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 as an early warning system for problems that the
Insufficient iron in diets is a leading cause of anemia, a condition that particularly affects pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as children under the age of five. Through collaborative plant breeding efforts with farmers and other partners, CGIAR scientists have developed and scaled up hundreds of varieties of iron-biofortified beans in an effort to address the problem. Many varieties are developed
International Women’s Day Dear Colleagues around the World, Today is International Women’s Day – an annual celebration to mark the accomplishments of women but also to address persisting inequalities that continue to afflict women around the world – inequalities that exist in the home, on the street, and in the workplace. The theme for this year’s celebration is… The post Choosing to challenge
In a recent literature review focusing on agrarian societies in the drylands, ICARDA scientist Dina Najjar and Ph.D. student Jemima Baada at Western University in Canada investigate how outmigration of men affect women’s roles in agriculture, as well as the wider effect in different contexts of the dry areas (rangeland, irrigated production and rainfed). The study revealed that women are carrying out
The prospects and promise of expanding markets and increased demand for food products from a growing global population would suggest more incentives to engage in farming, making the sector attractive for the current and next generations. However, along with this is the recognition of the “unprecedented, intersecting challenges”, or perhaps as a direct result of these, a widespread narrative of
In a remarkable turnaround, farmers in Northern Nigeria organized themselves into innovation platforms, and with support from the Tropical Legumes (TL) project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, turned into successful groundnut seed producers in 2011. The impacts of those actions are felt even today, with farmers continuing to adopt improved variety seeds and good agronomic practices to obtain high yields
We may have moved some way from the technocratic management of natural resources. But, more often than not, interventions that address gender issues, simplistically interpreted as being about women, are adopted without considering complex realities on the ground. International Women’s Day provides an opportunity to challenge and disrupt conventional ways of approaching gender in natural resources research for development. From
WorldFish’s Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health, Aquatic Food Systems, and Vice Chair of the 2021 UN Food System Summit Action Track 4: Advance Equitable Livelihoods, Dr. Shakuntala Thilsted, shares her experience developing nutrition-sensitive innovations that are transforming women’s lives. One in every two workers in aquatic food systems are women. Some of these women work directly in fisheries