The 2025 IITA Southern Africa Hub (SAH) Retreat, held at Ciela Pleasure Resort in Lusaka, Zambia from April 27 to May 3, 2025, served as a platform for strategic alignment and in-depth work planning for staff across the Southern Africa Hub. The retreat brought together key IITA staff from Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia to define regional strategies, strengthen work synergy
Photo credit: Calf with trash; Vrindavan, India. Apercoco Since 1974, World Environment Day has mobilized global efforts to protect our planet, highlighting urgent environmental challenges and driving collective action. On June 5, 2025, the Republic of Korea will host the event, rallying the international community around a critical mission: to #BeatPlasticPollution. Plastic pollution has become one of the defining environmental
As the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 62nd Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) negotiations (SB62) convene in Bonn in June 2025, CGIAR is gearing up to advocate that food and agriculture are front and center in global climate policy discussions. These mid-year talks set the stage for outcomes
KUNMING, Yunnan— Coinciding with the International Day for Biological Diversity, a global community of scholars and experts, convened by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), shared innovative solutions on the sustainable use and conservation of agrobiodiversity. The three-day event, themed “Agrobiodiversity for People and Planet”, was co-organized with the Yunnan
Agriculture and food systems have significantly affected over 75% of Earth’s land surface, polluted more than two-thirds of the oceans, degraded over 85% of wetlands, and now threaten over a billion plant and animal species with extinction. Yet, by restoring degraded land, ecosystems and curbing environmental degradation, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss, we could generate economic returns of up
By Mengisti Berihu Girmay May 30, 2025 Agriculture, like many industries, is continuously evolving through technological innovations. One example is precision agriculture—a practice that employs data collection and analysis to optimize the use of inputs such as water, fertilizers, and pesticides based on local environmental conditions at the sub-field level. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the availability of low-cost sensors
Opinion Piece by Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General of ICRISAT Agriculture remains the backbone of livelihoods, employment, and food security across the Global South. From West African millet fields to South Asian rice paddies, the sector not only sustains communities but contributes significantly to national GDPs and employs a large share of the population, particularly women and youth. Yet, despite
By Tarig Alhaj Rakhy, Shima Mohamed, Khalid Siddig, Hala Abushama, Oliver Kiptoo Kirui, and Paul Dorosh May 29, 2025 Sudan has now entered its third year of armed conflict, resulting in economic collapse and a deepening humanitarian crisis. As of April 2025, over 8.6 million people have been internally displaced, and over 3 million have fled to neighboring countries. Famine has been confirmed in 10 areas and internally displaced person (IDP)