Building Food Security in an Era of Uncertainty: CIMMYT launches the Agricultural Resilience for Conflict Prevention Initiative (ARC)

New Delhi, India: As the world’s population heads toward 9.7 billion by 2050, the urgency to ensure food and nutrition security is intensifying. Today, CIMMYT announced the launch of the Agricultural Resilience for Conflict Prevention Initiative (ARC)—a pioneering effort to address the overlapping crises of climate change, conflict, and pandemics that threaten food systems and social stability worldwide.

Built on the belief that agriculture can be a powerful driver of peace and security, ARC aims to unite policymakers, researchers, and development partners to scale solutions that enhance agricultural resilience, safeguard food production, and promote peacebuilding in vulnerable regions.

“Now more than ever, we must strengthen the resilience of agriculture—not just to feed growing populations, but to stabilize societies in the face of climate shocks, conflicts, and global health crises,” said Bram Govaerts, Director General of CIMMYT.

The purpose of ARC is three-fold. First, food security and agricultural livelihoods are essential for restoring peace in post-conflict societies. CIMMYT will look to build on our experience with the Sustainable Agrifood Systems Approach for Sudan, or SASAS. Over a period of 18 months, we worked with 13 partners to build agricultural capacity, reaching a million people through seed distribution, livestock vaccination, water infrastructure, and market development, while promoting long-term resilience in conflict-affected areas. This meant access to food and jobs, and less forced migration.

CIMMYT is already in talks with new partners about similar work for Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine.

Second, food sovereignty and diversification help insulate nations from trade disruptions, extreme weather, and political shocks. We are committed to working in partnership with national agricultural research institutes, farmer associations, and other local actors not just to grow food, but also to grow scientific and agricultural capacity, and to diversify trade partners in a way that leverages global food systems in support of food sovereignty.

Third, food is a strategic commodity, just like critical minerals or energy, but a healthy global agrifood system is also in every nation’s interest. CIMMYT will be exploring ways to leverage our political neutrality and international public goods to build confidence between nations, in what is sometimes called Track II or Track 1.5 diplomacy. We firmly believe that if food security becomes a focal point of rivalry between nations, everyone will suffer and the world will fall short of meeting other pressing challenges, such as climate change.

“ARC is about transforming agri-food systems holistically,” added Govaerts. “By linking food security with conflict prevention, we can build a more sustainable, secure, and equitable future.”

About CIMMYT:

CIMMYT is a cutting edge, nonprofit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrow’s problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers while working toward a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries. For more information, visit: cimmyt.org