Fruits and vegetables are essential to good nutrition, but in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), people often do not consume enough of them, with most falling short of World Health Organization dietary recommendations.
Anchovy, locally known as dagaa, sits at the heart of Zanzibar’s fisheries, diets and livelihoods. These small fish are rich in essential micronutrients and widely consumed across the archipelago, making them a vital source of affordable nutrition, particularly for low-income households. At the same time, dagaa is increasingly important for trade, supplying regional markets beyond Zanzibar and contributing to regional food systems and economic growth. This dual role raises a critical question: can efforts to improve fish processing and expand markets boost incomes without reducing equitable access to this nutritious food for the communities who depend on it most?
In a major development following years of research efforts and collaborating with national systems and partners in Mozambique, IITA–CGIAR, in partnership with the Agricultural Research Institute of Mozambique (IIAM) and the Soybean Innovation Lab, released five climate-resilient soybean varieties in Mozambique in December 2025.
On World Pulses Day 2026, the theme chosen by the Food and Agriculture Organization, “Pulses of the world: from modesty to excellence,” could not be more timely. It captures a quiet transformation already unfolding across kitchens, streets, and food labs, especially in low- and middle-income countries where pulses have long anchored diets, livelihoods, and resilience.
A recent study published in Social Science & Medicine provides new evidence on how price-based interventions can influence consumption of healthy foods in low- and middle-income countries.
Food systems in Bangladesh are rapidly evolving in response to population growth, urbanization, and climate change. Addressing constraints such as affordability, availability, and desirability of nutritious foods, has emerged as an urgent policy priority, requiring integrated approaches that translate research into actionable strategies.
In many agricultural markets, the limited ability to measure product quality at the source and trace it through the supply chain remains a key barrier to improvement, as the absence of reliable quality information blunts incentives for upstream actors to invest in better practices