Participatory plant breeding is not new in Rwanda. Its history can be traced between 1988 to 1990 when local experts drawn from the pool of older women carried out the process (Sperling 1992; Sperling et al. 1993). On-farm results demonstrated farmers’ ability to select the best cultivars for their home plots. Between 1990 to 1993, women experts were selected to represent
Good progress has been made in the first 12 months of an innovative project linking The UWA Institute of Agriculture researchers and east African partners to breed new, fast-cooking common bean (Phaseolus spp) varieties biofortified with iron and zinc. This Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)-funded project is a partnership between east African bean breeding programs and supported on the
Did you know that almost 80 percent of Benin’s 11.2 million people earn a living from agriculture, the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) states? Despite being a subsistence sector, agriculture contributes about 34 percent to this west African nation’s Gross Domestic Product. It is for the above reasons that the University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC) and the Laboratory of Applied
Aquatic foods are key to transforming global food systems in support of sustainable and healthy diets, said panelists at the launch of a UN Nutrition discussion paper. The publication, The role of aquatic foods in sustainable healthy diets, is UN Nutrition’s first discussion paper on aquatic foods. Co-authored by 2021 World Food Prize Laureate and WorldFish Global Lead for Nutrition
While the movement to transform food systems is gaining momentum, the avenues for doing so remain poorly explored. The past has the potential to inform future actions and outcomes –researching historical large-scale dietary shifts can illuminate the pathways that facilitate dietary change. By exploring the drivers of past change in food production and consumption, researchers can promote transitions in food
Action for Animal Health is a new coalition that aims to secure greater support for animal health systems. The International Livestock Research Institute is a member of the coalition and a signatory of its call to action for governments and international agencies to increase investment in animal health to protect animals, people and the environment. The Action for Animal Health
At a series of dialogues convened as part of the UNFSS preparatory process, experts argued that well-managed water systems and cross-sectoral collaboration are critically important measures to transform food systems and protect fragile ecosystems. The dialogues were organized by the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), with significant input from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the
The COVID 19 pandemic has made more clear than ever the need for and role of digital technologies to strengthen and scale innovations to assist smallholders farmers and other value chain actors. At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, movement restrictions and the cycles of lockdowns in different countries threatened to slow down progress among farmers and other partners.