Blogs
Four ways of strengthening gender equality in the agricultural sector in the MENA region
Gender equality, youth and social inclusion
Experts note that policies alone are not enough — they need to go hand in hand with strong initiatives to make agriculture a safer, more equal and respectful space for both women and men.
One-minute science: Trent Blare and blue maize products
Environmental health and biodiversity
Consumers near Mexico City perceived blue maize tortillas to taste better. They were willing to pay up to a third more to buy them for special family events or to consume them in restaurants.
Moving out of poverty or staying poor
Gender equality, youth and social inclusion
Is it up to the village men? Or women, too?
With 30,000 surveys, researchers build the go-to dataset for smallholder farms
Innovations
Source: Phys.org (3 Mar 2020)
Survey tool can help farmers face challenges of climate change, food security, nutrition, farm productivity and social inclusion.Â
Breeder friendly phenotyping
Innovations
Modern phenotyping tools are crucial for crop improvement and breeders can profit much more from them.
What will be the new face of European agriculture in the coming years?
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Source: EuroNews (2 Mar 2020)
Rising temperatures pose risk for agriculture in Europe — but adaptation is under way with the help of climate data.
Spraying locusts before they can fly key for effective control
Stephen Njoka and Hugo de Groote share insights on the current locust invasion, effective control measures and how we can prepare for future outbreaks.
Pests and diseases and climate change: Is there a connection?
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Although farmers have been battling pests and diseases since the dawn of agriculture, experts warn that climate change could accelerate or expand their spread.
New publication: Scaling agricultural mechanization services in smallholder farming systems
Innovations
Study shows service provider models in Africa, Latin America and South Asia increase smallholder access to agricultural machinery, but can remain dependent on projects to tackle major bottlenecks for scaling.
Biofortified Crop Project Reaches Refugees in Zambia
Capacity development
Source: Inter Press Service (27 Feb 2020)
Refugees receive technical assistance, nutrition education and training on growing biofortified maize.
Advancing Nutritious Food Crops: The Role of the Public Sector
Nutrition, health and food security
Source: Outlook India (25 Feb 2020)
Harvest Plus supports cross-sector alliances to advance biofortified crops in India.
Smartphones drive data collection revolution, boost climate-smart agriculture in Bangladesh
Climate adaptation and mitigation
For the first time widespread monitoring examines how farmers are coping with climate stresses.
Global greenhouse gas emissions from the food system
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Global climate frameworks miss the “big picture” on food, say scientists.
One-minute science: Khondoker Mottaleb on how to meet food demand by 2030
Nutrition, health and food security
Studying changing food consumption patterns in the context of urbanization and economic and population growth helps plan for the future.
Global climate frameworks miss the ‘big picture’ on food
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Source: Thomson Reuters (18 Feb 2020)
Schemes may fall short of ambitions by dealing separately with food production, supply and consumption.
