Below are some highlighted remarks made by Vicki Wilde, director of African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), based in Nairobi, Kenya, at a presentation she made at the sixth Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW6), organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), in Accra, Ghana, 15-20 July 2013. A full transcript of … Continue reading
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), a member of CGIAR, is offering MSc and PhD scholarships related to the wheat value chain in sub-Saharan Africa: breeding, seed production, disease and pest management, agronomy, irrigation, socio-economics and related fields. Wheat production in sub-Saharan Africa faces abiotic stresses (mainly heat and drought), … Continue reading
ILRI director general Jimmy Smith (left) confers with Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) at the 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW6), in Accra, Ghana, 15–20 Jul 2013, organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) (photo credit: ILRI/Paul Karaimu). During the just-concluded sixth Africa Agriculture Science Week … Continue reading
Climate change is a wicked problem, it requires wicked solutions, not business-as-usual. The CGIAR research program on climate change, agriculture and food security (CCAFS) recognised this when they joined up with International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and other partners to look at the potential of social learning and communication approaches to support decision-making on climate change adaptation … Continue reading
Ugandan smallholder farm landscape (photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT). A new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) calls for ‘more nuanced policy-making to boost smallholder farm output, requiring better knowledge of individual farm households and the constraints they face, to be able to target investments and policy support where they are needed … Continue reading
Photo credit: CIAT/Neil Palmer. Last week, while leaders of CGIAR research program were meeting with donors and partners in Montpellier, France, to discuss progress and directions for their programs, gender specialists in agricultural research for development were also meeting in this Mediterranean coastal city. The gender experts came from the CGIAR Consortium, centres and programs, … Continue reading
Ezekial Rop, a smallholder farmer in Moiben, Kenya (photo credit: Jeff Haskins). ‘Supporting smallholder farmers to play a greater role in food production and natural resource stewardship is one of the quickest ways to lift over one billion people out of poverty and sustainably nourish a growing world population, a new United Nations report released … Continue reading
Pastoral areas of Africa are experiencing a booming livestock export trade and inflow of investment that can be harnessed to grow national economies (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). A comprehensive economic evaluation of pastoral livestock’s often invisible livelihood benefits in Africa’s drylands could be key in maintaining and harnessing the increasing economic benefits for poor herders … Continue reading
A failed maize crop in Ghana. A report by CCAFS is advising Africa’s farmers and policymakers to adapt to climate shifts now to ensure communities are protected from climate change devastations (photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT). The many adverse impacts of climate change on agriculture—from increasing droughts and floods, to more unpredictable and extreme weather patterns, … Continue reading
Early this month, Jo Cadilhon, an agricultural economist with ILRI’s research program on Policy, Trade and Value Chains, spent four days in Lomé, Togo, facilitating a workshop for a project on ‘Resilience of smallholder agriculture through dairy and market gardening value chains’. In this blog post, he tells how the analysis of data during the … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 