Amsterdam, 20 February 2026 – The Cacao of Excellence programme of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT has concluded its 2025 Edition, recognising 50 highest-ranking cacao producers following an 18-month blind evaluation process spanning 45 producing origins.
With the global population projected to reach around 8.5 million by 2050, the pressure on land is intensifying. Rising demand for food, energy, and urban space, coupled with global challenges such as food security, climate change, and industrialization, is pushing today’s landscapes to their limits.
When people think of West Africa, cocoa often comes to mind: a crop that shapes rural livelihoods, national economies, and the global chocolate industry. Across major producing countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Guinea, millions of families depend on the harvest each year. Together, these countries generate over 60% of global cocoa output, making the region the engine of global supply.
Each October, the global community focuses on the challenges facing rapidly growing cities and towns, starting with World Habitat Day early in the month and ending with World Cities Day.
If drought was forecast, why did the crisis still unfold? Tracking 2025-2026 conditions across pastoral borderlands, digital early warning systems reveal how climate shocks outpaced response.
Today marks an exciting milestone for food systems across the globe: The Directors General of ICARDA, and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT met today in Rabat, Morocco to bring together research capacities, co-design a transformative research and delivery agenda, and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly drive innovation, scaling, and impact for legumes for food and feed across the world.
This blog presents a new study on the Colombian-Peruvian Amazon network, examining how environmental narratives influence cooperation among conservation organizations and shape governance dynamics in the region.
Our new paper maps 392 organizations and 793 cooperation ties (2021–2023) in the Colombia–Peru Amazon, revealing fragile governance: reliance on a few hubs/tech platforms and weak cross-border links.