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- Interview with Graham Thiele -- Roots, Tubers & Bananas CRP leader
- January 1, 2012 marked the official launch of the newest CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Roots, Tubers, and Bananas (RTB). Led by the International Potato Center (CIP) - in collaboration with Bioversity International, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) – this CRP is targeting the 200 million people in low-income and marginalized areas, who depend on these crops for their food security, nutrition, and income.
- CIP staff reflect on the value of conserving nature for Earth Day
- “…we humans are depleting these resources and biodiversity at a faster rate than ever before – we have arrived at a point where we have to profoundly change our economies to take conservation and ecosystem services into account” – Stef De Haan, CIP Genetic Resources - Global Science Leader.
- Our women scientists inspire us
- In celebration of International Women’s Day, we asked CIP scientists to reflect on being a woman researcher for agricultural development:
- Dr. Pamela K. Anderson joins high-level panel to discuss “Feed the world, protect the planet”
- Pamela K. Anderson, Director General of the International Potato Center (CIP) is joining Bill Gates and other renowned movers and shakers to consider how smallholder farmers are key to achieving global food security in sustainable ways, as part of the 35th Governing Council Session of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) February 22-23.
- Adaptable, nutritious Ahipa offers vast potential for food security in Africa
- Wolfgang Gruneberg, a breeder at the International Potato Center (CIP), first heard of Ahipa in 1988 when he came across an article expounding the value of this much-neglected legume root.
- Towards the One Corporate System (OCS)
- The Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is a partnership that unites 15 agricultural research centers carrying out a diverse portfolio of projects across 150 locations around the world. In order to create a common system for managing projects, human resources, finances, and other administrative and reporting functions, CGIAR centers are working towards adopting a new system – the One Corporate System (OCS).
- Bridging the gender gap in capacity development
- "The majority of those who produce, process, and market Africa’s food are women, yet only one in four agricultural researchers is female. As an agricultural scientist from Mozambique, I am part of a growing movement to increase the number of female researchers who can help respond to the global challenges of food insecurity and hunger."
- Investing in sweetpotato diversity for nutrition and food security
- While in the United States the sweetpotato is often just a Thanksgiving side dish, in Africa and Asia, where Vitamin A deficiency is prevalent, it is helping to reduce the risk of blindness and even death. In addition to being a healthy food, the sweetpotato is valuable as a food security crop. It grows in marginal conditions, requiring little labor and few chemical fertilizers. In short, it is a cheap, nutritious solution for farmers that need to grow more food on less area for rapidly multiplying populations.
- Giving thanks to the Vitamin A in sweetpotato
- Getting sweetpotato on the menu can help lessen the risk of blindness and death for an estimated 43 million Sub-Saharan children under age five afflicted with Vitamin A deficiency (VAD). Just 125 grams of sweetpotato can supply the recommended amount of Vitamin A for preschool children.
- Effectively Reducing Vitamin A Deficiency in Children and Women in Mozambique with Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato
- The British Journal of Nutrition released a study today citing the effectiveness of a project, spearheaded by Harvest Plus and CIP, using orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) to effectively combat Vitamin A deficiency among malnourished women and children in Mozambique. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is very high in this Sub-Sahara African nation -- annually 250,000 to 500,000 preschool children go blind from VAD and subsequently about two-thirds of them then die.
