News Overview

BY KATE AMBLER, KELLY JONES AND MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN Empowering women is a goal of many development programs, both as a primary objective and a tool for increasing family welfare and stimulating economic development. Conventional wisdom suggests that empowered women invest more in children, and this has translated into policy: Many large-scale cash transfer programs are designed to target women. However, the

The UN Deputy Secretary-General, Hajia Amina J. Mohammed, visited IITA headquarters in Ibadan as part of a series of tours to national and international partners working to alleviate climate change challenges. UN plans to address several developmental issues include acceleration of the sustainable development goals and climate change in Nigeria. Meeting briefly with the IITA Director General and Regional Director

“Telling the stories of the impact agricultural research is making in Africa can only generate positive returns and ensure that those who are invested in the cause of food security are kept abreast of the progress being made and can do more,” said Dr Nteranya Sanginga, the Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on Tuesday, at

BY HODA EL-ENBABY,  DANIEL O. GILLIGAN,  NAUREEN KARACHIWALLA,  YUMNA KASSIM AND SIKANDRA KURDI Cash transfer programs have become one of the most popular ways to reduce poverty in low-income countries and have made substantial strides in doing so. Recently, attention has turned to the design of these programs, such as whether to target transfers explicitly to women, as well as

Photo credit: U.S. Department of State Grazia Pacillo, CGIAR Climate Security FOCUS Senior Economist Hopes were dashed last week for a first-of-its-kind UN Security Council resolution that would have officially designated the climate crisis as a threat to international peace and security. A veto from Russia ended efforts by temporary council members Ireland and Niger to make global warming a central

Droughts have long posed a threat to farmers in southern Africa, and models predict they will become more frequent, unpredictable, and intense as global warming continues. Drought-tolerant sweetpotato varieties have proven to be lifesavers for farmers who lose their maize or other crops for lack of rain. For this reason, more climate-resilient sweetpotato varieties with characteristics consumers want are urgently needed and this is why drought tolerance is a priority target at the regional sweetpotato breeding platform in Mozambique. Continue reading Using drones to select drought-tolerant sweetpotatoes at International Potato Center.

Remote sensing data enables IWMI researchers to identify irrigated areas at a resolution of 30 meters, providing valuable insights for water policy and agricultural planning. The post Researchers map Ethiopia’s irrigated areas at a previously unavailable resolution first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

The Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit 2021 took place on 7–8 December 2021. Ahead of the summit, on 2 December 2021, the International Institute for Environment and Development and the International Livestock Research Institute hosted a side event on the role of informal markets within future food systems. The purpose of the side event was to derive a set of principles to