research: Sustainable agrifood systems

Farmers participating in mother trials learn climate-smart agriculture principles and conservation agriculture technologies.

Reflections on resilience

Written by Shiela Chikulo on October 27, 2020. Posted in Features.

Approaching Ward 6 in Mwenezi, southern Zimbabwe, tracts of empty fields around homesteads on either side of the road signal the end of harvesting for the 2019/20 farming season. Farmers have stored away maize fodder on tree branches or inside the family compounds.

At one of the homesteads in the village of Chikwalakwala A, ten farmers are gathered while agricultural extension officers weigh grain and legume samples. They are participating in mother trials from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), using improved farming practices and drought-resilient seed varieties. This is one of the eight villages in Ward 6 where CIMMYT has established demonstration sites, as part of the Zambuko Livelihoods Initiative, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Most of us here were born and raised in this ward, helping our parents with farming activities and continuing with farming when we finally had our own families,” farmer Tevera Romichi explains. However, the dry spells, high temperatures and erratic rainfall have become increasingly disturbing for him in recent years. “It became difficult to determine when we would receive enough rain to plant our crops without risking long dry spells,” he says.

The onset of rains in Mwenezi has shifted over the years, from late September to the end of October or early November. With most families in the district depending on agriculture for their livelihoods, the adverse change in climatic conditions has compromised food security. These farmers grow crops such as millet, sorghum and groundnut.

Clemence Hlungwane, another farmer participating in mother trials, further explains how traditional practices of repeated tillage with ox-drawn ploughs weakened the soil structure, exposing it to soil erosion and loss of fertility. “These soils have been overused without any thought of how to replenish all the nutrients that were found in the soil in past years,” he says. The result for families like Hlungwane’s were poor germination, susceptibility to pests and diseases and poor yields.

Lablab fixes nitrogen into the soil and provides residue for mulching and feed for livestock. (Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT)

Being smart in the field

The introduction of climate-smart technologies by CIMMYT provided a channel through which mother-trial farmers in Ward 6 could explore alternative farming practices in a sustainable way while adapting to climate-induced risks. The principles of conservation agriculture, which encourage the preservation of soil moisture and nutrients, underpinned the technologies introduced by CIMMYT.

Initially, mother trial farmers expressed mixed feelings when the CIMMYT team and the Agricultural Extension and Technical Services (AGRITEX) officials took them through the process of establishing the demonstration plots. “It seemed like a lot of work,” Charleton Midzi recalls. “There was a lot of measuring, pegging and marking the demonstration plots but we soon realized that this would be important when planting the small grains and legumes.”

“At the same time, I was curious to see how ploughing with a ripper would help the soil and crops along with the practice of mulching,” Midzi says. “Where mulch was applied, the moisture was well preserved, and the crops looked much healthier and vibrant than in portions without mulch.” Another important lesson was understanding the importance of record keeping for planting dates, harvesting dates and rainfall records to inform the next season. In addition, good agronomy practices such as spacing, correct application of nutrients and use of pesticides contributed to the successful production at the demonstration plots.

“We no longer waste inputs,” says Caleb Matandare, a farmer in the village of Chikwalakwala C. “Being smart in the field means applying the correct amount of fertilizer using the measuring cups provided and keeping a record of the suitable amount for the crop.”

By the end of the season, the mother farmers observed the evident difference in the higher quality of the millet and sorghum planted on the conservation agriculture plots, compared to the conventional plots. From the yields of sorghum, millet and cowpeas, Matandare’s family of 13 are guaranteed enough diverse and nutritious food, particularly in the “lean season,” the period between harvests.

Margaret Mapuranga, a mother-trial farmer in Ward 6, Mwenezi district, shows a sample of velvet bean from the demonstration plot. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)

Baby-trial farmers eager to learn

Since the establishment of the mother trials in Ward 6, several farmers witnessing the advantages of producing under conservation agriculture and using drought-resilient varieties are keen to adopt the improved technologies.

Margaret Mapuranga shares how her neighbor inquired about the legume crops. “I explained to her how lablab, velvet bean and cowpeas fix nitrogen in the soil, which will be useful for the grain crops in the next season. She would like to try out the same in her own field in the coming season.” Mapuranga is confident that she can promote these sustainable practices with farmers selected for the baby trials in her village.

The coming 2020/21 season looks promising as more farmers in Ward 6 adopt the improved technologies. Mother-trial farmers are eager to expand conservation agriculture practices to other portions of their land as a safeguard against climate risks. For them, the ability to share the climate-smart technologies promoted by CIMMYT is an empowering process that will transform agriculture in the ward and beyond.

Can this coincidence help India breathe easier this year?

Written by Mary Donovan on October 23, 2020. Posted in In the media.

“We are unlikely to see big peaks in stubble burning unlike the previous years. The burning of paddy residue is likely to be more evenly distributed across a longer period,” said M.L. Jat, principal scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Beyond breeding: the potential of improved postharvest storage techniques for smallholder farmers

Written by Steven M on October 23, 2020. Posted in Features.

In the early days of organizations like the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the answer to improving global food security was obvious. Help people grow more food. Today the situation is far more complex. Many exciting developments in breeding are either protective or corrective in nature. Stress-tolerant seed varieties are meant to help protect against the worst effects of global climate change. Efforts to develop widely cultivatable, high-yielding varieties based on local landraces seek to reintroduce some of the biodiversity lost through the runaway success of just a handful of commercial varieties.

Yet problems of food insecurity and poverty persist, not least among smallholders. The good news is that it is precisely among these farmers that important gains remain to be made, especially if we consider the many steps from planting to final consumption where technical and processual improvements can be made. “Just having a seed is not sufficient,” said CIMMYT postharvest specialist Sylvanus Odjo. “Of course having good seed is important, but you also need good agronomic practices.”

Globally, Odjo pointed out, one third of agricultural production is lost in the postharvest phase. In tropical Mexico, postharvest losses among smallholder maize farmers can reach up to 40%.

As the recently published findings of a two-year-long research project led by CIMMYT researchers show, such losses are entirely avoidable. The study, which was conducted in 2017 and 2018 across dozens of sites in Mexico representing a broad range of altitudes and ecologies, tested multiple storage technologies to determine which are most effective at avoiding postharvest losses using real-world smallholder practices and regardless of climatic and environmental factors.

Men fill hermetic metal silo. — Filling hermetic metal silo in Peto, Yucatán. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Researchers compared storage outcomes using conventional methods such as storing untreated maize in 50 kg polypropylene bags, storing maize in polypropylene bags and treating it with one of various agents — including aluminum phosphide, deodorized malathion or inert dusts — and hermetic storage options such as hermetic metal silos, two types of GrainPro hermetic plastic bags, and low-cost alternatives like plastic bottles and silage bags.

Under controlled conditions, they found that loss outcomes were highly variable for conventionally stored maize, with or without treatment agents. While untreated grain stored in polypropylene bags in temperate conditions at Texcoco only exhibited only 2.2% insect-damaged maize, grain treated with aluminum phosphide and stored in conventional bags in tropical conditions at Cotzocón suffered 46.3% insect damage.

In contrast, maize stored in low-cost hermetic alternatives such as plastic bottles and silage bags exhibited a maximum of 1.2% insect-damaged grain across all sites. Hermetic metal silos and GrainPro bags performed similarly well across climates, with a couple of important exceptions. The percentage of insect-damaged grain for maize stored in hermetic metal silos at Zacaultipán was 13.5%. Maize stored in GrainPro bags at this site suffered 8.1% insect damage.

Overall, the study convincingly demonstrated the effectiveness of hermetic storage technologies at minimizing insect and mycotic damage as well as weight loss of stored maize regardless of climate or altitude. However, important obstacles to the effective adoption of the technologies remains. In the case of the hermetic metal silos, it was determined that despite the existence of a stringent national norm for their construction in Mexico, silos occasionally did not meet the national standard and had to retrofitted to ensure hermeticity. And, as the example of Zacaultipán demonstrated, poor pre-storage processing of grain can compromise the effectiveness of hermetic storage technologies.

Maize storage. — CIMMYT researchers tested multiple storage technologies to determine which are most effective at avoiding postharvest losses. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Over the course of carrying out the experiment, the researchers discovered other challenges. In Mexico, as is often true among smallholders globally, women are largely in charge of postharvest activities. “But we noticed that it was largely men who showed up to the trainings,” Odjo said. Researchers had to think of strategies—from being more careful about meeting timings to enlisting the support of local women leaders—to ensure that the trainings were reaching the women who actually carry out this work.

As Odjo pointed out, resolving these kinds of implementation and advocacy challenges—from ensuring adequate training and familiarity with the technologies on the ground to encouraging public and private sector partners to make the technologies more broadly available—is the next step for the project. “The less complex part of this work is the technical part,” he said. “Our job now at CIMMYT is to bring these innovations to farmers… We need to get all the relevant stakeholders involved in the game.”

The project was carried out in partnership with the Mexican government via MasAgro, and received funding from the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE). Its implementation involved collaboration with dozens of local partners throughout Mexico and was carried out in response to the suggestions of smallholder farmers.

Read the full paper: Hermetic storage technologies reduce maize pest damage in smallholder farming systems in Mexico

This story was originally published on the MAIZE website.

Cover image: Evaluating grain quality after six months of storage in Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Creating impact through wider data sharing

Written by Nima Chodon on October 22, 2020. Posted in News.

The Bihar Convergence Platform for agriculture, a synergistic partnership to innovate and initiate targeted interventions that help farmers to have informed choices with proven scientific recommendations, has been consistently working to accelerate interventions and improve the lives and capacity of small and marginal farmers since its establishment in October 2019.

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), in association with CABI and the Open Data Institute, hosted a six-day virtual interactive training in September for platform members on the theme “creating impact through wider data sharing.” The training aimed at strengthening technical expertise of the participants, creating an enabling environment to unlock the benefits of data sharing and developing space for participants to discuss, brainstorm and co-design initiatives to be implemented together by the platform in coming days.

The training ended with a common understanding about the challenges and constraints in agriculture because data is in silos. Furthermore, participants agreed on the need to look at the existing data with a broader lens to accelerate the pace of development in agriculture in the state. Participants expressed that sharing the data under set norms with standardized licensing could act as a catalyst to increase the benefits for smallholder farmers.

To constructively deal with the challenges in agriculture together, the platform members stressed the need to start analyzing existing data from a wider perspective and data sharing as the key for designing fact-based interventions for larger good and impact.

Platform members interact during virtual training. (Photo: Sugandha Munshi/CIMMYT)

The platform is chaired by the Vice Chancellor of Bihar Agriculture University, with key members from Bihar Rural Livelihood Promotion Society known as Jeevika, Bihar Agriculture University, Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University, Agriculture Technology Application Resource Institute, ICAR-RCER, and the CSISA project, along with private groups like IFFCO, Bayer, and ITC.

Out of the many activities jointly implemented by the platform, the Data Ecosystem is the key arena where the platform works together in strengthening the impact of data and incorporating them in accelerating quality interventions for farmers.

This story was first published on the CSISA website.

Somalia agriculture partners learn about integrated fall armyworm control practices

Written by Mary Donovan on October 21, 2020. Posted in News.

Fall armyworm continues to cause havoc in Africa. Farmers in Somalia have not been spared since this unwelcome guest showed up in the country over three years ago. As part of the mitigation measures, the Somali Agriculture Technical Group (SATG) in partnership with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recently conducted online trainings on fall armyworm management for sustainable crop protection. The online trainings, targeting national agriculture stakeholders in the country, took place on August 25 and September 30, 2020, with nearly 250 participants attending both webinars.

“This is the first of our efforts to reach out to our partners in Somalia, especially the Somali Agriculture Technical Group and the national agricultural research system, to increase the awareness on the integrated pest management approaches that can help combat this highly destructive pest,” said B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE).

“This training was designed to help participants to gain a better understanding about fall armyworm, how to identify it, how to monitor and scout for it, how to effectively implement a management strategy that is environmentally and ecologically benign, in order to protect the food security and livelihoods of farmers and their families,” Prasanna said.

An integrated pest management strategy for sustainable control of fall armyworm should consider various interventions, including regular scouting and monitoring of the pest in the fields, host plant resistance, biological and biorational control, agroecological management, and use of environmentally safer pesticides and good agronomic practices tailored for the socio-cultural and economic contexts of the farmers. Ultimately, the purpose of a functional integrated pest management approach is to suppress pest population by applying techniques that minimize human and environmental harm, while protecting the crops from economic damage.

“I am happy to see the expertise from high levels of research at CIMMYT, icipe, IITA, universities, SATG and the humanitarian sector coming together to tackle and solve problems linked to food production and consumption. I believe that such important trainings have great value for Somalia, and should be further strengthened and encouraged,” said Abdalla Togola from the ICRC.

B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE, presents at the online training on integrated pest management-based fall armyworm control. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Hussein Haji, the Executive Director of Somali Agriculture Technical Group speaks at the fall armyworm online training on integrated pest management-based fall armyworm control. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Professor Dan McGrath presents at training.

Professor Dan McGrath of Oregon State University, USA, delivering a training on integrated pest management-based fall armyworm control. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

John Karonga, an agronomist at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) speaks at the online training on integrated pest management-based fall armyworm control. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Hussein Haji, the Executive Director of SATG was optimistic that the training would go a long way to empower farmers in Somalia, through their cooperatives, and could lead to better ways of tackling challenges such as fall armyworm, already made worse by other stresses like drought and desert locusts.

“Through our extension workers, we hope this information will trickle down to our cooperatives, who produce mainly maize and sorghum seed in Somalia,” he added.

This comes on the back of a partnership between the ICRC and SATG to implement activities intended to improve food production among rural communities in six regions of Somalia. The partnership would enhance quality seed production with a focus on maize and sorghum, the major staple crops in the country.

Besides Prasanna, the key resource persons included Dan McGrath (Professor Emeritus, Oregon State University, USA), Joseph Huesing (CIMMYT Consultant on integrated pest management) and Georg Goergen (Entomologist, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture), Frederic Baudron (CIMMYT Systems Agronomist), Anani Bruce (CIMMYT Entomologist), Yoseph Beyene (CIMMYT Regional Breeding Coordinator for Africa) and Saliou Niassy (Head of Agricultural Technology Transfer Unit, International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology).

The fall armyworm, a voracious caterpillar officially reported for the first time in Africa in Nigeria in 2016, remains a serious pest with devastating consequences on millions of farmers’ food and livelihood security. The pest has spread quickly throughout sub-Saharan Africa, primarily attacking maize and sorghum, two main staple crops in the region. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates up to 18 million tons of maize are lost to the pest annually, at an estimated economic loss of $4.6 billion.

To reduce the losses, experts have been recommending a toolbox of integrated pest management (IPM) practices to minimize the damage on smallholder farmers’ fields. Scientists at CIMMYT are also working intensively to develop improved maize varieties with native genetic resistance to this devastating insect pest.

Cover photo: Kowthar Abdirahman Afyare studies agriculture at the Somali National University. (Photo: AMISOM Public Information)

Disinfecting equipment keeps agricultural production running in Bangladesh

Written by Nur-A-Mahajabin Khan on October 20, 2020. Posted in Features.

Agricultural production in Bangladesh is heavily dependent on machines for land preparation, irrigation, pest control, harvesting and transport. Small enterprises that make up the light engineering sector in Bangladesh are responsible for the creation, maintenance and repair of these machines. Without a functioning light engineering sector, agricultural production would quickly grind to a halt.

As with other industries in the country, most light engineering workshops closed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as restrictions on movement eased and in response to demand from agricultural machinery operators, the machinery manufacturing and repair workshops have started to open again.

Worker washes hands in agricultural machinery workshop with water tank provided through the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia Mechanization Extension Activity, funded by the United States Agency for International Development Feed the Future initiative. (Photo: Rashed/CIMMYT)

Ensuring COVID-19-free workshops

To ensure a safe and hygienic return to work, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia Mechanization Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA) provided water tanks with handwashing points and knapsack sprayers to 50 workshops employing 1,624 staff in Bogura and Jashore to disinfect the workshops and tools. To create awareness on COVID-19 prevention and guide staff on using the handwashing points and sprayer, the CSISA-MEA team distributed low text graphics-based user guides and WHO designed flyers. The flyers also show staff the precautions they should take at home to prevent COVID-19 infection.

Since behavior change is a complex process, the use of more than one approach is often needed. Therefore, workshop owners and workers were sent SMS messages weekly, reminding them of the need to wash hands, disinfect the workspaces and practice other COVID-19 mitigation actions such as maintaining social distance and wearing face masks.

Man disinfects machines. — Staff disinfect the machines each day before working. (Photo: Rashed/CIMMYT)

Ahsan Habib, a workshop owner in Bogura, said, “This equipment is a blessing for my workers and me. I have 35 workers and before, they had to use the small tank for handwashing, which was not adequate for many people. Now I can ensure their safety. At the same time, we disinfect the machines with the sprayer before we start working.”

The relatively small investments in equipment and provision of information provided through this USAID-supported activity has helped 50 small companies operate safely in the pandemic. The new equipment and practices allow them to make and repair the machinery that keeps agricultural production running in Bangladesh and contributes to ensuring national food security.

AgriFoodTrust platform gains momentum in quest for more inclusive, transparent agriculture

Written by Alison Doody on October 19, 2020. Posted in Features.

The AgriFoodTrust platform is gaining traction in its quest to bring inclusive and usable trust and transparency technologies to the agri-food sector according to platform co-founder and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Economist Gideon Kruseman.

Since its launch in late February, researchers from the platform have been experimenting with technologies like blockchain to tackle issues such as food safety, traceability, sustainability, and adulterated and counterfeit fertilizers and seeds.

Experts from one of the platform’s leading partners, The New Fork, recently teamed up with HarvestPlus and El-Kanis and Partners to investigate solutions to the problem of counterfeit biofortified seeds in Nigeria. They will work together on a public open blockchain to verify biofortified seeds, so that farmers know that the seeds they are buying are authentic. Building on the concept published in one of the Community of Practice on Socio-economic Data reports, the team formulated a project to pilot the idea.

The project is a finalist in the INSPIRE challenge, a CGIAR initiative to leverage the global food security expertise of CGIAR with expert industry partners to link digital technologies to impact in developing economies.

Finalists in the challenge will come together to pitch their projects during a session at the CGIAR Big Data in Agriculture Convention, a free virtual event taking place Oct 21 – 23. Registration for the convention is still open.

The convention will also bring together experts from the AgriFoodTrust platform to discuss transparency, accountability and sustainability in food systems using digital technologies like blockchain in a pre-recorded session on October 21 at 12:15 UTC. The session will provide an introduction to the platform and its philosophy, as well as contributions from platform stakeholders and partners such as The New Fork, GIZ, the organizing committee of Strike Two, AgUnity, the Carbon Drawn Initiative, Bluenumber, Scantrust and blockchain-for-good enthusiasts like Chris Addison and Eloise Stancioff.

Key stakeholders, interested researchers and organizations will meet virtually in a pre-convention event to discuss how to accelerate the use of digital trust and transparency technologies through the sharing of knowledge and capacity development. Participation in this event requires registration.

Biofortified orange maize. — Experimental harvest of orange maize biofortified with provitamin A in Zambia. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Building a more transparent food sector though blockchain

Blockchain is a decentralized, digital ledger for keeping records. Digital information, or blocks, is stored in a public database, or chain, and shared with users. These blocks can be accessed by users in real time, and any alterations made to this information can be seen by users. The aim is to reduce risk, eliminate fraud and bring transparency to digital assets.

The AgriFoodTrust platform teams up researchers from CGIAR centers with academia, private sector agri-food companies, tech start-ups and development practitioners to experiment with blockchain and related trust technologies in the agri-food sector. The group is also testing different business models and partnerships with a mission to create a reliable knowledge base and share their findings.

Findings on the new platform will be used to build capacity on all aspects of the technologies and their application to ensure they are inclusive and usable.

Researchers hope that solutions like QR codes — a type of matrix barcode that can be scanned by smartphones — can be used to tackle challenges like preventing the sale of counterfeit seeds and adulterated fertilizer to farmers. Other uses include ensuring food traceability and sustainability, and monitoring and improving the implementation of performance of international agreements related to agriculture.

The technology could even be applied to prevent farmers from burning crop residues — a major cause of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in India — by offering credits or tokens to farmers who do not engage in such practices, said Kruseman.

Much like in high-end coffee products, where customers willingly pay more for a guarantee of high quality, tokenization and digital trust technologies could allow customers of wheat flour products in India to donate extra for a certification that no crop residues were burned by the farmer.

The burning of crop residue, or stubble, across millions of hectares of cropland between planting seasons is a visible contributor to air pollution in both rural and urban areas of India. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)

By 2050, farmers will need to grow enough food to feed 10 billion people, using less land and fewer resources. Their job will be made even more difficult thanks to the challenges of climate change. Achieving a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable food system is needed now more than ever. It is hoped that digital trust technologies can help us respond, manage or avert crises in the future.

For more information on the INSPIRE challenge and the CGIAR Big Data in Agriculture Convention and how to attend this free virtual event, visit the event website.

Kellogg’s proposes initiatives to improve the nutrition of Mexicans

Written by Mary Donovan on October 16, 2020. Posted in In the media.

For three years, Kellogg, in partnership with the International Center for the Improvement of Corn and Wheat (CIMMYT), has been working on a program which seeks to provide technical and scientific advice to increase the productivity of land and efficient use of available natural resources, so farmers obtain better crops and have more profitable economic activities that mitigate the effects of climate change.

Latin America poised to lead the next 50 years in food systems and agrobiodiversity research

Written by Mary Donovan on October 16, 2020. Posted in News.

With global agriculture in stasis and under threat from climate change, Latin America’s role to address these challenges through innovation and partnerships is crucial. This was the main takeaway from a 2020 World Food Prize roundtable event, where representatives from four CGIAR centers discussed opportunities for increased investment in Latin America for developing innovations to improve global agriculture and agro-biodiversity.

The event was moderated by Natasha Santos, the Vice President of Global Stakeholders Strategy and Affairs for Bayer Crop Sciences. Speaking online from Brazil, Santos stressed the importance of private sector partnerships in Latin America for achieving sustainable growth and development.

Jesus Quintana, the Managing Director for the Americas, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT opened the event with a short description of his organization’s work with development finance to promote sustainable development in the Amazon. “With USAID,” he said, “we are searching for business models that strengthen local innovations and social businesses to conserve biodiversity, including agri-food systems.”

Picking up on the idea of agri-food systems, Bram Govaerts, Interim Deputy Director General, Director of Integrated Development and Representative for the Americas, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), noted that the World Food Programme will receive the Nobel Peace Prize 50 years after Norman Borlaug – whose work was the inspiration for the CGIAR – became the first recipient of the prestigious award from the fields of food and agriculture. The span between awards, Govaerts said, serves as notice that much important work still remains in the fight against hunger and nutrition insecurity worldwide.

In this vein, Govaerts described CIMMYT’s work with a program called AgroTutor, which delivers site-specific data and recommendations tailored to farmers’ needs that help improve yields and facilitate more profitable market interactions.

The continuing mission to eradicate global hunger and promote development in the face of climate change can be uniquely addressed in the Andes, said Ginya Truitt Nakata, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, International Potato Center (CIP). Home to 85 of the world’s 110 biological life zones, Truitt Nakata said CIP’s Andean Initiative would use the mountains as a living laboratory for co-investigation of agricultural challenges with networks of smallholder farmers.

“The data and lessons we draw from these spaces will have application for farmers around the world,” she said.

As the event centered around recent CGIAR innovations in Latin American, Ruben G. Echeverría, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), said the greatest need, system-wide, is the bottleneck of ideas and innovations prior to implementation. For this reason, IFPRI is developing project incubation facilities to scale up innovations for stronger, further-reaching impact with farmers. “This work requires partnerships with public and private finance to help transform our knowledge into impact for food systems,” he said.

Following the short presentations, the roundtable opened a conversation that focused on the need for inclusiveness in research, private sector partnerships, and data collection supported by monitoring and learning.

“As the CG system, we are talking about participatory development with farmers – women, men and youth. It takes a little longer but the adoption rates [of innovation] are much higher,” Truitt Nakata said.

Agriculture in Latin America, like other regions of the world, also struggles with “brain drain,” losing talented young people to other sectors of the employment market. “So, when we talk about youth,” Echeverría responded, “We need more than participation. It’s about attracting young people to agricultural opportunities through IT and finance.”

Focusing on the technical side of innovation, Govaerts and Quintana cited the need for improved use of data.

“We need to multi-purpose data and use monitoring in real time to ensure better return on investment,” said Govaerts, “We need to know where we made progress and where we made mistakes.” Quintana endorsed that sentiment, “Careful monitoring of projects should be the heart of collaborative work, to generate baselines so we can accurately measure our impact and make more responsible use of resources.”

Given the wealth of ideas exchanged in the hour-long event, Marco Ferroni, the Chair of the CGIAR System Management Board, said the presentations showed the indispensable value of the region’s to food system and agrobiodiversity research.

“Latin America is the world’s largest food exporting region and important producer of ecosystem services that shape global weather patterns and climate… Motivated by the need to increase the scope of our impact, partnerships help us achieve critical mass in terms of data, analysis and delivery to stakeholders. For all these reasons, and others, Latin American food systems need and deserve policy attention and investment,” Ferroni said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND MEDIA CONTACTS:

Bioversity/CIAT: Adriana Varón a.p.varon@cgiar.org

CIMMYT: Ricardo Curiel: r.curiel@cgiar.org

CIP: Viviana Infantas: v.infantas@cgiar.org

IFPRI: Katarlah Taylor: k.taylor@cgiar.org

World Food Day 2020: Nourishing food systems

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 14, 2020. Posted in Features.

As the calendar turns to October 16, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) celebrates World Food Day. This year’s theme is “Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together.”

The COVID-19 global health crisis has been a time to reflect on things we truly cherish and our most basic needs. These uncertain times have made many of us rekindle our appreciation for a thing that some take for granted and many go without: food.

Food is the essence of life and the bedrock of our cultures and communities. Preserving access to safe and nutritious food is and will continue to be an essential part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for poor and vulnerable communities, who are hit hardest by the pandemic and resulting economic shocks.

In a moment like this, it is more important than ever to recognize the need to support farmers and workers throughout the food system, who make sure that food makes its way from farm to fork.

Sustainable food systems

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), over 2 billion people do not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food. The global population is expected to reach almost 10 billion by 2050.

Our future food systems need to provide affordable and healthy diets for all, and decent livelihoods for food system workers, while preserving natural resources and biodiversity and tackling challenges such as climate change.

Countries, the private sector and civil society need to make sure that our food systems grow a variety of food to nourish a growing population and sustain the planet, together.

This year, for World Food Day, we bring you three stories about CIMMYT’s work to produce nutritious food in a sustainable way.

Explainer: What is sustainable intensification?

Farming method can boost yields, increase farmers’ profits and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read more.

Against the grain: New paper reveals the overlooked health benefits of maize and wheat

Cereals offer greater health and nutrition benefits than commonly acknowledged, despite often being considered ‘nutrient-poor’, say scientists. Read more.

Breaking Ground: Isaiah Nyagumbo advances climate-smart technologies to improve smallholder farming systems

Systems agronomist transforms farmers’ livelihoods through improved crop performance and soil health, promoting sustainable techniques that mitigate climate change effects. Read more.

Subscribe to our email updates to stay in the loop about the latest research and news related to maize and wheat agriculture.

What is sustainable intensification?

Written by Mary Donovan on October 14, 2020. Posted in Explainers.

By 2050, the world’s population could grow to 9.7 billion, food demand is expected to increase by 50% and global demand for grains such as maize, rice and wheat could increase by 70%. How can we meet the food and nutrition demands of a rising population, without negative environmental and social consequences?

Sustainable intensification is an approach using innovations to increase productivity on existing agricultural land with positive environmental and social impacts. Both words, “sustainable” and “intensification,” carry equal weight.

CIMMYT conducts research on sustainable intensification to identify ways farmers can increase production of crops per unit of land, conserve or enhance important ecosystem services and improve resilience to shocks and stresses, especially those due to climate change and climate variability.

For example, CIMMYT’s research on sustainable intensification in India has helped shape policies that increase farmer income while reducing pollution and land degradation.

What is the scope of sustainable intensification?

Sustainable intensification takes into consideration impact on overall farm productivity, profitability, stability, production and market risks, resilience, as well as the interests and capacity of individual farmers to adopt innovations. It is not limited to environmental concerns, but also includes social and economic criteria such as improving livelihoods, equity and social capital.

Certain methods and principles are needed to achieve the goals of sustainable intensification. In collaboration with farmers and other change actors, CIMMYT carries out research-for-development projects to test and scale a range of technologies and approaches that contribute to these results. The research focuses on combined resource use efficiencies of crop production inputs: land, plant nutrients, labor and water.

One example is conservation agriculture, the combination of crop diversification, minimal soil movement and permanent soil cover. International scientific analysis has found that conservation agriculture can, in many places with different characteristics, play a crucial role towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Crop and system modeling, geographic information systems, remote sensing, scale-appropriate mechanization and socioeconomic modeling are some of the approaches that contribute to the design and evaluation of sustainable intensification alternatives in current farming systems.

Figure: Multi-criteria sustainability assessment of alternative (sustainable intensification) and reference systems in the Western Highlands of Guatemala.

What are some more examples?

Several interventions by CIMMYT aim at safeguarding biodiversity and protecting — in some cases increasing — ecosystem services crucial for small-scale farmers’ livelihoods and the health of all. Others have studied the impact of landscapes on dietary diversity and nutrition. Yet others have developed appropriate small-scale machines, allowing farmers to save time, costs and labor associated with agriculture to increase yields, halt the expansion of the agricultural frontier and invest in new opportunities.

How is sustainable intensification different from ecological intensification, agroecological intensification or climate-smart agriculture?

Sustainable intensification, ecological intensification and agroecological intensification strive for the same general goal to feed an increasing population without negative environmental and social consequences, but they place emphasis on different aspects.

Ecological intensification focuses on ecological processes in the agroecosystem. Agroecological intensification emphasizes a systems approach and strongly considers social and cultural perspectives.

Climate-smart agriculture and sustainable intensification are complementary, but climate-smart agriculture focuses on climate stress, adaptation and mitigation.

Sustainable intensification can be achieved with a range of methods, including these concepts. It is one strategy among many for global food system transformation.

What is the history of CIMMYT’s research on sustainable intensification?

In the 1960s, the Green Revolution brought high-yielding crops to some regions of Latin America and South Asia, allegedly saving millions from starvation. Yet the Green Revolution had unintended environmental and social consequences. Critics of the Green Revolution argued these cropping techniques were highly dependent on external inputs, fossil fuels and agrochemicals, causing environmental damage through overuse of fertilizers and water, and contributing to soil degradation.

In the 1980s, CIMMYT scientists began placing stronger emphasis on environmental and social aspects — such as conserving soil and water, and ensuring social inclusion of marginalized groups — recognizing their importance to sustain the intensification of crops in South Asia. It was understood that sustainability includes improving the livelihoods of rural people who depend on these natural resources, in addition to better resource management. CIMMYT began to take these considerations to the core of its work.

Farmers harvest maize cobs. — Farmers Maliamu Joni and Ruth Andrea harvest cobs of drought-tolerant maize in Mbeya, Tanzania. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Are these practices successful?

Sustainable intensification can boost yields, increase farmers’ profits and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved by increasing nitrogen use efficiency, which also reduces groundwater pollution.

Research from CIMMYT’s SIMLESA project has shown that conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification practices led to a 60-90% increase in water infiltration and a 10-50% increase in maize yields in Malawi. In Ethiopia, crop incomes nearly doubled with crop diversification, reduced tillage and improved varieties, compared to using only one of these practices.

According to research from Stanford University, agricultural intensification has avoided emissions of up to 161 gigatons of carbon from 1961 to 2005. CIMMYT research shows that India could cut nearly 18% of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable intensification practices that reduce fertilizer consumption, improve water management and eliminate residue burning. Zero-tillage wheat can cut farm-related greenhouse gas emissions by more than 75% in India and is 10-20% more profitable on average than burning rice straw and sowing wheat using conventional tillage.

A CIMMYT study in Science shows that thousands of wheat farmers in northern India could increase their profits if they stop burning their rice straw residue and adopt no-till practices, which could also cut farm-related greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 78% and lower air pollution. This research and related work to promote no-till Happy Seeders led to a 2018 policy from the government of India to stop farmers from burning residue, including a $166 million subsidy to promote mechanization to manage crop residues within fields.

In light of this evidence, CIMMYT continues to work with stakeholders all along the value chain — from farmers to national agricultural research organizations and companies — to promote and scale the adoption of practices leading to sustainable intensification.

Cover photo: Irrigated fields under conservation agriculture at CIMMYT’s CENEB experiment station near Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, northern Mexico. (Photo: CIMMYT)

See our coverage of World Food Day 2020.

Breaking Ground: Isaiah Nyagumbo advances climate-smart technologies to improve smallholder farming systems

Written by Shiela Chikulo on October 14, 2020. Posted in Features.

Most small farmers in sub-Saharan Africa rely on rain-fed agriculture to sufficiently feed their families. However, they are increasingly confronted with climate-induced challenges which hinder crop production and yields.

In recent years, evidence of variable rainfall patterns, higher temperatures, depleted soil quality and infestations of destructive pests like fall armyworm cause imbalances in the wider ecosystem and present a bleak outlook for farmers.

Addressing these diverse challenges requires a unique skill set that is found in the role of systems agronomist.

Isaiah Nyagumbo joined the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in 2010 as a Cropping Systems Agronomist. Working with the Sustainable Intensification program, Nyagumbo has committed his efforts to developing conservation agriculture technologies for small farming systems.

“A unique characteristic of systems agronomists,” Nyagumbo explains, “is the need to holistically understand and address the diverse challenges faced by farming households, and their agro-ecological and socio-economic environment. They need to have a decent understanding of the facets that make technology development happen on the ground.”

“This understanding, combined with technical and agronomical skills, allows systems agronomists to innovate around increasing productivity, profitability and efficient farming practices, and to strengthen farmers’ capacity to adapt to evolving challenges, in particular those related to climate change and variability,” Nyagumbo says.

Isaiah Nyagumbo stands next to a field of maize and pigeon pea. Currently, Nyagumbo’s research seeks to better understand the resilience benefits of cereal-legume cropping systems and how different planting configurations can help to improve system productivity. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Gaining expert knowledge

Raised by parents who doubled as teachers and small-scale commercial farmers, Nyagumbo was exposed to the realities of producing crops for food and income while assisting with farming activities at his rural home in Dowa, Rusape, northeastern Zimbabwe. This experience shaped his decision to study for a bachelor’s degree in agriculture specializing in soil science at the University of Zimbabwe and later a master’s degree in soil and water engineering at Silsoe College, Cranfield University, United Kingdom.

Between 1989 and 1994, Nyagumbo worked with public and private sector companies in Zimbabwe researching how to develop conservation tillage systems in the smallholder farming sector, which at the time focused on reducing soil erosion-induced land degradation.

Through participatory technology development and learning, Nyagumbo developed a passion for closely interacting with smallholder farmers from Zimbabwe’s communal areas as it dawned to him that top-down technology transfer approaches had their limits when it comes to scaling technologies. He proceeded to study for his PhD in 1995, focusing on water conservation and groundwater recharge under different tillage technologies.

Upon completion of his PhD, Nyagumbo started lecturing at the University of Zimbabwe in 2001, at the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, a route that opened collaborative opportunities with key international partners including CIMMYT.

“This is how I began my engagements with CIMMYT, as a collaborator and jointly implementing on-farm trials on conservation agriculture and later broadening the scope towards climate-smart agriculture technologies,” Nyagumbo recalls.

By the time an opportunity arose to join CIMMYT in 2010, Nyagumbo realized that “it was the right organization for me, moving forward the agenda of sustainability and focusing on improving productivity of smallholder farmers.”

Climate-smart results

Cropping systems agronomist Isaiah Nyagumbo inspects a maize ear at the Chimbadzwa plot in Ward 4, Murewa, Zimbabwe. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Projects such as SIMLESA show results of intensification practices and climate-smart technologies aimed at improving smallholder farming systems in eastern and southern Africa.

“One study showed that when conservation agriculture principles such as minimum tillage, rotation, mulching and intercropping are applied, yield increases ranging from 30-50 percent can be achieved,” Nyagumbo says.

Another recent publication demonstrated that the maize yield superiority of conservation agriculture systems was highest under low-rainfall conditions while high-rainfall conditions depressed these yield advantages.

Furthermore, studies spanning across eastern and southern Africa also showed how drainage characteristics of soils affect the performance of conservation agriculture technologies. “If we have soils that are poorly drained, the yield difference between conventional farming practices and conservation agriculture tends to be depressed, but if the soils are well drained, higher margins of the performance of conservation agriculture are witnessed,” he says.

Currently, Nyagumbo’s research efforts in various countries in eastern and southern Africa seek to better understand the resilience benefits of cereal-legume cropping systems and how different planting configurations can help to improve system productivity.

“Right now, I am focused on understanding better the ‘climate-smartness’ of sustainable intensification technologies.”

In Malawi, Nyagumbo is part of a team evaluating the usefulness of different agronomic practices and indigenous methods to control fall armyworm in maize-based systems. Fall armyworm has been a troublesome pest particularly for maize in the last four or five seasons in eastern and southern Africa, and finding cost effective solutions is important for farmers in the region.

Future efforts are set to focus further on crop-livestock integration and will investigate how newly developed nutrient-dense maize varieties can contribute to improved feed for livestock in arid and semi-arid regions in Zimbabwe.

Sharing results

Another important aspiration for Nyagumbo is the generation of publications to share the emerging results and experiences gained from his research with partners and the public. Working in collaboration with others, Nyagumbo has published more than 30 articles based on extensive research work.

“Through the data sharing policy promoted by CIMMYT, we have so much data generated across the five SIMLESA project countries which is now available to the public who can download and use it,” Nyagumbo says.

While experiences with COVID-19 have shifted working conditions and restricted travel, Nyagumbo believes “through the use of virtual platforms and ICTs we can still achieve a lot and keep in touch with our partners and farmers in the region.”

Overall, he is interested in impact. “The greatest reward for me is seeing happy and transformed farmers on the ground, and knowing my role is making a difference in farmers’ livelihoods.”

2020 World Food Prize recognizes career devoted to fight hunger and climate change through soil conservation

Written by Ricardo Curiel on October 14, 2020. Posted in News.

The World Food Prize Foundation is honoring the work of Rattan Lal, who dedicated his life to study the effect of soil health in food production and climate change mitigation. On October 15 he will receive the 2020 World Food Prize, considered the “Nobel Prize” of agriculture.

Lal, who serves as distinguished professor of Soil Science and founding director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at Ohio State University, is a visionary who understood the intricate relationship between soil conservation, yield potential, nutrition and carbon sequestration.

“Dr. Lal’s innovative research demonstrated how healthy soils are a crucial component of sustainable agricultural intensification — enabling higher crop yields, while requiring less land, agrochemicals, tillage, water and energy”, announced the World Food Prize Foundation in a press release.

Lal becomes the 50^th person to receive the World Food Prize since the late Norman Borlaug — 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate — established the award in 1987. The award acknowledges outstanding contributions to human development by individuals who significantly improve the quality, quantity and availability of food on a global scale.

“CIMMYT actively researches and promotes the sustainable farming practices that Dr. Lal studied and advocated for since the late 1980s, such as no tillage, residue retention and crop rotation, which combined with new precision farming technologies help farmers increase yields, reduce food production costs and protect the environment”, said Bram Govaerts, Integrated Development director and representative for the Americas at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

The World Food Prize has a long association with CIMMYT. Sanjaya Rajaram was awarded the 2014 World Food Prize for his work that led to a prodigious increase in world wheat production. Evangelina Villegas and Surinder Vasal were awarded the 2000 World Food Prize for their work on productivity and nutritional content of maize. Bram Govaerts received the Norman Borlaug Field Award in 2014. As an institution, CIMMYT received the Norman Borlaug Field Medallion in 2014.

Lead farmer Parbati Gautam shares her experiences on seed production of maize hybrid at a training event.

Starting with a seed

Written by Mary Donovan on October 13, 2020. Posted in Features.

Rural women in Nepal significantly contribute to food security, and when they are empowered, they can create avenues for agricultural growth. As seed producers are often disadvantaged in terms of accessing advanced agricultural knowledge and seed production skills, one opportunity for growth is strengthening the capacity of women seed producers.

“In more than 80% of households in Sindhupalchowk district, women have the final say on the selection of maize variety,” said D.B. Bhandari, managing director of Hairyali Community Seed Company (HCSC). “This urged me to engage women in seed production of preferred maize varieties for the mid-hills.”

HCSC, a partner company of the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), is working to improve the business literacy of rural women to support their involvement in seed production and marketing of maize, wheat and rice seeds in Sindhupalchowk district, Bagmati province, Nepal.

Women attend seed production workshop — Seed producers attend an orientation on the production and marketing of hybrid seed. (Photo: Dharma Dawadi/CIMMYT)

A path to empowerment and income

Access to agricultural inputs such as seed and fertilizer is challenging in Thulosirubari village due to its rural location and absence of agrodealers or nearby markets. Progressive farmers Parbati Gautam and Kamala Gautam, who grew up in the village in a family that has cultivated maize for generations and now grow maize, rice, millet and vegetables, found a solution. They decided to establish a cooperative —Thulosirubari Mahila Krishi Sahakari Sanstha — that not only eases the supply of seed for farmers in their village but also engages in seed production. The cooperative has 45 female members so far.

In coordination with HCSC and the Government of Nepal’s Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project (PMAMP), orientation programs and women-only trainings were designed and organized by the NSAF project so farmers could boost their seed production efficiency and profitability at the grassroots level. The partnership between CIMMYT, HCSC and PMAMP provided technical and financial support to these groups, improved their entrepreneurship skills and business literacy, and created marketing linkages between the farmers and buyers. Thirty-five women were trained in the use of good agricultural practices in quality seed production and marketing of hybrid maize, rice and tomato seeds. HCSC supported the women with male and female lines of hybrid maize — Khumal hybrid-2 — to produce first generation seeds and build their skills on estimating ratios for sowing seeds, balanced fertilizer application, weeding, rouging and detasseling.

“I am so happy to learn about the importance of having different male and female lines and how to maintain their quality for crossing to produce first generation of hybrid maize seeds,” Kamala Gautam said.

After getting the required training and technical support, seven farmers from the cooperative, including Kamala and Parbati, collectively produced 1.1 mt of Khumal hybrid-2 with the value of $2,514, which was sold to HCSC in 2019. As the cooperative is a contract seed producer for HCSC, the women have market assurance and do not worry where and how to sell their seed.

“My husband and I are not educated,” Parbati Gautam explained. “However, I was able to sell the hybrid maize seed then use the money to buy decent clothes and offer a better education to my two daughters and son.”

Women stands in rice field. — A woman stands in her rice seed production field in Nepal. (Photo: Mohan Mahato/CIMMYT)

Women empowering women

Parbati Gautam has served as chairperson at the cooperative for eight years, where she has mentored other seed producers. Based on her experience, women who have access to information and seed production technologies tend to have better crop yields and make informed decisions to increase their incomes and livelihoods.

According to Bhandari, farmers’ preferences are gradually shifting from local to hybrid varieties which offer better yields, early maturity and resilience to the effects of climate change. Parbati and Kamala Gautam confirm this, sharing that hybrid seed production provides 4-5 times more monetary value per kilogram of seed than that of grain.

“Although the cost of parent lines is expensive for seed production, improved farming technology ensures better quality seeds, higher yields and attractive farm business opportunities,” Parbati Gautam explained.

Since 2017, NSAF project researchers have been working to establish linkages with partner seed companies for seed marketing. Altogether, about 300 mt of maize and rice seed was produced by women farmers engaged in the project with the value of $112,000, and 80 percent of this seed was sold to three private seed companies including HCSC. In 2019, the NSAF project team established partnerships with an additional three cooperatives in Banke, Dang and Sindhupalchowk districts, where over 800 women are members.

The project’s engagement of women’s seed producer groups is an example of an inclusive seed business model where farmers decide what to grow and how to sell. This intervention can be piloted in other parts of Nepal where women account for over 60 percent of the rural farming community. Targeted and sustained interventions to increase women’s business agility, technical capacity in quality seed production, and market linkages will help boost productivity at household level and the country at large.

See our coverage of the International Day of Rural Women.

Hands hold wheat grain from harvest near Belbur, Nakuru, Kenya. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Against the grain: New paper reveals the overlooked health benefits of maize and wheat

Written by Mary Donovan on October 12, 2020. Posted in Press releases.

Cereal crops like maize and wheat deserve greater consideration as part of a healthy, nutritious diet, according to the authors of a new paper.

A review of agri-nutrition research and dietary guidance found that the potential health benefits provided by cereals were often overlooked or undervalued as part of nutritious diets, including their role in reducing non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

The study identified two key explanations for the oversight. The first is that many cereal crops with varying nutritional qualities are indiscriminately grouped under the broad category of “staples.”

A second problem lies in the fact that cereals are usually considered to be a major source of dietary energy alone. However, reducing nutritional attributes to macro- and micro-nutrients misses other beneficial elements of cereals known as “bioactive food components.” These include carotenoids, flavonoids, and polyphenols, and compounds that comprise dietary fiber.

“Most whole grain cereals provide differing amounts of proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins, in addition to being important sources of dietary energy,” said Jason Donovan, a senior economist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and co-author of the paper published in Food Policy.

“Only relative to other ‘nutrient-rich’ foodstuffs can cereals be described as ‘nutrient-poor’.”

In the paper, entitled Agri-nutrition research: Revisiting the contribution of maize and wheat to human nutrition and health, the authors called on researchers and policymakers to embrace the multiple dietary components of cereals in addressing under- and over-nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and the growing global problem of non-communicable diseases.

“Through increasing the availability of, and access to, healthy foods derived from cereals, we can better address the growing triple burden of malnutrition that many countries are facing,” said Olaf Erenstein, co-author and director of CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics program.

“To feed the world within planetary boundaries, current intakes of whole grain foods should more than double and address tricky issues like the current over-processing, to make the most of the nutrition potential of maize and wheat.”

While some carbohydrates can create a glycemic response that has negative effects on diabetes and obesity, dietary fiber in cereals comprises carbohydrates that are fermented in the large intestine with largely positive metabolic and health effects.

In addition, the naturally-occurring compounds found in maize and wheat can be enhanced through conventional breeding, genomic selection and bio- and industrial-fortification to offer enriched levels of beneficial components.

For example, scientists at CIMMYT have worked on new maize and wheat varieties with additional levels of vitamin A and zinc to help address some of the nutritional deficiencies found worldwide. Researchers are also improving how cereals are produced, processed, and stored to increase productivity and improve food safety while maintaining their nutritional benefits.

One of challenges in maximizing the nutritional benefit of cereal-based foods in diets is that the processing of grains often causes substantial losses of essential vitamins and minerals. Meanwhile, manufacturing industries create ultra-processed foods that often contain noxious qualities and components, which contribute directly to the significant and increasing global health and economic costs of non-communicable diseases.

“If we are to end hunger by delivering healthy, diverse and nutritional diets in the next decade, we need a broader and more nuanced understanding of the nutritional and health-promoting value of diverse foods, including cereals,” added Nigel Poole, co-author and Professor of International Development at SOAS University, London.

“Cereals and so-called ‘nutrient-rich’ foods are complementary in agri-nutrition, both of which require additional research, resources and attention so that one does not replace the other.”

RELATED PUBLICATIONS:

Agri-nutrition research: Revisiting the contribution of maize and wheat to human nutrition and health

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR INTERVIEW REQUESTS:

Donna Bowater, Marchmont Communications, donna@marchmontcomms.com, +44 7929 212 534

ABOUT CIMMYT:

The International Maize and What Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information visit staging.cimmyt.org