For over 70 percent of rural women in Tanzania, land is more than an agriculturally productive asset. It is the foundation for livelihoods, household food and nutrition security, economic empowerment, dignity, voice, and decision-making. Yet, despite legal protections,…
The challenge: Economic vulnerability Malawi currently stands as the world’s most tobacco-dependent economy, with the crop accounting for nearly 70% of its foreign exchange earnings. This narrow reliance has left the nation vulnerable to global market shifts, a…
For decades, farmers, researchers, and policymakers in Sierra Leone have worked with limited and outdated soil information, making it difficult to determine where crops perform best, what nutrients are needed, and how fertilizer/other input investments can deliver the…
When farmers participate in crop breeding as citizen scientists, their knowledge and experience can shape which varieties are advanced and released. But participation can also strengthen farmers’ own knowledge, agency and leadership—capacities that can, in turn, make breeding…
Scaling agricultural mechanization innovations has enormous potential to transform Zambia’s food, land, and water systems by improving productivity, reducing labor demands, minimizing post-harvest losses, and creating new business opportunities across agricultural value chains. However, successful mechanization scaling is…
At the IITA–CGIAR stand during Rwanda’s 2026 Agrishow, visitors could trace the journey of cassava across the value chain: from clean planting materials for farmers to flour, bakery products, and animal feed. The display highlighted how agricultural research and innovation…
As part of efforts to reaffirm IITA–CGIAR‘s commitment to strengthen resilient agricultural systems and transform rural livelihoods in Mozambique through climate-smart agriculture, strategic partnerships, and resilient farming systems, IITA Southern Africa Hub Director, Dr David Chikoye visited the Sofala Water,…
When farmers receive fertilizer recommendations, they rarely see the scientists who spent days analyzing soil samples to produce it. When countries talk about boosting food production or building climate-resilient agriculture, the conversation hardly starts with laboratories. Yet it should.…