Asia
Hoan and sweetpotato: a sweet, budding love affair
Nguyen Thi Hoan, a farmer in Vietnam, reaps the rewards of improved sweetpotato farming practices.
GCP21 calls for regional approach to stem the outbreak of cassava mosaic disease in Southeast Asia
The Global Cassava Partnerships for the 21st Century (GCP21) has called for urgent regional approach to halt the spread of cassava mosaic disease (CMD) that is threatening cassava production in Southeast Asia—a region that accounts for about 55 million tons of cassava and host billions of dollars in cassava investment. The GCP21 is rallying stakeholders in Southeast Asia to come together to address the challenge posed by CMD. A regional meeting will soon be held with a view to developing a detailed plan of action and collaboration on interventions needed, in order to prevent the disease from negatively impacting the vibrant cassava industry in the region.
Farming in transition: How smallholder farms in the Mekong could thrive amid a changing landscape
In the continuing journey to identify what makes smallholder farming systems in the Mekong sustainable and resilient, the Hands and Minds project finds out a number of things: (1) livestock intensification could be done in a way that could both increase profitability and reduce labor demands; (2) smallholders could be farming increasingly infertile soils, and this can be reversed by adopting management practices that efficiently manage nutrients from various sources in the farm; (3) the interaction between farmer and extension worker is crucial in enabling farmers adopt eco-resilient practices.
Agriculture across borders
CATAS and CIAT Asia researchers held a 3-day joint workshop in April to prioritize key research areas, co-develop project concepts, and identify target funding sources. In the end, the new CATAS-CIAT cooperation portfolio came to include proposed projects on: 1) tropical crops such as cassava, forages, coffee, and tropical fruits; 2) sustainable farming systems including the role of microorganisms in enhancing productivity; 3) data-driven agronomy for sustainable agri-food systems; and 4) understanding consumer preferences for quality-traits to guide crop improvement and product development for tropical fruits.
Inspired by the past, empowered for the future: CIAT looks forward to its next 50 years
Officially unveiled today, our annual report, “Building a Sustainable Food Future: CIAT in Review 2017-2018,” features our primary actions and achievements over the past year. In addition to highlighting many of the pioneering efforts we have launched, the report examines future directions for years to come.
Opinion: Private sector “A powerful ally toward climate change adaptation” | Medium
Farmer carrying sack of coffee beans. Photo credit: Neil Palmer (CIAT) The op-ed was originally posted on Medium. No matter what some may say about the private sector, one thing that is true is that when it commits to a cause, it can move mountains. Addressing climate...
Insights from the Nghia Tan Market
Vietnam is one of the priority countries for research of the CGIAR Reserch Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). As the country continues its transformation – from an impoverished, agrarian society into an urban-centered, low middle-income economy – so does the Vietnamese diet. A4NH researchers are trying to find ways to help ensure that the dietary shift and changes lean towards nutritious, safe, and affordable, for the food consumers and producers alike. The Nghia Tan market is a place that can offer important insights as to why the Vietnamese eat as they do, which could also help explain the incidence rates in certain diseases among the Vietnamese population.
Asia-Pacific countries identify priority action to build resilience of agriculture to natural disasters
At a session facilitated by CIAT at the FAO-organized Asia Pacific conference on strengthening resilient food and agriculture systems, participants emphasized the need for coherence in policies and investments across institutions, in order to effect a coordinated response towards reducing risk and strengthening resilience of crops against increasing frequency and severity of natural hazards.
Empowered women empowering others
For International Women’s Day, CIAT presents a series of opinion pieces where some of its female researchers share their views and stories about how they are empowering women and men in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Farmers in Quang Binh province learn everything there is to know about sweetpotato
As part of the Food Resilience through Root and Tuber Crops in Upland and Coastal Communities of the Asia-Pacific (FoodSTART+) project, farmers in Quang Binh province learned all things sweetpotato – from agronomy to sustainable soil management to post-harvest processing, even including making pesticide from chili. FoodSTART+ aims to enhance food resilience among poor households by introducing root and tuber crops innovations.
About CIAT in Asia
Despite the economic miracle that Southeast and East Asia has experienced over the last four decades, a significant proportion of the population living in rural areas and relying on agriculture remain poor. The economic crisis that hit Southeast Asia in the mid-1990s demonstrated the importance of a rural base for much of the population and prompted a much-needed renewal of commitment to improve the conditions of smallholder farmers.
The newly established Common Platform on Microbial Biotechnologies (CPMB) in Hanoi, Vietnam, is investigating the role of soil biota in sustainable cropping systems, and promoting agroecology in the region.
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