Multi-stakeholder efforts blend into one national coffee and climate change strategy in Vietnam

by Madelline Romero | Sep 29, 2017

Photo by Nguyen Duy Nhiem/CIAT Representatives from both public and private sectors lament that water-related challenges, including those that later affect the quality of coffee, are the biggest threats to Vietnam’s coffee industry, which fulfils approximately 40...

CIAT and ICAR expand partnership addressing challenges to South Asian agriculture

by Madelline Romero | Sep 29, 2017

Photo by Neil Palmer/CIAT The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have signed a three-year work plan, kicking off an expanded set of research and capacity building activities between the two...

Scaling up and out. The spread of sustainably productive farming practices in Vietnam

by Madelline Romero | Sep 18, 2017

Tai vách mạch rừng. The walls have ears, the forest has a path. While the old Vietnamese adage is typically said to warn about the consequences of indiscreet speech, good news seems to travel the same way – by seeping through villages’ borders and the thick northern...

Climate-smart village: What it is – and isn’t

by Maria Eliza Villarino | Sep 13, 2017

A forthcoming paper describes the experience of CCAFS* and its partners to establish climate-smart villages across five regions around the globe. We spoke with Ana Maria Loboguerrero Rodriguez, CCAFS Regional Program Leader for Latin America and one of the paper’s...

Soil fertility and plant health offer clues why cassava entices certain pests

by Maria Eliza Villarino | Sep 6, 2017

Soil makeup and the presence of plant disease may well determine the build-up of pests in cassava, one of Asia’s key food, feed and industrial crops, according to a pair of recently published, peer-reviewed CIAT-led studies. In 2008, a number of invasive mealybugs...

Characterizing agrobiodiversity in one valley: Worlds of two ethnic minority communities, at different scales: An intern perspective

by Madelline Romero | Jul 26, 2017

by Charlotte Phillips| Jul 26, 2017 As my first time in Asia, a recent graduate of Biological Sciences and interested in the conservation of agrobiodiversity and food sustainability, I joined the CIAT Asia team at the beginning of February for a 3-month student...