News Overview

In a significant step toward enhancing Nigeria’s agricultural biosecurity, the IITA–CGIAR Germplasm Health Unit (GHU) hosted the Comptroller General (CG) of Nigeria’s Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS), Dr Vincent Isegbe, along with other senior NAQS officials, for a strategic workshop held from 27–29 October. The workshop, designed to exchange insights on germplasm movement procedures, phytosanitary standards, and emerging plant health threats, reinforced the longstanding

IITA–CGIAR is at the forefront of cassava and banana seed production in Gabon. The Ministry of Agriculture, in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), organized a two-week phased-in training to accelerate the modernization of agriculture and strengthen the national seed production through the technical assistance to the Projet d’Appui au Programme GRAINE-Phase 1 (PAPG1), under the framework of

IITA–CGIAR participated in the launch of the 2025/2026 Mozambique agricultural campaign on 13 November, marking the beginning of the rainy season. As a strategic partner that has actively contributed to improving agricultural production and productivity in Mozambique, offering innovations in resilient varieties and improved seeds, climate-smart agricultural practices, inoculants, and aflasafe, IITA was invited by the Government to participate in the

Dr Adewale Awoyemi, IITA Forest Center Manager, is participating in the NESST-Smithsonian convening, first since the founding of NESST in 2021, gathering more than 100 scientists, teachers, youth, community leaders, and STEM professionals.

Digital agricultural technologies promise increased efficiency, environmental sustainability, and farm productivity, but can have significant downsides for many farmers, particularly smallholders in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

This ‘switching off’ (or ‘on’) of genetic pathways has occurred forever as part of natural evolution. These natural mutations have led to many improvements, including more resilient wheat and rice varieties with stronger stems, and over time, these tastier and more productive varieties have become the most widely adopted.

By Glenn Concepcion A new opinion piece published in Climate Research argues that effectively tackling the climate crisis requires a radical shift in focus: moving beyond technological fixes and institutional policy to prioritize human and societal transformations.

Responding to complex crises requires new systemic research approaches that help identify entry points for programmes that can simultaneously address risks of different nature while building long-term resilience of affected populations. Under CGIAR’s Food Frontiers and Security (FFS) and Climate Action Science Programmes (CASP), CGIAR’s Climate Security team has piloted a new research approach in Cabo Delgado, Northern Mozambique, combining