and institutions that shape their lives often remains limited. To design more equitable

By Eliot Jones-Garcia, Kristin Davis, and Niyati Singaraju October 7, 2025 Generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) is gaining traction in agriculture. Conversational agents such as chatbots and voice assistants are being explored as digital extension solutions, promising scalable, personalized advice for farmers that can supplement and support the work of human extension agents. Yet designing and deploying such AI tools presents many

By Katrina Kosec and Lucia Carrillo October 6, 2025 Globally, one in every seven people is now a migrant or a refugee. Displacement has reached record highs, reshaping communities worldwide. As of 2024, close to 120 million people had been forcibly displaced and more than 300 million were living outside their country of birth. By 2050, projections indicate that over 200 million people will be displaced in their

By Steven Were Omamo October 2, 2025 This post first appeared on the Africa Food Systems Forum website. Over 60% of Africa’s people are under 25. By 2035, more young Africans will join the workforce each year than in the rest of the world combined, underscoring the urgency of the 2025 African Food Systems Forum (AFS Forum) theme: “Africa’s Youth: Leading Collaboration, Innovation,

By Sokhna Sall Seck October 1, 2025 IFPRI’s 2025 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) focuses on lessons learned over the institute’s 50 years of existence and how these can be applied to today’s challenges of transforming food systems to be sustainable, healthy, and equitable. Its insights are particularly valuable for Africa, which has tremendous potential for sustainable agricultural growth, yet faces many

By Futoshi Yamauchi, Teunis van Rheenen, and Eduardo Maruyama September 30, 2025 In an era marked by global economic uncertainty, geopolitical shifts, and ongoing conflicts, inclusive sustainable development remains essential to address instability, insecurity, inequality, and climate vulnerability in Africa. With this goal in mind, the government of Japan reaffirmed its commitment to “co-create innovative solutions with Africa” at the Ninth Tokyo International

By Thomas Falk, Ivo Steimanis, Lara Bartels, Vishwambhar Duche, Björn Vollan, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick September 29, 2025 Second of two blog posts on a recent study on a social learning game intervention in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Read the first here. Empowering women in decision-making is not just a matter of human rights; it is a key driver of sustainable development. When women’s

By Thomas Falk, Ivo Steimanis, Lara Bartels, Vishwambhar Duche, Björn Vollan, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick September 26, 2025 First of two blog posts on a recent study on a social learning game intervention in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. India’s water systems are under increasing pressure from widespread over-exploitation by agriculture, which consumes 80% of the country’s fresh water. Dams, reservoirs, and other