News Overview

An open-access paper in Nature reports on the significant advantages of using the low-cost Farming with Alternative Pollinators (FAP) method to attract pollinators when compared to the reward-based Wildflower Strips (WFS) method used in many high-income countries. Low- and middle-income countries cannot afford to pay for reward-based schemes that allow farmers to allocate pollinator-friendly wildflower strips alongside crops (land-sparing). The

ICARDA’s Food Legume Research Platform (FLRP) in Madhya Pradesh, India and a number  of leading research and governmental organizations were selected by the State Agriculture Department, Govt of Madhya Pradesh to exhibit their research activities in a special event celebrating India’s 75th Independence day by displaying the achievements of the agricultural research for development sector in the country. The

This World Food Day, the International Potato Center (CIP) announced a new disease-resistant potato developed with the Crop Trust’s support. Called CIP-Matilde, this special spud was developed in collaboration with farmers and potato breeders in Peru. Here’s a look at how potatoes like CIP-Matilde are developed and selected with help from farmers. The potato is the world’s most important food

Linking locally-sourced aquatic foods with food and nutrition policies in the coastal state of Odisha, India is revolutionizing the fight against malnutrition while boosting the livelihoods of women.  Read more

BY CLAUDIA RINGLER AND ELIZABETH BRYAN The International Day of Rural Women (Oct. 15) was established more than a decade ago to recognize the central role of women in improving rural development and food security. It was placed directly before World Food Day (Oct. 16) to highlight women’s key roles in agricultural production, in food processing and marketing, as well as in the preparation

CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agri-Food Systems (FISH) gender scientists recommend four pathways to tackle gender barriers in aquatic food systems in a new strategic brief. Read more

Food systems account for half of the earth’s biocapacity and are responsible for 25 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, straining the planet’s ability to sustain the human population. As a result, a growing body of research is supporting the call for a food systems transformation that changes the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about food, with aquatic foods playing

Across the drylands, there is a widespread misconception surrounding rural women’s involvement in rangelands. Women’s roles in livestock rearing, crop cultivation, and climate change adaptation, are either diminished or altogether invisible, perpetuating a loop of missed opportunities and a lack of institutional support. Tunisia is no exception. ICARDA Gender Scientist Dina Najjar and Bipasha Baruah -who holds the Canada