The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its second pre-market consultation for human food made from cultured animal cells. California-based GOOD Meat, a division of Eat Just, Inc., uses animal cell culture technology to take living cells from chickens and grow the cells in a controlled environment to make cultured animal cell food. The FDA issued a "no questions" letter to GOOD Meat as part of pre-market consultations for a new kind of meat, poultry, and seafood made from cells instead of raised and slaughtered animals.

In many African countries, rice consumption outstrips production, which leads to huge imports to meet local demand. One of the key challenges affecting the rice sector in the region today is the lack of efficient seed production and delivery systems that would encourage wider use of quality seed of improved, climate resilient, and high-yielding varieties. Developing a competitive formal seed sector will ensure the timely availability of quality seeds of new varieties at affordable prices, particularly to smallholder farmers

To strengthen its strategy, cooperation, and results management, the CGIAR Initiative on Asian Mega-Deltas (AMD) conducted its Annual Meeting and Pause, Reflect, and Plan Workshop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 14 to 17 March 2023. The workshop aims to provide a space for national partners and OneCGIAR scientists to reflect on the progress and achievements of the AMD Initiative in some of its priority countries, namely Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

It has taken almost 20 years, but finally, on 4 March 2023, UN member states came to an historic agreement: to legally protect the world’s high seas. In a first of its kind, the High Seas Treaty will place a third of the world’s oceans into marine protected areas (MPAs) in a bid to reverse biodiversity loss. The high seas—the parts of the ocean that lie outside a country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ)—cover about half the earth’s surface. They’re full of life—from microscopic plankton that produce more atmospheric oxygen than all of the world’s tropical rainforests, to blue whales, the largest creatures that ever existed on earth.

Niger: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has launched a new project to benefit 1,500 farmers from 2022 to 2025, based on the ancient practice of crop-livestock integration, which has seen a revival in recent decades.The project 'Enhancing the productivity and resilience of agro-pastoral systems, and income, food, and nutrition security

In Europe and Central Asia, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the outbreak of the war in Ukraine put food security and healthy nutrition under enormous pressure. Food prices peaked, posing a challenge for decision makers to ensure that no one is left behind. Developed by eight United Nations agencies, the Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia 2022 report provides valuable information to assist in addressing this situation.

The Category 4 Tropical Cyclones Judy and Kevin that made landfall over Vanuatu earlier this month have left a trail of destruction in their wake, affecting some 80 percent of the population and causing widespread damage, flooding and power outages. With about three-quarters of the population relying on agriculture, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is warning about the potential impacts these back-to-back tropical cyclones will have on rural livelihoods.

Kraft Heinz and NotCo launched a plant-based mayonnaise made from chickpea flour. Labeled as “NotMayo”, the product joins the roster of plant-based food products launched by Kraft Heinz in six months. The other products were NotCheese and Philadephia Plant-based spread, a vegan alternative for its cream cheese brand. NotMayo is smooth and creamy, just like the traditional egg-based mayonnaise. According to NotCo Chile, NotMayo production uses 32.5% less energy, 83% less water, and generates 37% less carbon dioxide than regular mayonnaise production.

An international team of scientists from Europe and Australia, led by the University of Reading (UK), Aarhus University (Denmark), and the University of Helsinki (Finland), has sequenced the faba bean genome for the first time. At 13 billion bases, the faba bean genome is more than four times the size of the human genome. The project to fully decode the faba bean genome searched for genes involved in seed size. The research team also looked at the color of the hilum, the scar left when a bean detaches from the pod, to find the genes that determine this distinctive feature

The online event aims to increase understanding and appreciation of Filipino biotechnologies and products by the general public, especially in the Philippines. It will also provide science-based information to target stakeholders for acceptance and adoption of Filipino-developed biotechnologies. Using these biotechnology tools and products can contribute to improving the state of Philippine agriculture. ISAAA Inc. Executive Director Dr. Rhodora Romero-Aldemita will moderate the discussions.