Rice yield forecasting is a crucial task for management and planning. A rice yield estimation system (RIICE) was developed based on the crop growth model ORYZA and SAR derived key information such as start of season (SOS) and leaf area growth rate. Results from study sites in Sikasso and Segou regions suggest that incorporating remote sensing data, specifically Synthetic aperture radar (SAR), into a process-based crop model improves the spatial distribution of yield estimates.

There is an urgent need to rethink our global food systems. The world is facing a nutrition crisis, and the way we produce and consume food is altering the equilibrium of our planet, causing environmental damage and biodiversity loss, and climate change which further compromises food security. Children are disproportionately affected, and school meals are being increasingly recognized as a key investment for governments to tackle these challenges. Through national school meals programs, around 418 million children currently receive a meal at school every day.

Evaluation of Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV, genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae) seed transmission rate among 62 different lentil genotypes was carried out during 2021-2023 at Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Seed transmission rates among lentil genotypes ranged from 0.0 to 36.4%. Released lentil varieties (Alemaya and Derso) showed high levels of seed transmission rates (13.5% and 7.1%, respectively).

South Asia’s rice-wheat system is a regionally unique and crucially important cropping system contributing to staple food production. Over a 16-year period, a comprehensive experimental study on the rice-wheat cropping system indicated that, while wheat yields demonstrated a gradual increase over time, rice yields largely reached a stable level across various management approaches.

The TAFSSA district food systems assessment aims to provide a reliable, accessible integrated evidence base that links farm production, market access, dietary patterns, climate risk responses, natural resource management in Bangladesh, India, Nepal. It is intended to be a multi-year assessment. This data note summarizes data collected in February-March 2023 to describe what smallholder farmers are cultivating what they do with the farm products produced. It is part of a pack of data notes that, together, provide a holistic picture of the food system in the district.

The increasing population and changes in the climate in Africa demand a more sustainable approach to water usage for improved food and water security in the region. One of the key users of water, agriculture serves as the primary livelihood in Ghana, with a growing focus on cocoa production. To effectively implement sustainable water management strategies, it becomes imperative to conduct hydrological studies, including water balance components and water quality at sub-national and watershed scales. This would assist decision-makers in the proper planning and interventions for agriculture.

Access to enough safe and nutritious food is a key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Food can however also be a vehicle of disease transmission if contaminated with harmful microbes (bacteria, viruses, or parasites) or chemicals/toxins. Around the world, an estimated 600 million - almost 1 in 10 people – fall ill after eating contaminated food each year, resulting in 420,000 deaths and the loss of 33 million healthy, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (WHO, 2022).

A two-day advanced training session on semen cooling technique was conducted at the Doyogena
CBBP site in Ethiopia. The training specifically targeted researchers involved in implementing sheep
and goat CBBPs. In Ethiopia, ICARDA and its partners, under the previous CRP program, established
ten low-cost reproductive technology laboratories across different regions. These laboratories are
equipped with mobile equipment for semen collection, evaluation, and insemination for sheep and
goats. More information about these labs can be found at

Climate change has intensified food security challenges, especially in Africa, where a significant portion of produce is reliant on smallholder farmers in rainfed conditions. Prolonged flooding and droughts, driven by erratic weather patterns, have significantly elevated the risk of food scarcity. Floods, in particular, have been responsible for severe crop losses, raising concerns about increasing import costs if this issue is not mitigated. Africa is actively working to mitigate the impacts of flooding and enhance food security, although progress has been gradual.

As part of the Livestock and Climate initiative, we have been working together with MediaE to improve the advisories related to climate and financial aspects of agriculture. For instance, we have been developing content on Shamba Shape-Up (SSU) television episodes which is one of the products of MediaE. However, one of the key learnings from developing content is whether the episodes are actionable or not.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), one of the research centers within the global Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), has a long history of gender research relevant to its mission of reducing poverty and ending hunger and malnutrition. Over the last two decades, gender has been effectively incorporated into all of IFPRI’s strategic research areas and into all phases of research. There is abundant evidence of IFPRI’s role as a leading global think tank on gender issues.