When designing our research, the most significant variable that crop breeders like me consider is how to sustainably increase the productivity and nutritional quality of ICARDA’s new varieties to cover the needs of a growing population. In the Middle East and North Africa region, the population increases by two percent every year, faster than any other global region except Sub-Saharan
Highlights 200-year-old traditional rainwater harvesting system brought back into practice Construction of haveli structures enhanced surface and groundwater availability Migration from villages stopped; villagers return home from cities Talbehat (Lalitpur): Water is the basis of life. It is difficult to think of life without water. This is particularly true in the Poora Birdha village of Talbehat block at Lalitpur district,
DRG 59, a high-yielding variety of pigeonpea resistant to Fusarium wilt and sterility mosaic diseases, has been identified for cultivation in India’s south zone. The new variety produced 23.13% higher yield than the national check in three-year trials conducted by the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on pigeonpea. Developed by ICRISAT and Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University’s (PJTSAU)
The Sustainable Development Goals – a set of 17 globally agreed-upon targets for the year 2030 – are clearly listed and appear to be easy to subscribe to. However, development planning and the implementation of development projects are never straightforward. Trade-offs between the 17 goals have to be considered. The pursuit of one goal may negatively affect the achievement of another. For
BY HAGAR ELDIDI AND RUTH MEINZEN-DICK The commons (natural resources held and used collectively) support food systems through direct production and provision of water, food, fuel, fodder, pollination, and other key ecosystem services, and are also important sources of resilience for communities. They thus contribute to nature-positive solutions and advance equitable livelihoods. Yet the commons are under pressure from encroachment
The course and effects of COVID-19 have exposed new vulnerabilities in our global food system. The movement restrictions imposed by the pandemic have intensified economic and health challenges among the world’s poorer population, prompting a response from the scientific community, and especially among those researchers with CGIAR and its many partners. In a July 6… The post COVID-19, food systems,
According to the OECD’s recently released 2021 Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Report, the governments of at least 54 countries provided transfers to agriculture of around $720 billion per year during 2018-2020. The report notes that “Overall, most current support policies are not serving the wider needs of food systems.” That spending could be redirected to finance food systems transformation—helping
IITA continually partners with government and private organizations, including universities, to advance agricultural activities and promote digitalization in Africa. BOWEN University has been a partner of IITA for many years, especially agricultural and capacity development programs. On a recent visit, Professor Joshua Ogunwole, Vice Chancellor, BOWEN University, accompanied by the University’s principal officers, sought to strengthen existing partnerships and identify new areas of