Kamla Bai charts her journey of empowerment from farmworker to women village trainer for CABI
This is the story of Kamla Bai who has been a Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) farmworker since 2015. Mrs Bai belongs to a minority Hindu community and lives in a small village of district Mirpur Khas in Pakistan. She received her education to Matric level (10th grade), graduated from high school, and has since been…
Mainstreaming the Moruga Hill Rice tradition to expand green value chains in Trinidad and Tobago
With Earth Day taking place on 22 April, CABI scientist, Naitram Ramnanan (IAS Coordinator and Regional Representative – Caribbean and Central America, CABI) takes a look at sustainable agriculture in Trinidad. With an ever growing global population, sustainable agriculture – or agroecology – has become an increasingly important area of study and work. Many landscapes…
Classifying agribusiness-based advisory services: benefits and challenges of different models
By: Dannie Romney, Global Director, Development Communication and Extension, CABI Agricultural extension and advisory services – services that offer technical advice to farmers – play an important role in delivering the knowledge and tools that farmers need to increase their crop yields, improve their food security and livelihoods, and build resilience against the difficulties they…
Data sharing standards for soil: Why aren’t they taking root?
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has put food security squarely on the global agenda. Combined with the existing challenges that climate change brings to agriculture and agroecology, the production of ample and nutritious food is now under threat as farmers struggle with social distancing and income loss – writes Ruthie Musker, Project Officer –…
Sustainable cotton production ‘through the eyes’ of a Better Cotton farmer
Mr Javed is a resident of the village Jameel Dall, union council Mir Imam Bux Talpur, in the district of Mirpur Khas in Pakistan. He has, since 2012, been one of the active farmers of CABI’s project to help improve cotton production which is run under the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI).
CABI helps build capacity of government stakeholders in Pakistan to tackle aflatoxins with biological controls
Aflatoxins are powerful fungal toxins that contaminate many agricultural products, including cereal grains, chilies, dry fruits and nuts. They also well affect milk because some livestock feed contains aflatoxin. In Pakistan, aflatoxin concentrations in harvested grain frequently exceed the level permitted in countries where aflatoxin in food and feed is regulated. The Aflatoxin Control in…
Strengthening extension trainings through digital tools in Rwanda
The role of extension staff in reaching smallholder farmers in Africa with relevant agricultural information cannot be underestimated, writes Abigael Mchana, Communications Officer, and Henry Mibei, Manager, Digital Development at CABI’s Africa Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. They are few in number compared to their clients in need of their expertise and often operate with scarce…
Overcoming obstacles to traditional African vegetable production for a strengthened food system
The Power on your Plate summit recently took place in Arusha, Tanzania. This important pan-African event explored the role of traditional African vegetables in diversifying and strengthening food systems, reducing poverty, energising industry and improving health and income across Africa. During the summit, speakers considered ways in which obstacles can be overcome to boost traditional…
Social norms: why women farmers might not be getting ahead despite development support
On International Women’s Day, Bethel Terefe, Gender Coordinator, CABI takes a look at gender-related social norms and how they affect women’s futures in agriculture. Women play an important role in agriculture. Although they rarely control decision-making on family farms, women constitute 43% of the global agricultural workforce and are an undeniable asset to the sector.
Better Cotton Initiative is empowering rural women in Pakistan through entrepreneurship
As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2021 today (8 March) and its theme of ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world’, CABI’s Naheed Babar, Noreen Mangrio and Noor Nabi Bhutto highlight how CABI’s role in the Better Cotton Initiative is helping to empower women in Pakistan through entrepreneurship.