‘Sowing the seeds’ of growth and poverty alleviation is the sweet smile of success for smallholder farmers

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Improving agricultural productivity in African smallholder farming is a critical outcome in the pathway to growth and poverty alleviation, according to Dr Monica Kansiime who is intent on helping the continent improve the sustainability of its seed production.
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Rural women in Pakistan trained on principles of Better Cotton Initiative despite COVID-19

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As we all know, 2020 has been the worst year in the lifetimes of many people around the world due to COVID-19 – the severe acute respiratory disease – also known as SARS-CoV-2 because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003.
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‘Seeing is Believing’: An innovative concept of bundling agricultural services for the benefit of smallholder farmers

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By Akanksha Nagpal & Arun Jadhav Smallholder farmers in India are increasingly exposed to climate change and extreme weather events. Research on innovative strategies and tools to improve agricultural risk management is the need of the hour. ‘Seeing is believing’, as the phrase goes, underpins the innovative concept of the project entitled ‘Picture Based Insurance…
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‘Going viral’ – how popular music videos help bring soybean farming knowledge to thousands in Ghana

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Development communication is an important tool for sharing information with small-scale farmers, writes Duncan Sones. Usually, the goal is to reach as many of the right people as possible, that’s to say to go viral with your communication. After all, you want your information to be seen by many and to make the biggest change…
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Mr Nutri Bean: Educating children to increase consumption of iron and zinc rich beans

The higher iron and zinc rich beans called NAROBEAN 1, 2, 3, 4C and 5C can significantly improve nutrition and are particularly beneficial for children and expectant mothers.
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A lesson in ‘resilience’: realities and misconceptions

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Resilience is about changing in response to a disturbance; changing the ways parts of the “system” are connected, emphasizing some and de-emphasizing others. It’s the capacity to absorb disturbance and re-organize to keep functioning in the same way.
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‘Banana and I’: Sharing the ‘appeal’ of better banana management in Uganda through drama

CABI has worked with farmers to develop a video drama on the subject with five episodes translated into two languages. Created for small scale banana farmers in Uganda with contributions from farmers, the dramas are also performed by farmers themselves to increase their local appeal, encourage more efficient farming practices and ultimately increase productivity for banana growers.
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Why we chose Moodle for the CABI Academy

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For those that don’t yet know, the CABI Academy is our programme to create a growing curriculum of educational resources and activities. These will cover a wide range of topics – to reflect CABI’s existing areas of work, such as agriculture, plant science and tourism, Mark Berthelemy writes. The aim is to provide materials that…
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When you picture a farmer, are they a woman?

CABI has today published a briefing, Empowering female farmers – Gender responsive programming, which is an overview of gender inequality in agriculture, its challenges and impacts, and how CABI is working to address these through its projects and implementation now and in the future.
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Sensitizing maize growers of Punjab on aflatoxin biocontrol to produce quality crops for their communities

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Dr Sabyan Faris Honey, CABI, and Deborah Hamilton, USDA Farmers in the Punjab province of Pakistan produce 85% of maize not only for the purpose of helping to ensure local and regional food security but also for export to high end markets. Due to the presence of aflatoxin levels above permissible limits (20ppb) in maize…
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