Bigger and healthier maize is helping to counter the effects of severe drought caused by the warming effects of an El Nino weather system that has swept across southern Africa making more than 30 million people in the region dependent on food aid.
New varieties of the most important staple food crop in southern Africa, developed by scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), not only flourish in drought, but can produce bumper crops in ideal growing conditions.
Newly approved CGIAR Portfolio sets agenda for next generation agriculture research for development
Credited with saving hundreds of million from hunger in the post-World War II era, global agricultural research organizations such as the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) will need to change their focus, funding base and partnerships in coming decades, to continue contributing to food security, prosperity and reduced environmental degradation in developing countries, said Derek Byerlee, an agricultural economist.
Encouraging youth willing to become “hunger fighters” to take up the challenges of farming despite erratic weather caused by climate change, drought, dwindling water supplies and nutrient-depleted soil, is key to future food security, said Julie Borlaug, associate director for external relations at the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M University.
Although increasing food supply to meet future demand must involve pushing the boundaries on technological innovation, sustainability must always be first and foremost, said Martin Kropff, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the organization, which has attracted almost a thousand delegates from Mexico and around the world, including agriculture ministers, scientists, policy makers and farmers.
As announced at the GODAN Summit, the GODAN Action project has published a global map of standards relevant to the exchange of agriculture and nutrition data. GFAR and the other GODAN Action partners are now calling on their network of experts to contribute to this new global map.
The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) is collaborating with partners
to develop and implement a foresight-based engagement with diverse stakeholders linked to
aquatic agricultural systems. The program’s aim is to understand the implications of current drivers
of change for fish agri-food systems, and consequently food and nutrition security, in Africa, Asia
and the Pacific. Partners include the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), the Forum
The world has committed to eradicate hunger and eliminate all forms of malnutrition by 2030. The UN General Assembly launched the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025) to strengthen global action and to bring together initiatives and efforts working towards the 2030 goal.
Probably only a few Hungarian families would fail to meet “the pulse challenge” – eating at least one dish based on dried lentils, beans or peas every week.
Yet, while robust lentil or bean soups are staples of the national cuisine, those dried seeds of leguminous plants struggle with an image problem. They are seldom treated as a healthy ingredient with almost endless potential.
Genome sequencing has the power to revolutionize food security and sustainable agriculture including food safety, animal, plant and public health, reducing the risks from disease outbreaks and improving agriculture through effective plant and animal breeding. While several industrialized countries advance with the technology, application in developing countries is limited. This side event provides a forum for Members to discuss benefits, drawbacks, policy implications and challenges that call for global actions.