News Overview

Sonia Jannat is transforming farming in Bangladesh with innovation, grit, and a drive to empower others ByKaniz TamannaandJoseph Himaloy Mree In the male-dominated realm of agricultural machinery services, Sonia Jannat, a 28-year-old from Jhenaidah, Bangladesh, has inscribed her name as a successful Machinery Solution Provider (MSP). Her determination—and the transformative power of new technologies—has launched her on an extraordinary journey of empowerment and financial

As the world marks the 2025 International day of Rural Women and approaches the International Year of the Woman Farmer, we highlight a new study co-authored by ICARDA’s Senior Gender Scientist Dr. Dina Najjar and Dr. Daniel Amok at the Trent School of the Environment, Trent University, and funded by CGIAR, underscores the urgent need to place women at the heart

For the first time in its history, the International Greenhouse Gas and Animal Agriculture (GGAA) Conference was held on African soil, marking a pivotal moment for the global livestock sector. The 9th edition of the conference, GGAA 2025, took place in Nairobi, Kenya from 5-9 October 2025, ushering in a new era of inclusive, globally representative dialogue on mitigating livestock

When researchers from the gender team at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) met the team working on Maisha Makutano, an edutainment soap opera tackling challenging social themes from financial inclusion to reproductive health, there was plenty to talk about. As the production team was defining the social themes to highlight in the new series, ILRI researchers were trying to

Their 50-year modelling unveils a mixed picture: yes, land can regain fertility and resilience if we feed soils more; but under warming and increasingly erratic rains, these benefits weaken and vary greatly across territories. A lesson in science and field realities, published on October 1, 2025, and authored by Wuletawu Abera, Amsalu Tilaye, Degefie Tibebe and Assefa Abegaz. View original article

BRAINS enters its second year, uniting 15 African countries to boost climate resilience through beans, beneficial insects, and fruit trees—scaling innovations, empowering farmers, and transforming agriculture into a digital, inclusive movement. What began as an unlikely combination of beans, beneficial insects and fruit trees is now blossoming into one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most innovative agricultural transformations – a powerful

Climate change makes life incredibly difficult for smallholder farmers, but the programs meant to help them adapt, known as Locally Led Adaptation (LLA), often face a major hurdle: fairness. Too often, project benefits are ‘captured’ by powerful local figures or community elites, leaving the most vulnerable groups—like women, young men, and the poorest families—behind. This makes existing inequalities worse and

by Afreen Khan1, Mamatha Goundla2, Ranjitha Puskur1 1 International Rice Research Institute 2Centre for Sustainable Agriculture Introduction Seeds are vital to agriculture, affecting productivity, climate resilience, nutritional outcomes, and biodiversity (Kramer and Galiè, 2020). The choice of seed is not just about yield or technical performance. It is a negotiation between tradition and innovation, between household food needs, market incentives