News Overview

Cali, Colombia, October 23, 2025: The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT has been selected as one of 15 global teams awarded funding through the Bezos Earth Fund’s AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge, receiving up to $2 million USD to scale artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges — ranging from biodiversity loss, food

How can we ensure that the improved, climate-resilient varieties developed by CGIAR and partners reach the smallholder farmers who need them most? This question lies at the heart of CGIAR Breeding for Tomorrow’s Inclusive Delivery (formerly Seed Equal). We sat down with Christopher Ojiewo, Inclusive Delivery Lead, to unpack what ‘inclusive delivery’ means and how it can transform smallholder livelihoods. 

When the rain finally came to her village in Tanzania, Mariam didn’t just plant her usual variety of beans. That season, she tried three different ones – side by side, on her own land. By harvest, one plot clearly stood out: better yield, stronger against disease, and with good taste and marketability. Mariam didn’t learn this from a lab or

The projects will study the scaling of soil moisture retention practices for smallholder farmers in rainfed agri-food systems. With the increased severity of dry spells, increasing the moisture holding capacity of the soil works as a buffer against agricultural production losses. The research focuses specifically on socio-economic and governance aspects of scaling soil water retention practices. The research projects take

By Amy Margolies October 24, 2025 The generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) revolution is not just digital—it is also physical. Data center complexes are expanding globally to meet rapidly increasing computing and data storage demands of generative AI (Figure 1). The extent of AI’s immense energy requirements is still largely unknown, but estimates indicate that by 2026, data centers could consume over 1,000 terawatt-hours

The climate crisis is reshaping the way we live, work, and produce our food. Its consequences extend far beyond rising temperatures thus threatening food security, health, biodiversity, and livelihoods, and demand solutions that bridge sectors and communities. Yet amidst these challenges, a quiet revolution is underway: farmers, local governments, researchers, and communities are finding ways to turn ambition into

In a renewed effort to combat post-harvest losses and ensure safe food systems, IITA-CGIAR, and the TAAT Clearinghouse in collaboration with SASAKAWA Africa Association, has trained extension agents and maize lead farmers on improved post-harvest handling, grain quality, and aflatoxin management. The two-day workshop, held on 9–10 October 2025, at the Agricultural Development Program (ADP) office in Lafia, Nasarawa state,

At the 4th African Plant Breeders Association (APBA) Conference, held from October 6th to 8th, 2025, in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Omotola Dorcas Olaoye, a doctoral research fellow at the IITA-CGIAR, and a member of the International Association of Research Scholars and Fellows (IARSAF), was honored with the prestigious National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB), African Plant Breeders Association (APBA), Norman