Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and their collaborative partners have identified molecular markers associated with resistance to banana weevil—one of the most destructive pests of the crop that can lead up to 100% yield loss. Identifying the markers on a crop’s genome in a population derived from a cross from two banana accessions, “Monyet” and “Kokopo”
IITA and partners—the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), the International Potato Center (CIP), One Acre Fund (OAF), and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (the Alliance)—are implementing the triadic comparison of technology options (tricot) methodology to help farmers identify the most suitable crop varieties for the local conditions of their farm. This approach has been used since
Radio IITA’s Dajie Odok received an award for the “Best Reporter of the Year” in the Radio Category at the 5th edition of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) Nigeria Annual Media Awards. The OFAB-organized event took place on 11 November in collaboration with the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and the Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF). The media awards recognize
In product development, a gender-inclusive process can enhance equality between genders, and when women’s and men’s voices are heard, it effectively informs the breeding process. While there is growing recognition of women’s vital role in informal/farmer-led breeding processes, knowledge on how and when to involve men and women farmers and how gender-responsive breeding can advance gender equality is limited. Plant
Integral to food and nutrition security around the world, artisanal fisheries and aquaculture are receiving formal recognition with an international year in their honor declared by the United Nations. Read more
A recent Twitter conversation between the UN’s David Beasley and Tesla’s Elon Musk has shown that hunger is deceptively complex. There is a crucial difference between acute hunger, caused by shocks like war or natural disasters, and chronic hunger, which occurs when agricultural production (and distribution) fails to keep pace with threats such as soil degradation, erratic rainfall, or heatwaves, or
BY SWATI MALHOTRA, ALAN DE BRAUW, ERWIN BULTE AND EVGENIYA ANISIMOVA The agricultural productivity gap between actual and potential yields in Africa south of the Sahara has been a persistent challenge since the post-World War II independence movement. Despite efforts by governments, international foundations, UN agencies, and private investors, smallholder agricultural production—which dominates in Africa—continues to lag behind its potential,
The CGIAR Research Program on Fisheries Agri-Food Systems (FISH) came to a successful conclusion after providing five years of evidence to improve food security, fight poverty, enhance sustainability, increase resilience to climate change and develop a new research and innovation base for fish agri-food systems. Read more