News Overview

By Kafil Uddin, CIMMYT and Zakaria Hasan, CIMMYT In Chakaria, a coastal upazila in Cox’s Bazar, farming has long been labor-intensive, costly, and vulnerable to natural calamities. Far from the country’s light engineering hubs, local farmers often struggled to access agricultural machinery and spare parts. Yet, from these challenges emerged the inspiring journey of Md. Abdul Matlab (42), a farmer-turned-entrepreneur who

An innovative early warning system powered by artificial intelligence is poised to transform how Africa confronts a silent but deadly threat to its food supply: aflatoxin contamination in maize. The Aflatoxin risk Early Warning System (A-EWS) uses machine learning and satellite data to predict and map contamination hotspots, offering a powerful new weapon in the fight for food safety. The tool was

By Patti Petesch, Eleanor Fisher, Jon Hellin and Chona Echavez  Our social world appears to spin in ways that reinforce social inequities and environmental degradation. These dispiriting forces are the case in so many of the world’s smallholder communities, discouraging countless local women’s and men’s initiatives to reduce the vulnerability of their agricultural livelihoods and exposure to severe heatwaves, droughts,

Land is far more than just soil—it is a source of income, identity, and security, especially for rural families. Yet, across Africa, women remain at a disadvantage. Despite producing an estimated 70–80% of the continent’s food, they own less than 10% of its farmland. In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Beans for Women’s Empowerment (B4WE) project is working

The Cameroon Minister for Scientific Research and Innovation (MINRESI), Dr Madeleine Tchuinte, during a high-level visit to IITA–CGIAR’s office in Cameroon, has emphasized the government’s commitment to leveraging IITA-CGIAR’s agricultural research and innovation expertise to strengthen development partnerships, particularly in food security and agriculture. During the visit, the Minister toured the IITA-CGIAR’s state-of-the-art research facilities in Cameroon, including the tissue culture and

As Nigeria grapples with mounting challenges of food and nutrition insecurity, unemployment, and land depletion caused by rising costs of living, internal displacement and climate-related issues, strategic partnerships have become crucial for sustainable solutions. During a recent courtesy visit to IITA–CGIAR’s headquarters in Ibadan, the new Comptroller of Immigration Service, Oyo State Command, Ikechi Ugbogu Nwosu, has expressed interests to deepen

Rwanda’s agricultural transformation has prioritized improving seed systems to enhance food security and farmer livelihoods. The reliance on seed importation is gradually decreasing, with more efforts focusing on local seed production. The Rwanda hybrid maize seed industry is still young, facing challenges, like limited skills, land scarcity, climate change, outbreaks of pests and diseases, and low farmers’ awareness about the

For decades, coffee has been more than just a crop in Liberia, it has been part of the country’s heritage and an important contributor to rural livelihoods. Once a key export commodity, coffee production has dwindled over the years due to weak extension services, outdated farming practices, and limited access to improved technologies. Smallholder farmers, who form the backbone of