By CGIAR From a total of 391,000 known plant species, 5,538 are known to have been used for human food since the origin of agriculture. And of the 1,097 plants now recognized as vegetables, only a fraction is commercialized and widely eaten. The reduction of agricultural biodiversity in global food systems is of increasing concern, … More Putting farro, quinoa, and rocket back on the table
In pursuit of productivity, the global food system has become focused on a few staple crops. This has not only left consumers with fewer choices for healthy diets, but also sidelined a wealth of nutritious and resilient food crops around the world. But while they may have been forgotten by formal research systems, these hundreds … More Forgotten foods: forgotten by science, but not by farmers
By Duncan Turnbull, Pomeroon Moringa has long been a staple for both people and livestock across Southeast Asia. However in recent years it has found its way to the breakfast smoothies of America’s Millennials. In moringa’s largest reincarnation, this popular food supplement can bring important economic benefits to smallholder farmers across the globe. High in … More Moringa: The ancient food staging a comeback
Viviana Palmieri, Executive Secretary of FORAGRO speaks with GFAR’s Valeria Pesce about leading the Collective Action on Inclusive Digital Transformation of Agriculture, the challenges and opportunities facing farmers and how to ensure inclusivity is key. Valeria: Why did FORAGRO propose a Collective Action on Inclusive Digital Agriculture and what is the importance for you of … More Why we’re launching a Collective Action on Inclusive Digital Transformation of Agriculture starting in Latin America
By Farm Radio International At Farm Radio International, we field the question “why radio” more often than we care to admit. And, in a world where apps, blockchain, and artificial intelligence are exciting new ways of improving agriculture, we get it. Our work looks a little like this: organizations often come to us with a … More How to ensure farmers are not left behind in the digital transformation of agriculture
By Ruthie Musker, Project Officer – Data Policy & Practice at CABI, and Fiona Smith, Independent Contractor for CABI Access to data on soil health, agronomy and fertilizer based upon FAIR could be a ‘game changer’ in helping to create greater food security within Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia who are already battling with the … More A range of incentives could help open up free access to FAIR data in agriculture
By Valeria Pesce (GFAR), Chris Addison (formerly CTA), Foteini Zampati (GODAN Sometimes—perhaps often—we who work in research for development ask ourselves if and how our findings will get picked up, “taken off the shelf”, to help make a difference on the ground. In GFAR we ask how our partners’ concerns and the findings that emerge from our collaborations can make it into the dialogues and hard-hitting reports of influential organizations. We are thrilled to see this is the case with a newly … More From niche to known: findings on farm data sharing from Partners in GFAR reflected in World Bank book
GFAR is revitalizing Collective Actions to strengthen agri-food research and innovations systems, fueled by a new collaboration showcasing GFAR Partners’ unique way of working together. As an open, collective movement, GFAR enables inclusive dialogue and Collective Actions to transform systems and processes of agri-food research and innovation. GFAR Secretariat and the wider GFAR network of partners are now renewing our work, with the confidence … More GFAR (back) in Action
Transforming food systems is no easy feat. The system and its failings are intricately linked with some of the toughest challenges of our time: climate change, poverty, misaligned and outdated policies. Narrowly targeted interventions will not bring about the kind of change we need. To achieve systems transformation, we need to think at the systems … More Food Tank: From Crisis to Possibility; Five Aspirations for our Food System
In the seven years since Bangladesh approved its first genetically modified crop — insect-resistant eggplant (Bt brinjal) — the number of farmers growing it has increased from just 20 to well over 60,000. This figure includes only farmers who have obtained seeds from formal sources. The actual number of farmers growing Bt eggplant is likely … More How can Bangladesh sustain growth to make Bt eggplant technology sustainable?
The food security debate is no longer limited to yields and calories. Increasingly, we are realizing that food insecurity isn’t only about poverty, but that hunger sprouts from inequality, environmental destruction and biodiversity loss. Clearly, getting it right on food needs systems thinking, and the call to convene the 2021 Food Systems Summit is a … More 5 ways you can use Science Communication to change our food systems for the better
Climate change is going to force us to consider entirely new needs. CGIAR is the world’s largest agricultural research group: In short, it helps create better plants and better animal genetics. It was at a CGIAR lab in Mexico that Norman Borlaug did his groundbreaking work on wheat, sparking the Green Revolution. Other CGIAR researchers, … More Bill Gates on climate change, CGIAR and adapting to a warmer world
More than 1 million young people around the world have urged governments to prioritise measures to protect against the ravages of climate breakdown during the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. World leaders are due to meet by video link on Monday to consider how to adapt to the extreme weather, wildfires and floods that have … More A million young people urge governments to prioritise climate crisis
Beans are great. They are nutritious, they are cheap and they boost the incomes of smallholder farmers. But, for the vast majority of the estimated 200 million Africans that eat them, I doubt that convenient is a word they would associate with this protein staple. Dried grains, the most available and affordable bean product, take … More Nutritious, cheap and… convenient? Capitalising on untapped bean markets
People in industrialized regions like the United States of America or Europe are generally urged to eat less meat and animal-source foods as part of a healthier and lower-emissions diet. But such recommendations are not universal solutions in low- or middle-income countries, where livestock are critical to incomes and diets, argue scientists in recently published … More ILRI: A no-meat diet everywhere will not solve the climate crisis
How can scientists move us beyond the calamities of 2020? The current moment for our species feels a lot like fiction. Not without cause, fiction writers have made the most out of imagining near-future worlds that seem unthinkable or unbearable. However, the real world of 2020 is both less unthinkable and more unbearable than fiction: … More 2020 feels like dark fiction. Here’s how science can inspire a better future
The threat of the pandemic actually helped push through the European Green Deal. As March brought death and chaos to Europe, officials in the Cabinet of European Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans developed a pattern of working: crisis in the morning, recovery in the afternoon. The Green Deal — the political project to make the EU climate … More How the EU’s Green Deal survived the coronavirus pandemic
The world urgently needs both climate solutions and gender equality. Neither can exist without the other. Climate change and gender inequality are two of the most significant and long-standing global challenges that we face today. And experts and policymakers in each area recognize that these issues are inextricably linked with one another. It follows that … More Investing in Women could change the climate change game
Since the adoption of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015, global momentum to tackle the climate crisis has been building. Progress has been made on almost every front, from bold corporate emissions-reduction targets and investors shifting away from coal to a surge of support for net-zero targets and a rising movement of … More 6 Signs of Progress Since the Adoption of the Paris Agreement
The CGIAR 2030 Strategy is based on the premise that the organisation can deliver more relevantly, consistently and efficiently when brought together under fewer institutional boundaries, supported by clearer, unified, and empowered management and governance. As stated in the CGIAR documentation “One CGIAR … provides the opportunity for a fresh ten-year strategy that can shape … More Reflecting on #OneCGIAR: Feedback from the GFAR Constituencies on the survey conducted for upcoming CGIAR 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy
