Members of the Africa Women for Biosciences (AWfB) have vowed to rally behind biotechnology as they advocate for efficient and effective policy environment. The network, comprising of women with an interest and passion in science, technology and innovation, said this during a biosafety communication training workshop held on January 25-26, 2018, in Nairobi, Kenya.

Food shortage in conflict-stricken areas continues to rise, implying greater need for food and livelihood assistance, according to the January 2018 report of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Food Programme for the United Nations Security Council. The report includes status of food insecurity in 16 countries: Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic,

West African countries are now in a better position to perform high-quality, production-boosting agricultural research than they were a decade ago, thanks to the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP). Since 2008, this World Bank initiative has invested significantly in agricultural research infrastructure and human capacity in addition to supporting regional and cross-country collaboration.

UK scientists are leading new cutting-edge research to create crops that are more nutritious, more resistant to disease and better able to withstand severe floods or drought in Africa, in addition to developing medicines to protect farmers’ livestock from devastating disease.Millions of farmers in Africa, who depend on agriculture to support their families, struggle to grow enough crops to put food on the table because of natural disasters such as drought, or floods, which destroy their livelihoods.

The International Rice Informatics Consortium (IRIC) is an organization that aims to give stakeholders access to comprehensive information about rice, and facilitate collaboration in the rice community. Early this year, it conducted its annual workshop that aims to provide researchers who share a common vision and passion for rice informatics, a platform to exchange their ideas and innovations. The workshop also seeks to further the interest of stakeholders in the consortium.
 

In his Opinion on Case C-528/16, Advocate General of the European Court of Justice Michal Bobek said that organisms obtained by mutagenesis are, in principle, exempted from the obligations in the Genetically Modified Organisms Directive of the European Parliament (GMO Directive). The GMO Directive regulates the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their placing on the market within the EU.

Professor Robert Henry from the Queensland Alliance of Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) have mapped the genetic family tree of wild rice growing in northern Australia's crocodile-infested waters. According to Professor Henry, wild rice could help boost global food security as its valuable traits such as drought tolerance and pest and disease resistance – can be bred into commercial rice strains.

A lab-designed version of hormone auxin and an engineered receptor to recognize were developed by a team of scientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to investigate the mysteries behind plant growth and development. The study is published in Nature Chemical Biology.  According to study leader Keiko Torii, auxin has a lot of functions in various plants such as helping sunflower track sunlight, roots grown downward, and fruits ripen.

Plants that grow well are sensitive to heat and drought, and plants that can handle these stresses often have stunted growth. Purdue University researcher Jian-Kang-Zhu has found the switch that creates this antagonism, opening opportunities to develop plants that exhibit both characteristics.

Kenyans are on the brink of starvation following a heavy infestation by the fall armyworm on their maize farms. First reported in the country in March last year, the pest has ravaged over 250,000 hectares of maize farms in 27 out of 47 counties.