Towards better impact for the Avisa project – partners meet to chart pan-African communication activities
Three days of intense brainstorming helped chart out the communication activities for the AVISA project, that works across seven African countries. Launched in Feb 2019, the AVISA project funded by the Gates Foundation, works on the broad agenda of modernizing breeding and increasing incomes for smallholder farmers in Africa for six crops. Held in Nairobi during May...
You’ve probably never heard of CGIAR, but they are essential to feeding our future
What’s for dinner? It’s a question asked every day in homes around the world. No other organization has done as much to ensure families—especially the poorest—have an answer to that question as CGIAR, the world’s largest global agricultural research organization. More than 50 years ago, CGIAR’s research into high-yielding, disease-resistant rice and wheat launched the Green Revolution,...
Partnering to bring smallholders the seeds they need
Hyderabad is sometimes called the “Seed Capital of India”. That was certainly the case in mid-March when the city hosted the India Seed Congress (ISC). The overarching topic was “Seeds for Sustainability”. Hervé Thieblemont, Ian Barker, AM Rao and Raghavender Dantapuram (from l. to r.) represented our Foundation. Also present in force were our seed sector partners...
Training and seedlings help make a dream come true
For this young man, listening to his sister was a good idea. Joining his local Farmers’ Hub was even better. And vegetables may one day even pay for two medical degrees. Razzakul Islam grew up in Kachabari, a village in northern Bangladesh. He was one of many siblings, and did not inherit a personal share of land. Every...
Improved high-iron and zinc bean varieties for better nutrition
Two bean varieties were recently launched in Arusha, Tanzania. These high iron and zinc climbing varieties of beans scientifically known as MAC44 – Selian 14 and RWV1129 -Selian 15 were released by the Selian Agriculture Research Institute (SARI) for the first time. Tanzania joins other countries in the region such as Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda...
MODERNIZING INDIA’S PIGEONPEA BREEDING PROGRAM TO ENHANCE GENETIC GAINS
Strategies to revolutionize the pigeonpea breeding program in India, including delivering new varieties with market-friendly traits, was the main focus of a recent workshop, ‘Pigeonpea Product Design and Management’ conducted at ICRISAT India. A multidisciplinary team of scientists representing five agro-ecological zones of India brainstormed to update the Indian pigeonpea breeding program. India accounts for...
WHERE AGRICULTURE IS RELIGION: PREACHING ABOUT IMPROVED SORGHUM IN BURKINA FASO
Improved sorghum varieties are finding new champions in unusual places. In Andemtenga, a remote village about 150 km east of Ouagadougou (capital of Burkina Faso), Mr Fidel Yameogo, the local catechist, is famous for testing improved sorghum varieties. He is a staunch supporter of improved sorghum varieties and has persuaded many in his village to...
THE STORIES OF ‘SORGHUM’ AGATHA AND ‘SEED’ MARY
Why linking with the private sector is important for the AVISA project Passion can be a very tasty ingredient. It is with a large dose of this passion that Ms Agatha, an unusual food processor in Tanzania, aims to create demand for a new series of products. She is among the few processors in the...