Cyclone Remal left little untouched when it tore through Ulubunia in 2024. Rozina Begum’s home flooded and collapsed, while saline water swept into her aquaculture pond, carrying away the fish she depended on for income. She estimates her losses at about BDT 200,000. Her experience was one of several shared by fishing households in Mongla, south-western Bangladesh, where climate hazards affect livelihoods on the water and assets on land. Heat, storms, flooding and salinity are making fishing and aquaculture harder to manage. The annual June-to-August fishing ban adds another source of income pressure for households with few alternatives. From 18–20 August 2026, WorldFish, under CGIAR Climate Action, convened a Climate Adaptation Co-Design Workshop in Ulubunia village. Participants included fishers, boat owners, traders, fisheries value chain actors, community organizations, women-led organizations, government representatives, local NGOs and law-enforcement authorities. The aim was to identify the risks people face along with their existing response strategies, and the support they consider of utmost priority. When the weather turns dangerous, the first loss may simply be a day’s work. Rafiqul Shaikh, a small-scale fisher and cooperative leader, said boats sometimes cannot leave shore or are forced to return before a trip is complete. On exceptionally...

Food systems already account for a substantial share of carbon market activity. Yet the credits are concentrated in a small set of project types, leaving several major sources of food system emissions with little representation. A new CIFOR-ICRAF analysis by Christopher Martius and Nathanaël Pingault brings together 9,254 projects that had issued credits through UNFCCC mechanisms or major independent standards. Together, those projects represent 4.9 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in issued credits. The authors recast these projects through a food systems lens, looking beyond agriculture and land use to include energy, refrigeration, waste, and other activities that run through food value chains. The analysis shows an uneven distribution of carbon market activity across food systems. While some activities attract substantial investment and generate large volumes of credits, several major sources of food system emissions remain underrepresented. Refrigeration and REDD+ dominate food system carbon credits Food system projects account for 23.3% of projects registered under the Clean Development Mechanism and 35.9% of the credits it has issued. Among the independent mechanisms covered by the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project database, their presence is larger still: 61.3% of projects and 58.6% of issued credits. But a lot of this volume comes...

Genebank data seems to be in the air. Just in the past few days, I pontificated about descriptors, Mike Jackson has reminisced about the early days of rice molecular markers and CGIAR announced a big ...

ICARDA welcomes Dr. Nizar Haddad as its new Director General, effective 1 October 2026, marking the beginning of a new chapter as it continues to advance science, innovation, and partnerships for more resilient dryland agriculture and stronger livelihoods. Dr. Nizar Haddad takes on the role at a critical time for ICARDA and the dryland regions it serves. Climate change, water scarcity, land degradation, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, and geopolitical instability are putting growing pressure on agricultural systems and rural communities. However, advances in genetics, digital technologies, natural resource management, and agricultural innovation are creating new ways to respond to these challenges and build more resilient dryland food systems. Dr. Haddad is an international development leader with more than 25 years of experience advancing agricultural research, institutional transformation, and sustainable development in dryland environments. Throughout his career, Dr. Haddad has focused on translating scientific knowledge into practical solutions that support farmers, rural communities, and national development priorities. His work has consistently bridged research, policy, and implementation to deliver impact at scale. Prior to joining ICARDA, Dr. Haddad served as Mission Head and Program Director for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Saudi Arabia, where he led...

The CGIAR++ PhD Scholarship 2026 is now accepting applications from qualified candidates interested in pursuing doctoral research in agricultural sciences and

As I conclude my tenure as ICARDA’s Director General on 30 September 2026, I reflect on an extraordinary decade of scientific progress, profound change, and difficult challenges, underpinned throughout by an unwavering commitment to the communities we serve. When I joined ICARDA in October 2016, it was navigating one of the most consequential periods in its history. The relocation of ICARDA’s headquarters following the conflict in Syria in 2012 ushered in a new chapter, reshaping how we worked across a decentralized global network while remaining anchored in our commitment to scientific excellence and the communities that needed ICARDA’s research most. In 2025, ICARDA celebrated its 50th anniversary. Reaching that milestone reminded me that institutions endure because each generation builds upon what came before with deliberation. Successive Directors General, Boards of Trustees, scientists, staff, and partners had built an institution with a strong scientific foundation and a deep commitment to the drylands. I saw my role as building on that legacy while helping ICARDA navigate a period of extraordinary transition and change. The past decade has brought profound change to the environment in which agricultural research operates. Climate pressures have intensified across the drylands, conflict has disrupted food systems and livelihoods,...

On the second morning of CGIAR Scaling Week 2026, the room fell quiet. After a first day devoted to the art of the ask, Day 2 began with three people describing what happened when life did not give them the answer they had hoped for. The session was called Rise. Namukolo Covic, Saleef Nyambok and Emma Naluyima spoke about interrupted plans, loss and difficult choices. Their stories gave the day a human starting point. Later, across the Open Spaces, participants explored what happens when promising innovations encounter obstacles of their own. Namukolo, a public health nutritionist and head of CGIAR’s Liaison Office for Africa, grew up in poverty in Zambia. A fellowship took her to Canada for a master’s degree, but she put aside an opportunity to pursue a PhD and returned to Africa. Years later, while raising a family and working full-time, a friend asked why she could not pursue it now. She did. Namukolo calls the years—the decades, even—between her degrees her “school of hard knocks”. Work across different fields taught her to speak with scientists from many disciplines and people at every level, from farmers to world leaders. The winding route became a strength: she learned to...

For decades, Africa’s drylands have been viewed through the lens of crisis—drought, food insecurity and humanitarian need. But beyond these challenges are landscapes that support millions of pastoralists and farmers, sustain important livestock economies and hold enormous potential for climate resilience, economic growth and sustainable development. Changing this narrative is at the heart of a growing partnership between the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Lukenya University and EdSource Africa. What began as a shared interest in strengthening dryland research and policy engagement has evolved into a collaboration connecting science, education, policy and practice. Together, the three institutions are building platforms that generate knowledge while helping ensure that evidence reaches policymakers, investors, practitioners and communities. The goal is not simply to produce research, but to turn knowledge into action. Building a platform for change A major expression of this collaboration is the annual Dryland Agriculture and Food Systems in the Face of Climate Change Conference. Since the inaugural conference at the ILRI campus in Nairobi in 2024, the forum has brought together researchers, policymakers, development partners, private-sector actors and community representatives to examine the challenges and opportunities facing dryland regions. For EdSource Africa, the partnership was driven by a fundamental question:...

YouTube video by WorldFoodPrizeFoundation