International agricultural development acquired a significant new player last December when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — the biggest private foundation in the world, with US$37 billion under its control — announced that it was joining the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). When the Gates Foundation launched its own agricultural programmes a … Continue reading
Now that agriculture is regaining its rightful place on the international development agenda, it’s time for agricultural biodiversity to become the center of attention as well, particularly in view of its vital importance for coping with the intricately linked issues of global food security and climate change. The United Nations has designated 2010 as the … Continue reading
The Alliance of CGIAR Centers reached an important milestone at its workshop 9-12 February 2010 in Rome. Partners from the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR) and the CGIAR Science Council joined the Alliance in making significant progress in the development of the Strategy and Results Framework and the portfolio of Mega Programs. Immediately prior … Continue reading
The 12 February 2010 issue of Science examines the obstacles to achieving global food security and some promising solutions. News articles introduce farmers and researchers who are finding ways to boost harvests, especially in the developing world. Reviews, Perspectives, and an audio interview provide a broader context for the causes and effects of food insecurity … Continue reading
The refurbished CG Ongoing Research map has new functionalities such as: A more targeted and friendly search engine, project overviews, and links to project documentations among others, which will be sure to revolutionize the way we share research information and make browsing even more interesting. We are currently working on completing these additional project details. … Continue reading
The Minister of State for Overseas Development, Peter Power T.D., yesterday announced significant funding for collaborative research between Irish universities and international research centres to combat hunger. Outlining the Government’s increased support, Minister Power said: “This initiative represents an investment in research that will ultimately help to increase food production, improve diets and reduce vulnerability … Continue reading
Climate has been central to much of the work of the CGIAR centres, variable and uncertain weather being one of the greatest challenges to small-scale farmers and other resource managers. New technologies and knowledge resulting from this work include hardier crops and better ways to manage trees, livestock, water, soil and fish. The CGIAR Challenge … Continue reading
The Agriculture and Rural Development Day event was held at the University of Copenhagen, in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Saturday, 12 December 2009. The event took place in parallel with the United Nations Climate Change Conference, including the fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate … Continue reading
A “masterplan” for agricultural research and technology transfer was unveiled at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen today by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the world’s largest alliance of agricultural scientists. The 45-page strategy calls for, on the one hand, action that harnesses multiple advances that the group says are waiting … Continue reading
Livestock researchers believe that rather than rid the world of livestock it’s preferable to find ways to farm animals more efficiently, profitably and sustainably, according to a new short film (see link below) prepared by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) on livestock and climate change. Watch video. . . (Climate, Food and Developing Country … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 