By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Apr 10 2025 – As agrifood systems in the Global South buckle under the weight of climate change, biodiversity, and even pollution, experts such as Dr. Himanshu Pathak call for urgent innovative solutions, as, at the current pace, the problems of the Global South are going to intensify with escalating climate change.

Pathak is the director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), a global research institute focused on dryland agriculture. He has over 32 years of experience in climate resilience, soil and crop management, and sustainable agricultural systems.

Speaking to IPS at the CGIAR Science Week, he shared his insights into the deepening rural poverty and hunger across the Global South and what it would take to build agricultural resilience and sustainability.

“Changing climate, increasing temperature, and increasing pollution are going to intensify the problem of degradation of its land, water, and air. To solve these problems, we strongly believe that new science and new technology will be very useful to address those challenges. New science means developing new varieties that are resistant or tolerant to climatic changes,” he said.

“Varieties that are high yielding and at the same time better in nutrient content, which will help in promoting soil fertility, will not degrade the soil. Once we develop these varieties and new technologies, we have to reach these technologies to the farmers through a conducive policy environment.”

ICRISAT is on the frontlines of developing much-needed solutions through its regional stations in eight different countries in Africa and, in all, working with about 80 countries on different aspects of their research activities, such as on amended crops like millets, sorghum, pulses, pigeon peas, chickpeas, and oilseed-rich groundnuts.

“We do crop improvement, how to increase yield by developing new varieties, and how to improve nutrient content by developing bio-fortified varieties. We also work on how to manage soil, water, nutrients, fertilizer, and, of course, climate action, and we are actively engaged in social sciences, capacity building, education, training, and teaching.”

On why farmers do not always adopt new science and technologies, Pathak said they find it difficult to do so “without good policy and support and without good incentives. And there is also a great need for capacity building and skill development of  farmers, as today’s technologies are quite knowledge intensive.”

Emphasizing that farmers need to improve their skills and knowledge to “understand and adopt these new technologies, new varieties, new water management, and so on. And to achieve all of these things, there is a need for partnership. Partnership among research organizations, partnership among farmers, donors, and policymakers.”

For sustainable changes, he spoke of an urgent need to involve women farmers, as gender equality is a central part of the solution, as is youth involvement. Stressing that this is a different generation of youth and that to attract and retain them in agriculture will take embracing new technologies such as digital agriculture, artificial intelligence, and precision agriculture, and equally important, agriculture has to be market-oriented.

Reiterating the critical role that science and technology play, David Guerena, a research scientist at the Alliance Biodiversity International–CIAT, spoke to IPS about the need to listen to what farmers are saying to understand their more preferred varieties and even what draws them to these varieties. This understanding can help breeders make more informed decisions towards more effective solutions that are better adapted to local settings. Stressing that AI and machine learning solutions for agriculture, specifically around breeding and breeding services, are also timely and critical and that, rather than leaving farmers behind, technology can connect farmers to research.

“It is important that we speak to farmers directly to help customize agricultural advisory services and linkages to markets. AI is also successfully interfacing with breeding teams. We have also seen how mobile money transfer models such as MPESA have done in rural ecosystems in supporting smallholder farmers to transact with ease,” he said.

Dr. Stephen Mutuvi from the Alliance Biodiversity International–CIAT and based in Arusha, Tanzania, specializes in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning. He leads the machine learning operations in the organization’s different projects, focusing on artificial intelligence.

He told IPS that AI is part of the solution, as “you can just record farmers as they speak, for instance, and people without literacy levels can convey their messages by just having their voices and conversations recorded.”

“And then using AI to transcribe their words automatically and applying advanced models like those similar to ChatGPT to analyze the data. So, we are at a very interesting space where the advanced technologies in AI are also getting to be useful and to be of impact to the direct users, who are the farmers in this case.”

Guerena stressed the need to find harmony between indigenous knowledge, which has sustained agriculture for thousands of years, and advanced scientific knowledge. Saying that indigenous knowledge gives a historical understanding and science is more modern and more advanced and that the two are central to developing lasting solutions.

But a lack of access to post-production remains a pain point for smallholder farmers in the Global South. Pathak says supporting farmers to access good prices for their produce is critical: “Market-friendliness, gender-friendliness, and of course nature-friendliness of agriculture will be extremely important in building agricultural resilience and sustainability.”

As is so often the case, he affirms that innovation and science are more invested in increasing yields as aspects of post-harvest, post-production, and access to markets are left unattended. He asserts that although increasing production is crucial, it is not sufficient.

“And therefore, we are working for the full agri-food system, starting from seed to produce, and then all kinds of value addition and connecting farmers with markets. So, value addition, agri-food processing, and post-harvest management of the commodities are extremely important,” Pathak said. “Onwards, along with increasing productivity by developing new varieties and new soil and water management technologies, we also have to give equal, if not more, importance to post-harvest management for agri-value addition.”

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By Busani Bafana
NAIROBI, Apr 10 2025 – Animal scientist Lindiwe Majele Sibanda became what her grandmother earnestly prayed for when she was growing up on a farm in southern Zimbabwe.

Majele Sibanda, an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria  and chair of CGIAR’s Integrated Partnership Board, is a practicing livestock farmer and a successful one at that. She is raising pedigree and indigenous cattle as well as hardy Matabele goats.

“Livestock is livelihood,” Majele Sibanda says, speaking to IPS at CGIAR Science Week, responding to the growing concerns about livestock farming as an environmental threat.

Livestock production supports more than 1.3 billion people globally in terms of food and nutrition security. Africa has an estimated 800 million livestock keepers in a sector that contributes up to 50 percent of agricultural GDP and supports the livelihoods of about 350 million people.

There is a flipside, though. The livestock sector is currently responsible for up to 20 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, underlying the need for more efficient and sustainable livestock production systems.

Aspire to a ‘Protein Revolution’

“The biggest revolution we have to aspire to is the protein revolution, and the revolution will not be achieved without animal-source foods like milk, blood, and meat,” says Majele Sibanda. “We cannot achieve it with plant-based nutrition alone. I believe in livestock — but livestock that is produced sustainably.”

Livestock are both a solution and a challenge but will remain an essential part of the food system. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

Livestock has economic and social attributes that act as a store of value for farmers. Livestock farmers in Africa produce half of the continent’s meat and milk. Milk secures the nutritional needs of children, aiding in their development, while assorted livestock products contribute to income generation as they are traded, with meat, milk, and eggs being prominent commodities. Besides food, livestock provides non-food products like leather, wool, and pharmaceuticals.

Majele Sibanda is a champion for the International Livestock Research Institute Strategy, which is looking at sustainable livestock production systems.

In 2024, ILRI launched a new strategy, ‘Unlocking sustainable livestock’s potential through research for better lives and a better planet,’ to guide its programs in the next five years to 2030.

The strategy addresses global challenges such as climate change, food insecurity, and sustainable development. It aims to improve livestock systems in Africa and Asia through the implementation of large-scale, science-based sustainable livestock solutions that influence policy decisions and investments.

Science Drives Development

A distinguished leader and policy advocate on food systems, Majele Sibanda is convinced scientific research can enhance agriculture as a driver of development.

“With science, we can feed the world of 9.7 billion by 2050,” said Majele Sibanda, who has the privilege of being a farmer, a businessperson, and a jury member  for the Food Planet Prize, the world’s biggest prize in the sector.

“Technology on the shelf is not good enough,” she emphasized. “Technology on the ground takes drivers—it has to be conveyed. Scaling up requires policies. We talk about it as a science but let us talk about it as a multi-stakeholder agenda of moving science to the people who need it most. There can be no better base than doing it on-site together—from agenda setting to the users.”

Farmers Are Scientists, Custodians of Knowledge

But is it possible for farmers to adopt scientific innovations without abandoning the indigenous know-how of farming, which has supported them for generations?

Majele Sibanda believes so.

“Farmers are not stupid,” she retorts. “Farmers are scientists. You cannot farm without knowledge. They are custodians of knowledge and are continuously learning, whether they have gone to school for it or suckled it from their grandmother, like me and my father, who is still an active farmer or from their neighbors.”

She said farmers are continuously on a quest for new ways to improve both their land and animals.

“The beauty of science is that you have a dedicated group of persons whose core business is to generate their knowledge. That knowledge is for improving productivity in a sustainable way,” Majele Sibanda said, adding, “This rift between a farmer and a scientist does not and should not exist provided there is humility to accept that as a scientist you are learning and as a farmer you are learning. We have a common goal of sustainable production and sustainable food systems—feeding the soil, feeding the family, and feeding the pocket. We have a common goal of sustainable production and sustainable food systems.”

“If researchers understand the aspirations of farmers, they will be able to meet them halfway with the right technologies. The challenge we have had is that researchers want an easy way out at times and want to put all technologies on the shelf and do not want to invest in a local system that helps farmers adapt.”

Majele Sibanda highlights the importance of partnerships between the CGIAR and the national research systems in the provision and sharing of innovative technologies that enable farmers to adapt as well as mitigate the impacts of climate change.

“Unless we walk hand in hand, research technologies and innovations will sit on the shelf,” she said.

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By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Apr 10 2025 – “To have impact, it was crucial to understand what impact was wanted,” CGIAR’s Executive Managing Director Dr. Ismahane Elouafi said at the launch of the organization’s flagship report, Insight to Impact: A decision-maker’s guide to navigating food system science.

“The report is called Insight to Impact because the key message is that impact starts with insight. So, it is very important that we invest in science if we are to have an impact,” Elouafi said.  “But what is very important as well is to really have a proper engagement of policymakers… This report gives real examples and insights into what works and what does not work as well.”

To give a perspective on the importance of policy in relation to nutritious foods, she said that in many ways, the farmers will produce what they produce because there is a market for it and that to produce more healthy foods requires creating a market for it through policy. Policies can subsidize or incentivize farmers to produce more nutritious foods.

“And for me, this is what we have not been doing. We have not been pushing enough for policies that are pro-climate, that are pro-nutrition, and that are pro-poor as well. So, all of this is doable. And what we need to do is make sure we provide the genetic breed that we know is nutritious, but also go and talk to policymakers to get the policies to make sure it makes it to the market.”

In a world confronted by serious interconnected challenges of climate change, environmental degradation, persistent poverty, and food and nutrition insecurity, there is an urgent need for evidence-based decision-making to resolve complex issues that now transcend boundaries, demanding cohesive and science-driven solutions – and that is where the guide comes in.

“The reality is that today we are facing challenges, particularly in the last few years, that were unimaginable even five or ten years ago. The speed at which climate change is coming at us and farmers around the world, is not what anyone expected… The rate of return of investing in agricultural research is increasing by the minute, while the costs of not doing it are phenomenal,” by Jüergen Vöegele, Vice President, World Bank/Chair of the CGIAR System Council.

A Decision-Maker’s Guide To Navigating Food System Science was launched at CGIAR Science Week. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

While decision-makers at global, national, and local levels recognize the urgency of taking decisive action and also understand that safeguarding the resilience, health, and livelihoods of vulnerable communities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, requires sound, science-backed policies, many also struggle to access the right information in the right format, slowing the translation of research into action.

As the world’s largest agricultural research partnership, CGIAR developed the report as part of a wider bundle of decision-making resources to meet these challenges head-on, recognizing that, although agricultural research cannot solve every problem, food system transformation must be part of the solution.

CGIAR’s global partnership of 13 world-leading research centers provides solutions to transform food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis to ensure food security in low- and middle-income countries. For over 50 years, the organization has supported decision-makers at global, regional, national, and local levels by providing timely, policy-relevant, impactful innovations, data, and expertise to ensure food security in target countries.

In this regard, the report provides science-based insights and practical recommendations to help decision-makers navigate the pressing challenges of agriculture, food security, and sustainable development while preparing for future risks. Importantly, it is a way to continually improve the accessibility and relevance of our research to decision-makers.

Grace Mijiga Mhango, president of the Grain Traders and Processors Association of Malawi, stated that one of the main barriers to using science as a transformative tool is the “gap in communication between the scientist and the private sector, including the farmer who is supposed to be the key beneficiary of the materials and innovations the scientists are coming up with.”

In the right hands, food system science and innovation can transform food systems to deliver across the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. It is the foundation that decision-makers at local, national, regional, and global levels can use to make informed decisions.

Decisions that result in food systems supporting regeneration rather than driving environmental degradation and becoming a net sink rather than a source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, protecting biodiversity rather than depleting it, and providing culturally appropriate, affordable, available, diverse, and safe diets that ensure nutrition, health, and food security.

Solutions steeped in science and innovation can contribute to producer stability and resilience, supporting livelihoods and reducing poverty for smallholders and benefiting over 500 million women while also creating new opportunities for 267 million young people.

Overall, the report is designed for leaders, policymakers, and researchers; it focuses on translating science into action. The report simplifies scientific findings into practical, understandable, and relevant information with links to tools and real-world applications.

CGIAR research shows a good return on investment. For every dollar invested in CGIAR agricultural research and development, investors see USD 10 worth of benefits. With CGIAR’s annual research portfolio of just over USD 900 million and more than 9,000 staff working in over 85 countries Insight to Impact is the first in a series that will deliver plain-language roadmaps to help decision-makers tackle complex food and nutrition security and sustainability challenges.

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