For Idris Elba, returning to Sierra Leone late last year was about two things: reconnecting with his roots and learning about the challenges facing the country where his father was born, so that he could become a better advocate for its people. The actor, producer, and humanitarian took part in a project field visit with his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba, the model and activist, organized by the United Nations’ International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD) and Global Citizen last December.

The COVID-19 pandemic is more than a health crisis. Over the last six months, we have witnessed its extreme socio-economic consequences, including grave threats to food security and nutrition. As the pandemic continues to take its toll and make an indelible mark on agri-food systems, organizations like the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a member of CGIAR, are aligning their efforts to ensure a relevant, timely, and well-coordinated response to safeguard the health and livelihoods of the poorest and most vulnerable.

Mobile technologies and digital agriculture hold great promise for the world's farmers, making it all the more important to foster appropriate institutions able to generate innovation whose benefits reach smallholders and disadvantaged groups, Nobel Prize-winning economist Michael Kremer said today in a special lecture hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Achieving food and nutritional security and economic prosperity is possible within an equitable system where structural barriers are removed and traditional gender norms and stereotypes are broken. With additional stress on food security caused by social and economic disruptions of the pandemic, it is key to continue working with women farmers to ensure healthy and reliable harvests to support their families during the crisis.

Investments in CGIAR research generate returns of 10 times the amount invested, a new report has found. The report, commissioned by the Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation, found a 10 to 1 benefit-cost ratio on CGIAR investments of $60 billion in present value terms over almost five decades.

A Rutgers University-led research reveals that most countries are failing to invest in nature-related economic reforms and investments as the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to reset the global economy and reverse decades of ecosystem and species losses. The research team led by Pamela McElwee, associate professor in the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers University–New Brunswick was composed of economists, anthropologists, and environmental scientists at many institutions on three continents.

Education is one of the most impacted systems by the COVID-19 pandemic. To slow down the spread of the virus, schools were closed, and educators were pressed with time to ensure continuous instruction. States, districts, and schools are deliberating several questions of whether to reopen school buildings and how to run them safely in case they reopen.

Argentina's Ministry of Agriculture has granted approval of Bioceres Crop Solutions' HB4 wheat event for growth and consumption. The HB4 trait increases wheat yields by up to 20% and is currently the only drought tolerance technology for wheat and soybean crops in the world. Argentina is Latin America's largest wheat producer and the world's first country to adopt HB4 drought tolerance technology for wheat.

ISAAA invites everyone to the webinar on the Global Impact of GM Crops to be held on October 15, 2020 at 2 PM  (GMT+5:30) via Zoom. During this ISAAA webinar, agricultural economist Graham Brookes of PG Economics will share the highlights of his study on the economic and environmental benefits of GM crops from 1996 to 2018, particularly the following:

The CGIAR is going through a dynamic reformulation that advances integration of its partnerships, knowledge, assets, and global presence to transform progress in key areas where innovation is needed to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Moving forward, the One CGIAR will implement a phased approach to research delivery with the imperative of seeking multiple benefits across CGIAR’s impact areas