El Niño has contributed to starkly different weather patterns in northern and southern Zambia. On World Water Day 2024, this piece navigates the complex challenge of mitigating water abundancy and scarcity through different agricultural practices that support livelihoods and food security.

The Africa Dryland Crop Improvement Network (ADCIN), NARES, and CGIAR scientists in Africa optimized quantitative genetic criteria for breeding programs and breeding strategies and pipelines for chickpea, pigeon pea, groundnut, sorghum, pearl-millet, and finger millet crops.

A locally made, affordable multi-crop thresher offers a convenient post-harvest processing option for smallholder farmers.

For young Mirian, an agent of change, being part of the Honduran InnovaHub Oriente has allowed her to make agricultural innovations a means to empower her generation and women.

In Mozambique, women spearhead efforts to enhance soybean yields with improved agronomic practices, yielding community-wide benefits.

Working groups for seed systems stakeholders, known as Product Design Teams (PDT), are improving the availability and accessibility of seeds in Africa.

CIMMYT’s commitment to excellence and precision is exemplified in the AGG WHEAT marker-selectable trait introgression. The journey from concept to reality—marked by the entry of 97 F5 lines into yield trials—signals a new era in wheat breeding.

Genetic trials in the region will continue throughout 2024 and 2025 to establish a baseline for genetic gains and to enable the assessment of the breeding pipeline’s progress in the coming years.

Success stories witnessed in India, Pakistan, and Nepal underscore the transformative potential of this approach, offering a beacon of hope for agricultural communities in South Asia and beyond.

AID-I conducted a community sensitization to connect Zambian farmers with existing mobile networks that provide agricultural and climate data.

A workshop brings together scientists to share the latest innovations in conservation agriculture to benefit smallholder farmers and reduce the effects of climate change on food production.

A workshop to help tackle climate challenges faced by Mutoko farmers generated significant interest among farmers and stakeholders to work towards sustainable approaches.

CIMMYT’s systematic and targeted breeding strategy in South Asia helped develop 20 high yielding and heat-stress tolerant maize hybrids. The ongoing efforts strengthens the livelihood of farm families who are highly vulnerable to climate change in the Asian tropics.

CIMMYT is actively engaging a wide spectrum of stakeholders to define and harmonize target product profiles across Africa, with farmers at the heart.

On the sidelines of the CGIAR Gender Research Conference 2023 in New Delhi, CIMMYT researchers working on gender and social inclusion across the Global South gathered to discuss pathways toward 2030 for making GESI efforts intentional and impactful.