Malawi has been at the center of the debate on agricultural input subsidies in Africa ever since it significantly expanded its fertilizer subsidy program about two decades ago. When it did so, Malawi was a trailblazer, receiving international attention for seemingly leveraging the subsidy program to move the country from a situation characterized by food deficits and widespread hunger to crop production surpluses.

The Independent Science for Development Council (ISDC) reviewed the “Draft Portfolio25 Document: A set of proposals on the CGIAR 2025-27 Research and Innovation.” Our review is organized by comments on the overall portfolio, followed by specific feedback for the three Action Areas. This document provides brief and high-level reflections for consideration in future portfolio development.

The Conservation Agriculture (CA) practices with increased acceptance across the globe are being considered as harbinger for sustainable intensification of smallholder production systems. Its positive impact on natural resources, and resilience to climate change effects are widely acknowledged. In developing world and specially Asia and Africa, CA is a relatively new introduction and hence capacity development is vital for development, adaptation, and scaling CA based technologies for impact at scale on smallholder farmers in these regions.

The Government of Tajikistan should consider joining the Global Methane Commitment as a strategic and prudent decision. Tajikistan's participation in the Global Methane Pledge offers numerous benefits that can positively impact the country's economy, environment, and global reputation. By joining this international effort to reduce methane emissions, Tajikistan can contribute to global climate change mitigation goals, demonstrating its commitment to addressing environmental challenges.

Gender inequality persists in Burundi’s agricultural sector, especially in the bean value chain dominated by women. Women often have less access to improved seeds and to productive technologies. Interventions dubbed “gender-responsive plant breeding” have been launched to develop new varieties to address the gender gaps in variety adoption. Gender responsive planting breeding in Burundi targets to develop bean varieties that respond better to gendered varietal and trait preferences.

Pakistan is a case of double injustice contributing a minuscule share of global greenhouse gases, yet it is bearing the brunt of global climate change impacts. It ranks among the top 10 countries vulnerable to climate change (Eckstein et al., 2021). The 2022 IPCC Report underlines the heightened vulnerabilities because of global warming and climate change leading to more floods. The Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 20221, Pakistan could lose more than 9 percent of its annual GDP due to climate change.

Cassava breeding faces obstacles due to late flowering and poor flower and seed set. The acceleration of breeding processes and the reduction in each cycle’s duration hinge upon efficiently conducting crosses to yield ample progeny for subsequent cycles. Our primary objective was to identify methods that provide tools for cassava breeding programs, enabling them to consistently and rapidly generate offspring from a wide array of genotypes. In greenhouse trials, we examined the effects of the anti-ethylene silver thiosulfate (STS) and the cytokinin benzyladenine (BA).

Participatory approaches for crop variety testing can help breeding teams to incorporate traditional knowledge and consider site-specific sociocultural complexities. However, traditional participatory approaches have drawbacks and are seldom streamlined or scaled. Decentralized on-farm testing supported by citizen science addresses some of these challenges.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, countries with a greater percentage of overlapping days in their school and farming calendars also have lower primary school survival rates. In theory, greater overlap between the school and farming calendars should indeed reduce schooling investments, and farm-based child labor too, as it constrains the time allocation opportunity set for both productive activities.

This report is generated as part of a scoping study to identify possible areas that should be prioritized for intervention to improve performance and sustainability of the dairy industry in Uganda. The evaluation relies on primary and secondary data collected by IFPRI and DDA in 2021. Ten primary datasets are used for the results informing the several interventions and secondary data relies on literature review and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) dataset. The results underline five issues namely low productivity, low milk quality, and constrained markets.

Climate change is resulting in increased frequency of extreme weather events, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) already characterized by highly vulnerable malnourished populations. Unsurprisingly, there are many empirical studies of the linkages between extreme weather events and undernutrition, especially stunting and wasting in early childhood, and several existing reviews of this literature.