News Overview

By Jennifer Johnson Breastfeeding is an essential element in early childhood nutrition. Breast milk contains all the nutrients needed in a child’s first months, and breastfeeding yields broad health benefits for infants and later in life. Yet globally, fewer than half of infants under six months old are exclusively breastfed. Improving those numbers would make an enormous difference in children’s and public

A regional technical training took place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The training aimed to strengthen individual and institutional capacities to access, design and implement climate finance mechanisms to support the transformation of livestock systems into low-emission and climate-resilient models. In Africa, livestock plays a vital role in agricultural economies, contributing up to 40% of agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The United States Dry Bean Council (USDBC) and the Alliance-led Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) launched a strategic partnership in Nairobi to boost dry bean innovation, trade, and food security across Africa, positioning beans as a driver of nutrition, sustainability, and economic growth. The strategic partnership between USDBC and PABRA was launched on June 29, 2025, with a vibrant celebration in Nairobi that brought together food innovators,

To most eyes, deserts look like the end of the line for agriculture – too dry to grow, too hot to handle, and too degraded to offer much promise. But that assumption is being overturned by a science-driven rethink of agriculture in places long considered beyond saving.   Across the drylands of the Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa,

To breed resilient, productive, and nutritious bean varieties, accurate, efficient, and cost-effective data collection is essential. Traditionally, breeding programs depended heavily on human observation, sometimes supported by mobile data collection apps. But, manual phenotyping is time consuming, labor intensive, prone to error, and slows down selection cycles and drives up costs of breeding. In early 2025, researchers at the Alliance

A top-level delegation from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and its Embassy in Nigeria recently visited the Abuja Hub of the ‘Youth in Agribusiness: Enabling scaling of innovative technologies for sustainable food solutions’, also known as the YAS project. The visit enabled the delegation to witness the project implementation outcomes first-hand and examine the critical sustainability areas. While welcoming the

Networking remains a cornerstone of academic and professional growth, offering far-reaching benefits beyond social connection. It enhances the visibility and credibility of one’s research, unlocks access to funding opportunities, supports career mobility, and fosters innovation through new ideas and collaborations. Recognizing the power of networking and the evolving landscape of research careers, the IITA–CGIAR International Association of Research Scholars and Fellows (IARSAF)

IITA–CGIAR and the Plateau State Government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance agricultural development and deepen food and nutrition security in the state. The collaboration aims to help the state adopt agricultural innovations and technologies, sustainable farming practices, and environmental sustainability, generating employment, increasing productivity, food and nutrition security, and economic development. The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development,