CGIAR News April 2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS Thematic Focus: Agriculture and Food Security
Millions Fed
Profiles in success against hunger
Interview with Papa Seck
Papa Seck, Director General of the Africa Rice Center, warns of the continent’s continuing vulnerability to food crises and describes vigorous measures being taken to strengthen domestic production.
Research Highlights
Stealing a March
The project Seeds for Needs races to protect future food security by pre-selecting and testing crop varieties naturally adapted to expected climate conditions.
An Indispensable Animal
A project to strengthen food and nutrition security in Central Africa by improving the use of livestock forages recently acquired a new experimental guinea pig — literally.
Salvation on a Shoestring
Improved varieties and cropping practices help smallholder farmers in Ecuador’s remote Saraguro Valley achieve food security without leaving their beautiful home.
Making the Most of a Mineral
A feeding study finds that wheat bred for high zinc content raises the intake of this vital micronutrient, promising to improve nutrition security for the staple-dependent poor.
Savanna Smiles
Refined agronomic practices and crop varieties improved to withstand environmental stresses help farmers realize the vast agricultural potential of northern Nigeria.
Towering Success
People displaced by war in Sri Lanka enrich their diets by planting vertical vegetable gardens that are resource efficient, cheap to establish and even portable.
Not a Featherweight
The erstwhile “orphan crop” pigeonpea is attracting research attention spurred by its versatility, productivity under difficult conditions and high nutritional value.
Sticking with Rice
Farmers in the uplands of Southeast Asia may climb out of poverty by diversifying into cash crops, but many continue to grow rice as well for home consumption.
Maize Grown on Trees
Green fertilizers gain ground in Malawi as affordable and sustainable improvers of soil health, crop yields and food security.
Low-Hanging Fruit
Forests complement farming to secure food for the rural poor, but this requires finding a balance between forest conservation and converting forestland to agriculture.
Breeder's Delight
The Generation Challenge Programme’s new Molecular Marker Toolkit is a Swiss Army knife for breeders of 19 crops essential to maintaining global food security.
Participatory Resilience
The Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis expands its research to strengthen food security and gender equity in the face of climate change.
Keeping Track of Food Prices
As food prices in East and Central Africa refuse to fall, a regional initiative is helping decision makers cope.
Diverse Results
Women and the nationals of developing countries increasingly diversify the ranks of international agricultural researchers, but diversity in senior management lags.
Media Highlights
An Update on Media Coverage of CGIAR Research
The CGIAR builds a high profile in the international media on the issues of climate change, agriculture and food security.
Inside the CGIAR
Update on the Implementation of CGIAR Reforms
The design phase of the reforms is complete, and actions are now being taken to implement them, with the aim of transforming the CGIAR into a more open, effective and efficient partnership.
CGIAR News April 2010
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